The Nursing Pipeline Programme

The Nursing workforce is critical to the delivery of healthcare services for New Zealanders. The 20 District Health Boards’ (DHBs) Lead Nurses (DoN) Group is a national collaboration group with an overarching workforce development focus. The DoN Group supports and participates in key national workforce development groups and initiatives - across the DHBs, wider sector and system. We work with the DoN Group and facilitate collaboration at a national level; to support and enable effective Nursing workforce development.

About the Nursing Pipeline Programme

The Nursing Pipeline Programme aims to achieve a shared understanding of the pre-registration pipeline and to work with the Tertiary Education Commission (TEC) and training providers to ensure the supply and demographics of nurses matches demand, and meets population needs.

The Nursing Pipeline Programme Steering Group is a DHB Director of Nursing-led programme of work in partnership with the Ministry of Health, New Zealand Nurses Organisation (NZNO), the New Zealand Nursing Council (NZNC), tertiary education and aged residential care providers, and nursing leaders from across the sector. 

If you have questions or comments, please contact us at workforce@tas.health.nz

Nursing Pipeline Programme Pānui

The Nursing Pipeline Programme recently launched a new monthly newsletter providing updates on the work underway and the various workstreams involved. 

The Nursing Pipeline Programme Steering Group Terms of Reference

The Nursing Pipeline Programme Workplan

The Nursing Pipeline Programme Steering Group Updates

Māori Data Sovereignty Principles for the Nursing Pipeline Programme

Māori data sovereignty is a fundamental consideration for the Nursing Pipeline Programme, developed to ensure that Māori are integral to both the kōrero and decision-making process for putting in place programmes to help attract and retain Māori students, and later progression and retention of Māori nurses. 

Reports and Recommendation Papers

 Māori and Pasifika Nurses – New Entry to Practice (NEtP) Programme Report

This literature review was a key deliverable from initiatives six: Strategic review of the NETP/NESP Programme as it transitions to Health NZ and explores the experiences, perspectives and insights of Māori and Pasifika nurses who completed the NEtP programme within the last five years to ensure that partnership is embedded in the redesign of nurse graduates entering the workforce.

 Nurse Entry to Practice (NETP) Programmes: Review of the New Zealand literature

This literature review was a key deliverable from initiatives six: Strategic review of the NETP/NESP Programme as it transitions to Health NZ and presents a review of the NZ literature about the NETP Programme.

Review of NETP in NZ Literature  [1.12MB] 

March 2022

Review of the Enrolled Nurse (EN) Role

This recommendations paper was a key deliverable from initiatives three and four: options for an EN pathway to complete Bachelor level nursing programmes (BN) and options for a pathway to EN for those who exit the BN programme. The paper investigates recommendations to support an effective, fit for purpose programmes and employment of a sustainable EN Workforce. 

Responding to Māori student attrition rates

This recommendations paper was a key deliverable from initiative two: Work in partnership with Māori nurse leaders and education providers to identify how, as a sector, we can be more responsive to factors affecting the retention of Māori nursing students. A review was undertaken of current literature detailing the factors identified creating a barrier for Māori student entry into and completion of undergraduate nursing education and recommended strategies that could mitigate these barriers.

The Nursing Pre-Registration Education Pipeline Report

The Nursing Pre-Registration Education Pipeline report outlines the current undergraduate supply of both Registered and Enrolled Nurses in New Zealand. This report aims to provide a better understanding of the pre-registration education pipeline - from enrolment into education programmes through to graduation. The report utilises Tertiary Education Commission (TEC) data to look at the completion and assumed early exits across all the nursing schools. The insights in this report are being used to inform and support initiatives to forecast both supply and demand across the system, so that the nursing workforce is best positioned to meet the current and future needs of the communities it serves. 

Some of the key findings include:   

• An increase in students enrolling in bachelor level nursing programmes in 2019, an increase of with just over 40% of these coming straight from secondary school. In 2019, the total number of new enrolments was 2578, which is 3.3% higher than the 2010 figure of 2496.
• Most new enrolments in bachelor level nursing programmes choose to enrol with a provider in their home region.
• A slight increase in students completing bachelor level nursing programmes in 2019, over 2018 completions. The majority (57%) of those completing in 2019 are aged under 25 years, which is the same as in 2018.  
• Analysis of reported ethnicity for those completing bachelor level nursing programmes from 2010 to 2019, indicates increasing numbers of students identifying as Māori (12% to 17% of completions) and Pacific People (5 to 9% of completions).  
• There was an increase in students enrolling in an enrolled nursing diploma programme in 2019 over the 2018 enrolments, with 37% of these coming from work. Over the period 2012-2019, the average number of new enrolments for the enrolled nursing diploma courses was 199 enrolments per year. 
• There was an increase in students completing an enrolled nursing diploma in 2019. The number of students completing has been increasing for the last few years. Annual completion figures for enrolled nursing education programmes have been variable, with an average of 158 completions per year.