LABASA Hospital has lost around 100 nurses over the past four years to overseas work opportunities, says deputy director of nursing Jone Natanu.
Speaking to the media at the World Health Organization’s Strengthening Health Workforce in the Pacific (Nursing & Midwifery) workshop at Holiday Inn yesterday, he said the departures were mainly driven by the lure of better pay in countries such as Australia and New Zealand — an offer Fiji’s health system cannot match.
“I can speak for Labasa Hospital where we’ve lost around 100 nurses within the last four years,” Mr Natanu said.
“They have gone overseas for better work opportunities overseas.”
He said while salaries and other external benefits were determined by government and largely outside the hospital’s control, there were internal strategies that could be used to keep staff motivated and committed to their roles.
“We have a external reward system that is looked after by government, that is salary and things that is beyond our control.
“But there are internal reward system. What can we do within the institution, within so one of the thing that we can do, I think, and I believe, is training the young coming, the upcoming nurses.
“Strengthening them to take up a leadership role that becomes a motivating factor for them.”
He added that creating an environment where nurses feel valued and trusted by their leaders helps boost morale and can encourage them to remain in Fiji.
He also pointed out that the number of nurses leaving the local workforce was slowly decreasing.
“If you see the numbers of attrition now, it’s coming down compared to the last five years.
“We are not resting. We, as leaders in the Ministry of Health, are looking at ways of how we can continue to retain our nurses trained in the Pacific.
“We have invested in them, and I believe they are willing to give back to our country.”
The two-day workshop is being hosted by the University of Technology Sydney and will end today.