According to one recent DHB study, nearly one-in-three nursing students quit their studies before qualifying, due to financial pressure, family responsibilities and other factors made worse by Covid-19.
At the same time, health boards and rest homes are spending hundreds of thousands of dollars trying to attract nurses from overseas to fill an estimated 4000 vacancies.
As a third-year Otago Polytechnic nursing student, Jade Power has been following the difficult situation from ground zero.
Power, who also chairs the national student unit of the Nurses Organisation, spoke to Corin Dann.
