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Nursing students feeling confused and insecure as debate rages over jobs for graduates.
A nurse union has claimed Te Whatu Ora is freezing the hiring of graduate nurses into the hospital system.
However, in a statement Health New Zealand/Te Whatu Ora's chief nurse Nadine Gray said there was no recruitment pause.
"The graduate process is still underway, applicants have expressed their preferences and matching is happening across the sector. We are continuing to employ graduate nurses, focussing on the areas where we have vacancies."
Graduates may also be employed in the primary care, community care, aged residential care or public health areas outside of public hospitals, Gray said.
A third-year nursing student from the Mid-Central region told Morning Report she and her classmates were feeling confused and anxious.
"It's left us not secure, we've come to the call for help because we all know that there's a nursing crisis so three years ago we all signed up to this and we're here, we're ready, and now there's just not certainty."
She said the programme that placed graduate nurses into hospital jobs came with safety netting to help them learn as they worked, which wasn't the same in the private sector.
They had already applied, and had interviews, but won't find out if they have a job until after they sit their finals, she said.
"It's the mixed messages that are making us even more nervous."
Health New Zealand chief executive Margie Apa told Morning Report they were still working through matching 535 nursing graduates to jobs.
"It is true that we won't have as many hospital based roles as we have in previous years because we are about 2000 nursing FTEs ahead of where we planned to be so vacancies in many areas are low."
However, they were working with other providers, such as primary care, Plunket and the Blood Service, to try and place all the graduates in a job.
Apa couldn't say how may positions they had available at this stage.
"There will be a number of roles across Te Whatu Ora and providers in communities."
They hoped to be able to update graduates by Thursday next week, she said.
