No jobs for Vanuatu Nursing School graduates

There are no jobs for 22 recent graduates from Vanuatu’s College of Nursing Education due to a lack of Health Department funding.

This is despite a shortage of medical personnel which has forced the Vanuatu Government to recruit nurses from Solomon Islands over the past two years.

Murielle Baker reports.

“The College of Nursing Principal, Evelyn Emile, confirms a budget problem at the Ministry of Health has left the 22 new graduates unemployed. The nurses had expected to find jobs within the public health system after finishing their studies, but were told on graduating that their salaries had not been budgetted for this year. In 2010, 4 Solomons nurses were recruited and another 20 last year and they are continuing to work in Vanuatu. Ms Emile says she hopes many of the new local nurses will be able to get work in the public sector by January next year.”