The Department of Health is seeking to attract more nurses and midwives to Tasmania's health system with the launch of a new package of recruitment incentives.
Incentives are now available for nurses and midwives who choose to relocate to Tasmania, as well as local nursing and midwifery graduates who choose to remain in their home state.
The package further enhances the Tasmanian Health Service’s offer to frontline staff and is intended to boost recruitment efforts.
Nurses and midwives who move to – or back to – Tasmania and remain employed full-time with the Tasmanian Health Service (THS) for three years or more will be eligible to receive a relocation payment of up to $15,000, staged over three years.
The additional relocation payment will be available for eligible nurses and midwives that commence in the THS from 28 April 2024 to 30 June 2025, on top of relocation allowances already available.
In addition, graduate nurses and midwives who start in the THS Transition to Practice program and remain employed full-time for a period of three years or more will be eligible to receive a $10,000 scholarship.
All local Transition to Practice participants commencing in the 2025 and 2026 intakes will be appointed permanently and are automatically eligible for the scholarship fund. The Transition to Practice Program is open to graduates with less than 6 months experience that have completed their studies within the last two years.
The scholarship will be available in two instalments of $5,000 per annum in years two and three of employment in the Tasmanian Health Service. The scholarship will be paid wherever an employee can evidence engagement in additional formal study to progress their career in alignment with the Expanded Support Program.
In addition, graduates will be supported through the three year Expanded Support Program that the Department of Health established in 2023. The Program establishes support to build competence and confidence for early career nurses and midwives to transition from pre-registration education.
Applications for the 2025 Transition to Practice Registered Nurse program opened earlier this week on Tuesday 16 July 2024 and will close 12 August 2024.
Further information about Transition to Practice is available at: Transition to practice for registered nurses | Tasmanian Department of Health