Communities across the Hunter and New England are experiencing a welcome boost of new nurses, with more than 140 registered nurses recruited from the United Kingdom and Ireland.

The incoming nurses are qualified and experienced in emergency, surgical care, intensive care, and paediatrics, with many honing their skills at specialist hospitals in the UK.

The international recruitment drive is one of a range of initiatives currently underway to attract and retain nurses to the region’s facilities, with other measures including the employment of more than 250 graduate nurses and midwives, the implementation of the NSW Government’s Rural Health Workforce Incentive Scheme, school-based trainee program, and tertiary study subsidies.

NSW Health Minister Ryan Park says international recruitment drives are just one way they’re helping to attract and retain health workers in regional and rural areas in a bid to ensure everyone can access high quality healthcare no matter where they live.