Angry nursing graduates have blamed the government and university system for leaving hundreds of them without jobs to go to – this year more than ever.
As universities reported record numbers of nursing graduates in 2016, only 500 from a total of about 1300 students secured a place in a graduate program.
Graduate programs help students transition into the workforce and are generally a prerequisite for jobs in the future.
But having clocked up three years of study, 1000 hours of unpaid practical work and a debt of $25,000, students in their final weeks found less than half their number would secure a place.
"We're all stressed out thinking, 'what do we do?' It's like we've just been stranded and the universities aren't giving us any advice," one new nurse, who asked to remain anonymous, said.
"It kind of seems like it's all for nothing.
"It's really hard to get a job as a registered nurse if you don't have 12 months' experience – and that's what a graduate program [represents]."
While students applying for the programs could list five preferences, it helped little this year.
"The universities have said to us if your first preference doesn't want you then you're pretty much done ... it's that competitive at the moment that your second preference isn't going to look at you," the graduate said.
One nurse with 20 years' experience said it would take students longer to find jobs without a graduate program.
They were educated to expect it and would find things "difficult".
"I don't know why the schools of nursing at all the universities have taken on so many students, other than it's cash for them," she said.
I don't think anyone goes into four years of studying nursing without the expectation that they're not going to be a fully registered nurse.
Opposition health spokesman Roger Cook
Yet enrolments have steadily risen in recent years.
The University of Notre Dame has had a 50 per cent increase since 2014 and Edith Cowan University a 25 per cent increase.
Murdoch University increased enrolments this year as it extended the course to the South Street campus and the only exception was Curtin, which had a slight decrease in the past two years.
Professor Phillip Della, Head of Nursing, Midwifery & ParaMedicine at Curtin, said the number of university nursing positions was determined by WA Health Department workforce modelling.
ECU's acting Dean of Nursing Sara Bayes, said judging the number of students to take on each year was difficult.
"Given the changing needs of employers in the public and private health care sector, it has always been challenging to forecast the demand for nurses in WA," associate Professor Bayes said.
Opposition health spokesman Roger Cook said it worried him that universities and the government were still promoting nursing as a "job for life".
"The fact of the matter is that unless you actually do your graduate placement you're not going to get the full recognition for the hard work," he said.
Mr Cook said in the past the government's defence had been to tell students they did not have to be a registered nurse and that they could go into other areas of nursing.
"I don't think anyone goes into four years of studying nursing without the expectation that they're not going to be a fully registered nurse," he said.
Mr Cook said there needed to be a cross-sector agreement about a workforce strategy and universities should take part.
"We can't have the universities attracting students to their courses if there's no realistic prospect," he said.
A spokesperson for the Department of Health said it encouraged students to go through the usual process, which was a graduate program, but that there were alternative options.
"Graduates are also encouraged to apply directly for nursing positions in a range of areas including primary care, aged care and in rural and remote areas," a spokesperson said.
One nursing graduate said applying as a casual was their only option but they would not get the support they needed as graduates.
"You don't get a proper orientation, help or support so you're just thrown in the deep end and it's really easy to make a mistake or not know what you're doing," she said.
The Australian Future Health Workforce Report in 2014 has predicted a shortfall of about 85,000 nurses by 2025 but she said this had not been dealt with appropriately.
"There's going to be a nursing shortage because a lot of people are going to retire but they haven't thought about how they're going to get the younger nurses in to take those places and how they keep them," she said.
The Department of Health said there was actually an oversupply of nursing staff in hospitals at the moment, with older nurses staying longer than expected.
St John of God Health Care in Subiaco will not take on any nursing graduates at all next year. Rita Maguire, Group Director of Workforce, said this was mostly as the state's economy was resulting in low workforce turnover.
"The number of nursing graduates in the health care industry is reflective of the economy of the state, nurses in employment are opting to stay in work and are filling the available shifts," she said.
The Australian Nursing Federation was contacted multiple times but declined to comment.
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