Nurse dropouts and local nurses who graduated overseas will be the main targets of a Hospital Authority recruitment drive today. The drive aims to bring at least 200 full-time or part-time nurses back into the public hospital workforce in response to a growing need for nursing staff. Authority chief manager of nursing Susie Lum Shun-sui said the authority was taking a proactive role in tackling shortages. Local nurses who were graduates of overseas training systems are prime recruitment targets. Dr Lum said: 'The authority should seek out local nurses who went abroad to study, and help them to adjust into the city's health-care system.' It will be the first time the authority has opened up its Temporary Undergraduate Nursing Student Scheme to local overseas nursing graduates. The authority will also relaunch its Back to Nursing Programme to attract nursing dropouts back into the profession. Health affairs sector lawmaker Joseph Lee Kok-long, who is also the chairman of the Association of Hong Kong Nursing Staff, welcomed the inclusion of local overseas nursing graduates in the drive. But he said he hoped the authority would also devise ways to retain present staff. The job fair will be held today from 10am to 4.30pm at the Hospital Authority Building in Argyle Street, Mong Kok.
