LETTER: A New Graduate Nurse Still Waiting to Serve

A New Graduate Nurse Still Waiting to Serve

Dear Editor,

I write as a newly qualified nurse who worked tirelessly to achieve my dream of serving my country through healthcare.

Completing my nursing degree required four years of demanding coursework, sleepless nights, emotional strain, clinical rotations, and significant financial sacrifice. Graduating and becoming licensed should have marked the beginning of my professional journey — a time of excitement and pride. Instead, it has become a period of silence, uncertainty, and deep discouragement.

Like many of my classmates, I applied to the hospital with hope and readiness to serve, learn, and give back to the very community that supported us through our studies. However, despite submitting applications, we have received little to no formal communication beyond informal acknowledgement, with no clear updates or timelines.

At the same time, we have watched the hospital move forward with recruiting more than 100 nurses from overseas. This is not a criticism of those nurses, who, like us, are seeking opportunities to build their lives and careers. Rather, it raises a difficult question: where does this leave qualified and licensed local graduates who are ready and willing to contribute?

Each day without communication feels like a quiet rejection. It forces many of us to question our sacrifices and wonder whether our dedication is being overlooked. We are not asking for favoritism — only for fairness, transparency, and the opportunity to be considered.

As young professionals and adults, we face real financial responsibilities: household expenses, student obligations, and the rising cost of living. These pressures do not pause while we wait indefinitely for a call that may or may not come. Our training is specialised; we are prepared to work in healthcare. Outside of the sector, opportunities can be limited, forcing some graduates to seek employment in unrelated fields simply to survive.

It is disheartening to feel as though we must plead for the chance to do the very job we trained to perform. More than anything, it is painful to feel invisible in our own homeland when we stand ready to serve.

I share this not out of bitterness, but out of hope — hope that our voices will be heard, that greater transparency will be provided, and that decision-makers will recognise that behind every application is a trained professional eager to contribute.

Nursing is both practical and theoretical. Skills must be maintained through consistent practice. When newly trained nurses remain unemployed for extended periods, the profession risks losing valuable readiness and momentum. We are ready now. We are qualified. We are committed.

All we ask for is a fair opportunity to serve the community that shaped us.

Sincerely,

A Concerned New Graduate Nurse

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