Health services are struggling to fill nursing positions amid an international shortage.
Presbyterian Support Otago director of services for older people Maurice Burrowes said organisations had to be pro-active about recruiting, and his was offering scholarships for registered nurses to regain their practising certificates.
After years out of the workforce, people often lacked the confidence to return to nursing, he said.
"For many, it seems like a huge step to take to go back into nursing. They worry that they will have forgotten what they learnt many years ago and that nursing has changed a lot over the past 10 years."
The cost of gaining a current practising certificate could also be a hurdle, he said.
As people looked for secure employment during the recession, it was a good time to show nurses what work in modern rest-homes and hospitals was like, Mr Burrowes said.
The scholarship, worth about $1600, covers the cost of six weeks' study at Otago Polytechnic and guarantees a job offer at the end of the process.
Scholarships are also available for international nurses to gain a New Zealand practising certificate.
Nurse Isabel Montalba, from the Philippines, gained a scholarship last year and is now working at Ross Home and Hospital in Northeast Valley.
The course had been valuable not just clinically, but also to learn about things such as New Zealand culture, before starting work, she said.
Ms Montalba worked as a school nurse and a surgical nurse in the Philippines for four years, and spent one year working as a private nurse for the royal family in Saudi Arabia, before coming to New Zealand.
Presbyterian Support is running a recruitment seminar at Ross Home and Hospital on Wednesday.
The Otago District Health Board has also run successful recruitment evenings to encourage nurses back into the workforce and is planning to do the same again this year. The board will reimburse study fees for nurses to regain their practising certificate if they are permanently employed by the board.
The board has 60 nursing vacancies, while Presbyterian Support is looking for up to eight nurses across all of its homes.
