Shane Reti. Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
The government is looking at changes to immigration policies that had rolled out the welcoming mat for healthcare workers.
The 'green list' allows people in more than 100 skilled roles to be immediately eligible for residence.
Nurses were controversially left off the fast-track part of the list in early 2022, meaning they had to work for two years first before being able to apply, before the Labour government added them later in that year.
A Ministry of Health spokesperson says internationally qualified nurses have helped to alleviate shortages in the health system.
"The Minister of Health has requested advice on our current immigration settings to ensure we have a balanced approach to growing our domestic and international health workforce. We will provide this advice in the coming weeks."
Registered nurse Khushboo Sabherwal, from India, told RNZ in August that she had a blunt message for the government that had advertised itself as desperate for staff: "Please stop taking more candidates if you can't provide jobs".
A spokesperson for Health Minister Shane Reti said the minister had not yet received any advice, so no decisions about any specific aspects of current immigration settings had been made.
Health New Zealand commissioner Dr Lester Levy said it was employing 3000 more nurses than it had budgeted for, and suggested its domestic and international recruitment drive had been more successful than predicted.
The Nurses Organisation said its members were still working with unsafe staffing levels and it believed a hiring freeze was in place, despite denials from Health NZ.
India and the Philippines have officially cautioned nurses against coming to New Zealand without a guaranteed job.