Surgical hospital wards throughout New Zealand were short-staffed more than half of all day shifts last year, figures obtained by Tōpūtanga Tapuhi Kaitiaki o Aotearoa New Zealand Nurses Organisation (NZNO) show.

NZNO Chief Executive Paul Goulter says Te Whatu Ora data obtained by NZNO under the Official Information Act shows between January and November last year, 56% of all day shifts in surgical wards across 16 health districts were understaffed (see table in editor’s notes).

The figures come as more than 36,000 Te Whatu Ora nurses, midwives, health care assistants and kaimahi hauora prepare to strike for 24-hours on Wednesday after Health NZ failed to address their safe staffing concerns.

Paul Goulter says concerns about chronic and ongoing staff shortages have been raised continually throughout the collective agreement bargaining process which began last September.

“Short-staffing not only puts patients at risk it impacts on the number of procedures and assessments hospitals can carry out, adding to wait times.

“Nurses, midwives and health care assistants want to give their patients the care they need, when they need it. Instead they are stretched too thin and their patients are forced to wait for care. This can lead to unnecessary pain and discomfort for patients and heartbreak for their friends and whānau watching them suffer.”

There was such a dire lack of health care assistants at Christchurch Hospital recently that whānau were asked to come in and help their loved ones,” Paul Goulter says

“Our members are exasperated by Te Whatu Ora’s refusal to address – or even acknowledge – their concerns for their patients who are being put at risk because of short-staffing,” he says.

“We encourage anyone who is concerned about the crisis in the health sector and wants to see patients get the care they need to join us on picket lines and marches on Wednesday throughout the motu,” Paul Goulter says.

 

Editor notes:

• Please see below for comment from delegates throughout the country on why they are striking. These delegates are available for interview.
• The nationwide strike will be held from 9am on Wednesday 30 July until 9am on Thursday 31 July.
• Details of localised strike day actions can be found on the NZNO Maranga Mai! website.
• The strike will be a complete withdrawal of labour at every place in New Zealand where Te Whatu Ora provides health care or hospital care services.
• Life preserving services will continue to be provided.

 

 

Nurses explain in their own words why they are striking

NZNO President and Dunedin nurse Anne Daniels, says:

“In my 45 years of nursing I have never seen our public health system in such a state of failure. We have far too few nurses to provide safe and timely care. That is hurting our patients, and it is heartbreaking for us to go to work each day knowing that despite all our best efforts there are just not enough of us to stop the escalating avoidable patient harm.
Nurses are not being recruited to replace those who are leaving in their thousands, and nurses are not being paid competitively to keep them in New Zealand. Our work conditions are desperate, and that takes a toll on us all every day. That’s why I am striking.”

Ashburton nurse Cathy Wright, says:

“For myself, I believe caring for people is a privilege. Patients are vulnerable beings, who need and deserve consistent, good care. They are often not able to express their concerns especially in a high demand environment.
“I am a nurse with over 40-years’ experience. Most patients respect my guidance, believe in my knowledge and feel safe in my care. To protect patient care, nursing has developed tools to ensure safe staffing (CCDM).
“Health NZ’s latest offer eliminates this safety net. That means short staffing and increased risk to our patients!”

South Auckland nurse Liandra Fouche, says:

“For me it’s about taking part in this strike action for our whanau. They all deserve safe health care when they come to our hospitals. They deserve to be able to access GP clinics and afford them. They don't deserve to sit in ED for hours or wait for surgery for up to seven days on an acute list. They don't deserve to have to wait three weeks to see their GP. They don't deserve to have to choose between health and food on the table for their little ones. The New Zealand public deserves better health care.”

Whakatāne delegate Tracy Black, says:

“We’re striking because we don’t have a choice. This Government doesn’t care about nurses or the people who rely on our public health system. Budgets are taking precedent over lives. Money and profit are being placed ahead of the vulnerable people we care for every single day.
Every day, we look after someone’s mum, dad, aunty, uncle, sibling, nanny, koro, or pēpi. But without enough nurses, we’re forced to make impossible choices.  That means some whānau miss out on the care they need and deserve.
“That’s not tika. It’s not manaakitanga.  And it’s not the kind of care our communities should have to accept.
We’re calling for safe staffing not just for ourselves, but to protect the health, dignity, and wellbeing of every person and every whānau we care for every single day.”

Hutt Valley nurse Nathan Clarke, says:

“Staff going on strike have been forced into this position by Health NZ and Health NZ’s refusal to cement staff and patient safety into the nurses employment agreement. For nurses to go on strike, sacrificing their own financial situation for complete strangers in an attempt to get safety for those whom they care for shows how much they care for the people they look after now and going into the future. 

“The reason I'm striking is to bring to the forefront the continued and constant understaffed working environments. Health NZ must focus on recruitment and retention of staff to prevent our health care system from near collapsing through under staffing and not valuing the worth of its employees.”

Whanganui nurse Eugene Kennelly, says:

“For me it’s about halting the erosion of our public health care system. The biggest asset Te Whatu Ora has is its staff, along with the skills, goodwill and commitment of those staff. New Zealand has a health care system that expects and demands excellence, while barely adequate resources allow the maintenance of minimally acceptable standards and where staff bear the responsibility for any shortfall of desired outcomes. We cannot expect goodwill and commitment to continue where maximum output is expected while minimal resources are provided. Te Whatu Ora is on its knees. These are our knees, and they are hurting.”

Rotorua nurse Amy Donnell, says:

“For me it’s about standing with my colleagues to make our voices are heard. For too long Health New Zealand/Te Whatu Ora has ignored our plea for safe staffing. Having this part of our contract is the only way we can ensure the safety of our staff well-being and our patients’ well-being. When the pressure due to unsafe staffing levels is on nurses, they are at a higher risk of making mistakes for the people they are caring for, which can have terrible consequences. It can also lead to burnout and higher rates of staff leaving the profession. The latest collective agreement fails to take nurses voice into consideration and our needs as a vital profession.”

Taranaki nurse Glenda Huston, says:

“For me it’s about protecting and growing our workforce.  We have lost 30,000 nurses to Australia in the past year, and while we remain underfunded and understaffed, we will keep losing more.  One of our claims was for our new graduates to be guaranteed employment, and unfortunately Te Whatu Ora won’t commit to do this. 
“The reality for a lot of New Zealand nursing graduates is a large student loan and little hope of employment. We have to fight to protect the future of healthcare, our nurses and health care assistants and try to stem the steady flow heading overseas. Patient care is our priority, and to we need adequate safe staffing levels to enable this – we need to be fully recruited and to retain our new graduates to ensure a healthy workforce.”

Wellington nurse Hilary Gardner, says:

“We are striking because patient safety is at risk every day due to chronic understaffing and under-resourcing. We simply don’t have enough nurses to provide the level of care our patients need and deserve. It’s not safe, and it’s not fair — for patients, their whānau, or the staff trying to care for them. We’ve raised concerns time and time again, but nothing changes — so now we’re taking action to stand up for safer care.”

South Canterbury (Timaru) nurse Michelle Marshall, says:

“We’re striking to protect Aotearoa’s public health system—because safe staffing saves lives, keeps care close to home, and ensures a future for nursing. This is about whānau safety, community wellbeing, and honouring every Kiwi’s right to quality healthcare. Our families deserve better, and we’re standing up for them.”

Waitemata nurse Jean Moor, says:

“For me it is about safe staffing and protecting our new and upcoming nurses.  I am at the end of my career but for those starting out we need to protect them and we need to protect our patients.  I am disgusted that the other day I had a patient who had collapsed and there I was doing an ECG on him in a lazy boy in the corridor.  How is that acceptable.  Our patients don't deserve to be treated in corridors nor do our nurses need to look after more patients than they can do justice to.  It is not safe, we are losing nurses to overseas and they are leaving the workforce because of the risk to their practice and to their patients. 

“In order to attract nurses we need at least the cost of living increase in our wages.  We cannot afford to lose nurses overseas.  KEEP OUR NURSES HERE!!!”

Christchurch nurse Debbie Handisides, says:

“We, the nurses are striking not because we want to but have to. For far too long, we’ve been working under conditions that are not only unsustainable for us but unsafe for the people we care for the public. Many of us are experiencing burnout, stress, and fatigue. We’re being asked to do more with less, fewer staff with rising patient numbers.

“This is not just about feeling tired, it’s about being pushed past the point where we can safely do our jobs. staffing shortages are putting patients’ safety at risk. When there aren’t enough nurses, care is delayed mistakes happen and lives are put in danger this is not a standard of care we trained for.

“We know strikes are disruptive. But we also know that silence is more dangerous. We’re standing up now so that nurses can stay in the profession and so patients can get the care they deserve. This is about protecting public healthcare.”

Wellington nurse Mel Anderson, says:

“For me I am striking because our health system is at breaking point. Staff are not being replaced, our wards are understaffed and nurses are continuing leave for Australia. We came so far with pay equity and we being asking to take a pay cut essentially. So many of our new graduate nurses have not got jobs, these are trained skilled New Zealanders Which means we are not growing our own. We not just doing this for us, we are doing this for a better health care system.”

Wellington nurse Aria Blaikie, says:

“I’m striking because Te Whatu Ora are placing patients at unacceptable and unnecessary risk by refusing to guarantee safe staffing levels, even though the CCDM system has proven that wards are under-resourced. Their latest offer is just a small pay rise, but nothing ensures hiring more graduates or fixing staffing ratios. Positions aren’t being filled, workloads are increasing, and both patients and nurses are at risk. The system is broken and striking is our last resort to try and fix it.”

Waikato nurse Tracy Chisholm, says:

“The future of New Zealand depends on a functioning health system. We're not striking because we want to – we're striking because safe patient care demands it. HNZ must adequately staff its operations for the sake of New Zealand's health. Our future depends on having healthy, well citizens who are educated, trained, and capable of working. None of this is possible when people are sick, injured, and unable to access the care they need.

“Health needs an all-of-government commitment to a sustainable path forward. This approach would save money currently wasted on redundancies, restructures, and inefficient management at organisational leadership levels – every time the government changes.”