Nursing reports

The New Zealand Nurses Organisation (NZNO) says changes proposed to staffing for the CREST service proposed by Canterbury District Health Board (DHB) will reduce the quality of care available to older persons in Christchurch and surrounding areas.

The Community Rehabilitation Enablement Support Team (CREST) cares for the health of older persons when they are first discharged from hospital so they spend less time on return hospital visits and remain in their own homes longer – instead of in residential care.

NZNO Professional Nursing Adviser Marg Bigsby said NZNO members are very concerned the changes would disestablish 17FTE of experienced nurses (including two leadership roles), replacing them with just five ‘liaison staff’ and one clinical nurse specialist (CNS). Case management work would then be contracted to private community providers.

“Depending on who is appointed to  the liaison and CNS positions, this represents a loss of 11-16 experienced nurses to CREST, which would have serious impacts on the care available to older persons in the region, especially when they are leaving hospital. This is something Canterbury older persons’ health services can ill-afford,” Ms Bigsby said.

“Our members are also concerned about people being employed who were unfamiliar with the CREST service and the possible lack of case management expertise when work is given out to community providers.

“Many of these providers are already quite underfunded and short-staffed so they will struggle to provide care to the standard they would like and which currently exists. It will be a systemic problem.”

NZNO is also concerned about the failure of the DHB to collaborate with or consult CREST staff.

“Case managers learned about the proposed changes from nurses in community providers before they had heard anything about them directly, which is a completely unacceptable violation of professional confidentiality,” Ms Bigsby said.

NZNO made a submission today to Canterbury DHB opposing the changes, suggesting alternatives and calling for nursing expertise to remain in-house. Ms Bigsby said CREST nurses are invested in the service and that she hopes the DHB will listen to their voices.

At NZNO’s encouragement more than 160 health professionals around the region including doctors, nurses and allied health professionals, have sent letters to Canterbury DHB CEO David Meates opposing the changes and in support of the nurses’ call for a rethink.

Ms Bigsby said the CREST service supports elderly to regain independence and quality of life following a stay in hospital.  Without its support the focus will inevitably fall on just the basics – and there is so much more to life than merely being able to wash and dress yourself or go to the toilet.

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Media inquiries: Rob Zorn, NZNO Media and Communications Advisor: 027 431 2617.

More information:

The spokesperson for this media release is Professional Nursing Advisor (Canterbury) Marg Bigsby, who would be happy to be interviewed. However, NZNO can also provide media access to an NZNO delegate working in the CREST team. Please contact Rob Zorn (as above). 

New Zealand Nurses Organisation media release, 17 September 2019

The 2019 NZNO Award of Honour was presented tonight to Porirua-based Pacific Nurse Sipaia Kupa at the NZNO Awards Dinner in Wellington.

The Award of Honour is given to an NZNO member who (among many other criteria) has made a noteworthy contribution to the work of NZNO and has had a positive impact on nursing in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Ms Kupa is a New Zealand-trained registered nurse of Tokelau, Cook Island and Tuvalu descent. She has worked mostly in Wellington at Capital & Coast District Health Board (CCDHB) and amongst the Pacific community. Her roles have included being a lecturer on the Bachelor of Nursing Pacific programme at Whitireia; Psychogeriatric speciality nursing, and working as a duly authorised officer with the Mental Health Crisis Resolution Service.  She currently works as a Senior Systems Development Manager for Pacific Peoples at CCDHB and, since 2015, has contracted to the Nursing Council as a Professional Development assessor.

She has been an active member of NZNO’s Pacific Nursing Section and her nominators say her passion for progressing the profile of Pacific nursing is evident in her numerous involvements at a leadership or governance level in various community-based organisations outside her regular work.

Sipaia says she is thankful to the Pacific Nurses Section for her nomination and to NZNO for the award.  She regards this as an honour and wishes to pay tribute to her family and the great teachers she has had who have supported her work and service to Pacific and non-Pacific communities.

The 2019 NZNO Award of Honour is a prestigious award conferred by NZNO every second year. Recipients are given honorary membership of NZNO and a gold badge of recognition. They are also given a trophy which they hold for two years. It is then returned for the next recipient. A person can only receive the NZNO Award of Honour once.

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Media inquiries: Rob Zorn, NZNO Media and Communications Advisor: 027 431 2617.

New Zealand Nurses Organisation media release, 17 September 2019

The 2019 NZNO Awards for Service to Nursing or Midwifery were presented tonight at the NZNO Awards Dinner at Te Papa in Wellington. The awards recognise nurses or midwives who have made a difference to the practice and practice environment of nursing or midwifery at a national level. Recipients must be NZNO members and are as follows:

Angeline Hekau (Auckland)

Angeline Hekau hails from Niue Island and is well-respected in the Pacific mental health sector. She has worked at Counties Manukau Health since 1999 with Pacific peoples, and is currently the Clinical Lead – Pacific for Pacific Mental Health, Integrated Care North.

Through the tripartite agreement between the Niue Government, Counties Manukau Health and the New Zealand Agency for International Development she held nurse-led clinics in Niue Island annually from 2007 to 2016. She is a founding member and Chair of Penina Health Trust (2001) which provides mental health and addiction support services and transitional housing in South Auckland. NZNO has given the award in recognition of Angeline’s wonderful services to nursing and Pacific communities.

Angeline says: “I am very honoured to be given this award and would like to thank NZNO and the NZNO Pacific Nursing Section, Counties Manukau Health, all the Pacific nurses and the people of Niue here in Aotearoa and Niue Island.”

Dr Michal Boyd (Auckland)

Dr Michal Boyd is an academic who also practices as a gerontology nurse practitioner with the School of Nursing, University of Auckland, and in aged residential care facilities. She was the first older adults nurse practitioner registered in New Zealand and has worked tirelessly in this field since her arrival in Aotearoa New Zealand early this century. She is said to have a passion that connects her to others and enhances her message and she continues to break through barriers. She is now engaged in her own clinical practice model delivering general health services to older people in Auckland.

Kim Brooks (Rotorua/Auckland)

Kim Brooks has been a nurse for more than 40 years and has a true passion for the care of older people. She is currently completing her fourth term as treasurer for the NZNO College of Gerontology Nursing. She has had a number of leadership and management roles, including Associate Director of Nursing, Surgical Services at Taupō Hospital, and Director of Nursing at Metlifecare and Director of Nursing at Elizabeth Knox Home and Hospital. She is currently working for Radius Care Facility as a Clinical Manager. She has advocated for gerontology nurses and aged care throughout her work  and as a representative to the Health of Older People Strategy workshops and Funding Review workshops in Aged Care.

Diane Noble (Palmerston North)

Diane Noble is a Manawatu palliative care nurse of Waikato, Ngāti Koroki and Taranaki descent. She is actively involved in NZNO’s Te Rūnanga at a regional level. She has worked with energy and passion for Māori in a variety of nursing and community settings, including being President of the No Ngā Hau e Whā branch of the Māori Women’s Welfare League. She currently works at Palmerston North’s Arohanui Hospice, which bases its services on Mason Durie’s Te Whare Tapa Whā model of care. She embraces Tikanga Māori and believes good palliative care includes supporting the patient and their whānau not only physically, but spiritually.

Gae Redshaw (Wairoa)

Gae Redshaw is described by her nominators as an ‘unsung angel’ who gives fully to her Wairoa community. They say she’s creative, warm, intuitive and a fierce advocate for those under her care. Her long-standing passion is with Palliative Care and has extended over a career of 30 years. She is a role model of “excellence in practice” setting the highest standards of care and professionalism. And she does all this humbly and quietly, never seeking recognition.

Gae says: “I am honoured to receive this special recognition, which also says much about the largesse of spirit and work ethic of my colleagues in the Wairoa District Nursing Team. In this team respect, advocacy and the value of relationships underpins best care for those in our community and for each other.”

Judy Warren (Hamilton)

Judy Warren has had an outstanding nursing career which began in the Waikato in 1998 and has included being a Registered Nurse, Associate Charge Nurse Manager, Clinical Nurse Specialist and Project Manager. She has a specialty focus in colorectal services and has been chair of the NZNO Stomal Therapy Nurses Section and is past chair of the NZNO Cancer Nurses College. She was also active in the Cancer Nurses College committee that helped bring the International Conference of Cancer Nursing to Aotearoa New Zealand for the first time in 2018. Throughout her career Judy has been a strong advocate for patient care and outcomes, and enjoys much respect and mana from her nursing and medical colleagues.  

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Media inquiries: Rob Zorn, NZNO Media and Communications Advisor: 027 431 2617.

Media advisory 16 September 2019

Museum of New Zealand, Te Papa Tongarewa, Wellington

Leaving no one behind: Health for all

The New Zealand Nurses Organisation (NZNO) Annual Conference will take place 18 September 2019 in Wellington. Once again it will be a showcase of pride and celebration around nurses’ and nursing’s achievements, as well as a major forum for discussing issues facing nurses, midwives and health care workers.

NZNO Kaiwhakahaere Kerri Nuku said the conference theme: Leaving no one behind, Health for all, is fitting, given the inequalities and inequities our communities currently face.

“Growing inequalities can be attributed to apathetic politics that don’t address the issues or need for urgent change. This has led to many lagging behind and nurses need to be courageous and prepared to lead the change. This conference will be about inspiring collective action to ensure that as a union and professional organisation we leave no one behind.”

NZNO President Grant Brookes says the conference will be an opportunity to listen, debate, resolve differences and come together around new shared perspectives.

“I think sharing time together, celebrating our achievements and listening to cross sector leaders speak will help us raise our sights and embrace the vision: Leaving no one behind; Health for all.”

Keynote speakers:

8.40am: Dr Jamie Boyd – Opening address
Expanding historical nursing roles to include holistic healing practices in response to the health needs of communities

9.20am: Q&A with Hon Dr David Clark, Minister of Health

10:25am: Judge Andrew Becroft, Children’s Commissioner
Being Child-centred: Fad or Foundation?”

11:10a: Dr Sione Vaka, Senior Lecturer, AUT

11:45am: Annalyn Ulunga, Mercy Hospice
Hospice Nurses: Vital link in meeting cultural and palliative needs of terminally ill Tongan patients and their families

1:15p: Seletute Vave Patterson, Public Health Nurse, Auckland District Health Board
Starship Community: School-based health care through an equity lens

NZNO Awards

Three NZNO awards will be presented at the Conference dinner (Tuesday 17 September, 7pm, Te Papa):

• NZNO Award of Honour
• Service to Nursing and Midwifery
• Service to NZNO.

Media releases about these awards (embargoed until 8pm) will be issued on Tuesday 17 September.

Media are welcome to attend and report on the conference. Please contact Rob Zorn, NZNO Media and Communications Advisor: 027 431 2617, rob.zorn@nzno.org.nz.

New Zealand Nurses Organisation media release, 13 September 2019

Plunket nurses, health workers and administrators voted on 12 September to accept a landmark pay offer. The Collective Agreement signed with Plunket covers 800 members of the New Zealand Nurses Organisation (NZNO), and is its largest single employer agreement.

The deal includes pay parity with DHB MECA rates, implementation of the living wage as a minimum starting salary, and, for the first time, paid parental leave topped up to 14 weeks to match average weekly earnings. The bargaining spanned 12 days and was concluded when additional funding was agreed between Plunket and the Ministry of Health.

NZNO Organiser Danielle Davies said the high level of member participation at every point of these negotiations was critical to the success of the bargaining.

“From the start of our campaign, members gave their bargaining team a strong mandate for what was required to get a deal over the line,” she said.

Ms Davies also acknowledged the current industrial environment’s impact on reaching a settlement.

“The past couple of years have been quite pleasing in terms of activism and industrial campaigning across the union movement.

“This increased member participation in bargaining and associated campaigns has been recognised by employers and Plunket has been no exception. When members are fully involved in bargaining things work out to everybody’s benefit.”

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Media inquiries: Rob Zorn, NZNO Media and Communications Advisor: 027 431 2617.

New Zealand Nurses Organisation media release, 6 September 2019

The New Zealand Nurses Organisation (NZNO) is challenging proposed staffing changes at two facilities run by Presbyterian Support Southland (PSS), saying they will reduce standards of patient care and put extra strain on nursing and care staff, and that they are being justified on out-of-date guidelines.

NZNO Organiser Simone Montgomery said that across its hospital services and two rest homes (Vickery Court in Invercargill and Rest Haven in Gore), the PSS proposals would cut net staff care by around 157 hours per week – and, she said, this comes after net care hours were cut by 114 per week last year.

“The staff reductions are being justified by the claim that PSS services are currently over-staffed according to the 2005 Aged Care Staffing Guidelines, but we have been saying for some time that these standards are hopelessly out-of-date and do not account for the increased number of people in aged care, or for their increasingly complex needs.

“The clear message in all of this to current staff, who are already overstretched, is that somehow they aren’t working well or hard enough, and that’s ridiculous.”

In March this year NZNO and E tū released their joint report: In safe hands? How poor staffing levels and rationed care are harming aged care residents and staff. The research surveyed 1194 people working in aged care facilities and found that three quarters (73.45 percent) of those surveyed either disagreed or strongly disagreed that staffing levels were sufficient to provide quality care for residents.

The report called for a review of the existing standards and that new resulting standards be made compulsory. The 2005 standards currently in place are voluntary.

The rationale for the staffing reductions is that DHB funding for aged care does not cover staff that would be considered ‘extra’ when staffing levels are compared to the 2005 Guidelines, but Ms Montgomery said the proper solution should be to seek increased funding and not reduce standards of care to save money.

“We think New Zealanders care very much about the health, wellbeing and dignity of our seniors and would agree that the way we care for them reflects back on all of us,” she said.

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Media inquiries: Rob Zorn, NZNO Media and Communications Advisor: 027 431 2617.

NZNO media release, 27 August 2019

The New Zealand Nurses Organisation (NZNO) has released the full but partially redacted version of an independent review into its bargaining processes for the 2017/18 District Health Board (DHB) Multi-Employer Collective Agreement (MECA). An independent review was commissioned due to the lengthy and complex nature of the negotiations and NZNO wanted to learn what had gone well and would could be improved for future bargaining.

The final independent review report was received by NZNO in late July and NZNO Chief Executive Memo Musa said the decision to release it fairly quickly in full was due to the high level of interest in its findings on the part of NZNO members and the public; and because NZNO wanted to be transparent about what the report found.

The released report includes the list of recommendations and NZNO’s response to them. Portions of the report itself have been redacted to protect the anonymity of both contributors to the review and the confidentiality of NZNO staff.

“We believe the review has been thorough and that it is very clear about what went well and about what NZNO can improve on for future bargaining. The report makes 15 recommendations and I am pleased to announce that we have adopted them all and that we’re already working to implement them.

“We accept we need to do some things better, but I think it is important that we don’t lose sight of the significant improvements we did achieve for nurses in 2018. I am very proud of the negotiating team and the report also clearly upholds their skills, experience and professionalism.”

He said that those improvements included pay rises of up to 15 per cent; Ministry and DHB commitment to safer staffing and the employment of nearly 500 new nurses; and a commitment to pay equity by the end of this year that would bring nursing wages into line with those of similar male-dominated professions.

“As an organisation, and as a result of improvements we will make arising from the review, NZNO feels very confident about its planning for the 2020 DHB-MECA negotiations, which is already underway.”

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Media inquiries: Rob Zorn, NZNO Media and Communications Advisor: 027 431 2617.

-More information-

The independent review report is available at the NZNO website:

www.nzno.org.nz/Portals/0/publications/2019-08-27-DHB-MECA-Review-Report-Redacted.pdf

New Zealand Nurses Organisation (NZNO) media release, 10 August 2019

The Tapuhi Kaitiaki Awards were presented tonight during the Awards Dinner at the Indigenous Nurses Aotearoa Conference at the Pullman Hotel, Tāmaki Makaurau (Auckland).

The Awards are now in their second year and are one way in which PHARMAC supports Te Rūnanga of Aoteaoroa, NZNO to develop the Māori nursing workforce to achieve the best health outcomes. They are also to recognise the positive influence Māori nurses have on whānau and the role they play as key influencers of health.

The Tapuhi Kaitiaki Awards are in two categories, with winners sharing a $10,000.00 prize in each category.

Category 1 – Nurse Practitioner/Nurse Prescriber – acknowledges Māori nurses who are on a professional development journey to become a nurse prescriber to advance their clinical practice and expertise.

Jo Clark-Fairclough (Te Rarawa, Ngā Puhi, Ngāti Paoa) is a practice nurse at Te Hiku Hauora, a Māori iwi provider in Kaitāia, and one winner in this category. She says her motivation to become a nurse prescriber came from a lack of GP hours within the clinics she works at.

“This is a real barrier to young Māori receiving timely health care, and my becoming a nurse prescriber will improve health outcomes for our high Māori populations within Te Tai Tokerau.”

The other three winners in this category were:

• Pirihira Puata (Ngai Takoto) a Nurse Prescriber at Mana Kidz, a free, nurse-led, school-based programme in the Counties Manukau Health region
• Eve Pogai (Ngāti Kahungungu) a Practice Nurse on the Nurse Practitioner Pathway who works at Kids in the Hawke’s Bay
• Aroha Ruha-Hiraka (Ngāti Awa, Tuwharetoa, Te Arawa, Tūhoe, Taranaki) a Practice Nurse on the Nurse Practitioner pathway

Category 2 – Māori Nurse Mātauranga – acknowledges nurses and tauira who wish to further their study and/or develop an innovative way to help whānau, hapū and iwi to access and understand their medicines.

One recipient in this category was Tamarah Thomason-Tata, (Rongowhakaata), a third year Bachelor of Nursing student at the Eastern Institute of Technology. She says she was quite surprised to receive this award, but that she feels very privileged and grateful to be a recipient.

“Awards like these help encourage Māori to excel in their chosen fields, whilst providing them financial means to further themselves. For myself these funds will go towards my student loan and state final exams – stepping stones to further my education and career.”

The other winners in this category were:

• Tumanako Bidois (Ngāti  Rangiwewehi) who is completing her final year, Bachelor of Nursing at the University of Auckland
• Serene Morrell (Ngāti  Kahungunu), a First year Bachelor of Nursing student at the Eastern Institute of Technology
• Tracy Black (Ngai Tūhoe, Ngāti  Kahungunu, Te Whakatohea), a third year Māori nursing student at Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi
• Logan Murray, (Te Rarawa), a second year Bachelor of Medicine/Bachelor of Surgery student at the University of Otago.

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Media inquiries: Rob Zorn, NZNO Media and Communications Advisor: 027 431 2617.

New Zealand Nurses Organisation (NZNO) media release, 9 August 2019

Colonisation and the legacy of archaic British law were the starting points for our modern child welfare system that is inherently racist and disadvantages Māori in particular, the Indigenous Nurses Aotearoa Conference was told today.

Midwife and Māori health advocate Jean Te Huia took conference attendees on an historical journey from colonisation through to the present day about child welfare law and its impact on Māori.

She said early New Zealand simply adopted England’s poor and vagrancy laws which saw many parents locked away and their children becoming wards of the state. This systemic approach was applied mostly to indigenous populations in New Zealand, Canada and Australia and has continued into the modern era.

“One in 12 Māori boys in Aotearoa New Zealand were placed in care between 1960 and 1980. One in a 1000 Pākehā boys were placed in care during that time. And the statistics show that the children placed in welfare are the most likely to become the prisoners of the next generation.”

She said that today Māori represented 86 per cent of the children in state care which closely mirrors Māori imprisonment rates.

“A lot of people don’t know that 80 percent of Black Power members and 78 percent of Mongrel Mob members were wards of the state.”

She said the statistics are almost exactly the same in places like Australia and Canada.

Ms Te Huia, who is in the second year of her doctorate on this very topic, said a 2015 report by Child Health Commissioner Russel Wills, embargoed at the time, said child welfare was not working and that children were better off left with their parents than put into state care.

She called for three specific changes.

First was the abolition of Section 18A of the Oranga Tamariki Act 1989, which means subsequent children born to certain parents will always be taken into state care

“So we’re seeing second, third and fourth generation families all being in state care,” she said,

She also said Section 78 of the Act is a breach of human rights, where a child is uplifted at birth by order of the court on the basis of as little as an affidavit from single social worker. The parents aren’t consulted and never get a chance to argue their case.

Lastly she said it was appalling that legal aid has been removed for parents of such children who now have no financial means of defending themselves so they can get their children back.

“Child Welfare, Justice, the Family Courts and social workers all work in siloes so no one ever gets to see the whole picture,” Ms Te Huia said.

“It’s not until you bring all the statistics together and you look at the whole situation in the context of colonisation that you get a clear sense that this shouldn’t be happening.”

The Indigenous Nurses Aotearoa Conference is being held at the Pullman Hotel, Tāmaki Makaurau (Auckland), 9-10 August.

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Media inquiries: Rob Zorn, NZNO Media and Communications Advisor: 027 431 2617.

New Zealand Nurses Organisation (NZNO) media release, 8 August 2019

More Māori nursing students will be essential to raising an army of Māori nurses who are sufficiently culturally responsive to meet the increasing health needs of Māori, says Tracy Black (Ngai Tūhoe, Ngāti  Kahungunu, Te Whakatohea), Chair of Te Rūnanga Tauira.

Speaking today at the Te Rūnanga Tauira Professional Development Day, held at Waipapa Marae in Auckland, Ms Black said we need more Māori nurses working in primary, secondary and tertiary care.

“The Nursing Council of New Zealand register identified in 2017 that 7 per cent of the nursing workforce is Māori, but the Māori population is 15 per cent. That is a huge gap,” she said.

Around 115 Māori nursing students are attending the professional development day which is a precursor to the Indigenous Nurses Aotearoa Conference starting on Friday with the theme ‘Raising an Army of Māori Nurses’.

“Today is really about gathering the voices of the membership to decide on issues of focus. It’s about inspiring our new students, but also those who are completing year three and about to enter the workforce. We’re saying, ‘Keep going; we can do this’.

“We need to recruit more and also retain the Māori students we have because many are being managed out when they progress through their studies and come face-to-face with institutional racism in their schools. They can become fearful about speaking out; they become silenced or they leave.”

NZNO Kaiwhakahaere Kerri Nuku said there were some fantastic young Māori nurses coming through into the workforce.

“We need to ensure we support them so the system doesn’t chew them up and spit them out. They are the change agents for the future, and I honestly believe that when I look at the calibre of tauira we have coming through.

“So our job is to help make sure they don’t become disillusioned with a system that is so old and hard for them to work in as Māori. We need to make them feel valued and to know they have different skills and ways of communicating; that they look at the health system and know they are the ones to change it. Really, they’re a lot braver than I am.”

Tracy Black is a third year Māori nursing student at Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi. She says her dreams and aspirations about nursing have always been to make a difference for her whānau because they were dying from preventable illnesses such as heart disease.

“But as I’m walking through this journey my eyes are opening and I have a bigger whānau now. It bridges across all of Aotearoa where my people are dying from preventable illnesses, but have trouble accessing and understanding health services that are not always culturally responsive.

“So, wherever my people need me that’s where I will go.”

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Media inquiries: Rob Zorn, NZNO Media and Communications Advisor: 027 431 2617.