Nursing reports

Thousands of nurses, midwives, health care assistants and kaimahi hauora, alongside their whānau and communities, will Maranga Mai! Rise Up! to rally on Saturday in 20 locations around the country. They will be calling on political parties to have policies to address the nursing and health crisis in this election year.

The rallies, organised by the New Zealand Nurses Organisation Tōpūtanga Tapuhi Kaitiaki o Aotearoa (NZNO), will see these essential workers, their friends and their families taking action by joining together to march, hear speeches, wave banners and enjoy family-focused activities, between 11am and 1pm in most places.

This is the first time all 57,000 NZNO members are being called to rise up for united action, regardless of the area of nursing they work in (hospitals, aged care, Māori and Iwi, Primary Health Care, Plunket, Hospice etc) because, NZNO says, the issues boil down to the same things for every nurse, everywhere: unsafe staffing levels and a fundamental undervaluing of the work they do.

The purpose of the rallies is for health workers and communities to call on politicians and their parties to have policies this election year to address the nursing crisis and for health to top their list of election priorities.

"So much has been asked of nurses, and they have delivered like the courageous and professional workforce they are, right across the Health Sector," said NZNO Chief Executive Paul Goulter.

"But decades of poor planning, inadequate funding and outright neglect across successive governments have led us to a time of absolute crisis in terms of pay, staffing resources and morale across the nursing sector."

He said just about any nurse you speak to will say patients are not receiving adequate care.

"That’s worrying for our elderly and infirm but it’s also soul-destroying for nurses. Add to that poor conditions, chronic overwork and the Government’s refusal to settle outstanding pay issues, and it’s no wonder thousands have left for Australia and thousands more are making plans to leave."

Paul Goulter said the nursing crisis can be fixed, but that the Government needs to stop pussy-footing around.

"We need 4000-5000 more nurses; it’s as simple as that. So we want to see everything possible being done without delay.

"We need better pay and conditions now, so nurses are valued and stop leaving; free training and other incentives for nursing students - a third of whom drop out because we make it too hard to qualify; more Māori and Pasifika nurses; and a health system that upholds te Tiriti so people get culturally appropriate care and inequities are reduced."

NZNO will also be launching a petition at the rallies calling on political parties to commit to fixing the nursing crisis and Paul Goulter said it is intended that the petition response will be massive.

"This is a chance for the public in Aotearoa New Zealand to express their concerns for the wellbeing of our nurses and their concerns about the future of our health system.

"The crisis is worsening by the day but it can be fixed with commitment and courage; and we want the public’s help in sending that message to those wanting our votes in 2023."

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More information:

- Media advisories will also be sent to media at regions where rallies will be held.

- Spokespeople will be available at the rallies and interviews can be arranged in advance (email media@nzno.org.nz).

- Journalists are welcome to report on and participate in the rallies (and to sign the petition).

Rallies will be held in the following locations.

Kaitāia 11am-1pm - Gather at the old Warehouse Carpark, 11 Matthews Avenue, Kaitāia for the rally with speeches, petition-signing and then whānau time.

Rawene 11am-1pm - Gather at the Boat Ramp Carpark, 5 Clendon Esplanade, Rawene for the rally with speeches, petition-signing and then whānau time.

Kerikeri 11am-1pm - Gather outside the ANZ Bank, corner of Kerikeri Road and Fairway Drive, rally with speeches, gather signatures on petition, then whānau time.

Whangārei 11am-1pm - Gather at Pūtahi Park, Town Basin (next to the Canopy Bridge). Rally with speeches then whānau time with activities (BYO picnic lunch).

Dargaville 11am-1pm - Gather at Countdown/The Warehouse Carpark, Victoria Street, Dargaville, then speeches followed by fun and whānau activities.

Auckland 11am-2pm - Gather at Myers Park, from 10.30am; march from Myers Park to Auckland Domain. Rally with speeches then whānau time with kai at Auckland Domain.

Hamilton11am-1pm - Gather at Hamilton Gardens, Cobham Drive (Rose Garden side near the playground and rotunda by gate 2 entrance and carpark). BYO picnic and join together for speeches, activities, kai and music.

Tauranga11am-1pm - Gather at NZNO Car Park, Tauranga. Hikoi from NZNO Offices 141 Cameron Road, Tauranga to The Strand and back, stopping at Hairy Maclary park and Red Square. Return to NZNO for speeches, kai and refreshments. FREE Parking available at 94 Durham Street carpark building.

Whakatāne 11am-1pm - Gather at Wharaurangi, the Strand, for rally and speeches.

Gisborne 11am-2pm - Gather at Heipipi park from 10am; march from Heipipi Park to Kelvin Park at 11am; rally with speeches then whānau time.

Palmerston North 11am-1pm - Picnic in The Square. Bring your own food and join in the activities.

Masterton 11am-1pm - Meet at Town Hall Square. Bring a picnic, your family and a chair.

Wellington 11am-1pm - Gather at Civic Square, march to Parliament, then speeches followed by BYO picnic, music and face painting.

Nelson 11am-1pm - Gather at Tahunanui Beach, behind the Nightingale Memorial Library, then speeches followed by fun and whānau activities.

Blenheim 11am-1pm - Gather in Seymour Square, 37 Seymour St

Kaikōura 11am-1pm - Gather at the Esplanade opposite Dolphin Encounter.

Christchurch 11am-1pm - Gather at Bridge of Remembrance for march to Victoria Square, then speeches at Victoria Square followed by fun and whānau activities.

Ashburton 11am-1pm - Meet at the BBQ area in Ashburton Domain for the rally and a free sausage sizzle.

Dunedin 11am-1pm - Gather at First Church for march to the Octagon, then speeches followed by fun and whānau activities.

Invercargill 11am-Noon - Gather at the Gala Street Reserve.

ENDS

For more information contact:

Rob Zorn | Communications and Media Advisor, New Zealand Nurses Organisation

Email: rob.zorn@nzno.org.nz, Tel: +64 (0)4 494 8242, Mobile: +64 (0)27 431 2617

New Zealand Nurses Organisation media release, 5 April 2023

The New Zealand Nurses Organisation Tōpūtanga Tapuhi Kaitiaki o Aotearoa (NZNO) says it is not surprised that a leaked staff survey shows widespread lack of confidence that Te Whatu Ora restructuring will be of any benefit. The report reveals staff are feeling under-resourced and undervalued instead.

NZNO Chief Executive Paul Goulter said it appears Te Whatu Ora has become bound up in the changes and taken its eye off the crucial frontline.

“Nurses are feeling that disrespect every day. They’ve been working their guts out for years with little recognition of their value or contribution.

“Is it any wonder that 5000 have shown interest in moving to Australia in the last six months? That’s 5000 people whose main job it is to keep you and me alive and well.

“Is Te Whatu Ora, and the Government taking that seriously? We’re just not seeing any evidence of that, and it’s soul destroying for nurses.”

Paul Goulter says nurses are typically asked to do more and more to keep their workplaces running until overwork becomes the norm. Yet when they ask for resources or report abuse they feel ignored by senior management.

“Why would you want to keep working under those circumstances? Why wouldn’t you head off to greener pastures for better pay, better recognition and less stress? That’s what many of our members who have left for Australia are saying.”

He says if Te Whatu Ora wants to be taken seriously, it must address these short-term problems.

“The last thing we need is another winter of discontent, but that is exactly what’s coming. A complete change of focus is required and Te Whatu Ora needs to make keeping the nurses it has as its first priority – and that means showing them respect and paying them adequately.

“Next we have got to put massive resources into recruiting more nursing staff into training now, and removing the financial and logistical barriers that stop many nursing students graduating.

“Then we’ve got to sort out long-standing pay problems like Pay Equity for Te Whatu Ora nurses, and Pay Parity right across the health sector. We cannot afford not to do this or there won’t be any nurses left, and we’ll have no one ready to replace those who have already moved on.”

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

The New Zealand Nurses Organisation Tōpūtanga Tapuhi Kaitiaki o Aotearoa (NZNO) has welcomed this morning’s Government announcement to address pay disparities in the nursing and kaiāwhina workforces from 1 April.

NZNO Chief Executive Paul Goulter said the $200m a year initiative that will be spent addressing the wage gap between community-based frontline workers and their counterparts who work for Te Whatu Ora needs to be acknowledged.

“We welcome the move the move towards closing the Pay Parity gap and for us this the start of a pathway to close that gap,” he said.

“We also note that 95 percent won’t close the gap completely but will go a long way towards it.”

However, Paul Goulter said the decision to continue to leave out GP practice nurses is regrettable.

Paying all nurses in New Zealand the same whether they work for Te Whatu Ora, Māori and Pasifika health providers, Aged Residential Care providers, Home and Community Support Services and Hospice sectors is vitally important.

“We note that General Practice nurses are not covered by the Government’s announcement and that’s a real concern to us.

“We will continue to press the case strongly for GP practice nurses to be covered.”

Paul Goulter called on the Government to ensure that the $200m a year being distributed actually goes to the nurses themselves rather than being diverted to other areas.

“We think there needs to be strong transparency that ensures the money actually does get to the nurses and there is enforceability to ensure it happens.”

Nurses and midwives belonging to the New Zealand Nurses Organisation Tōpūtanga Tapuhi Kaitiaki o Aotearoa (NZNO) say resolving Pay Equity negotiations for each profession is essential to staff recruitment and retention, and must be sorted soon so better health care can be provided to those who need their services.

Pay Equity refers to nurses and midwives being paid at the same level as professions dominated by males who do directly comparable work. Nurses and midwives have Pay Equity claims that have been stalled by legal action over the Nursing Pay Equity claim and, while nurses have been given an interim Pay Equity payment, midwives have not.

NZNO Kaiwhakahaere Kerri Nuku, who has herself worked as a midwife, says this has caused real problems in that registered nurses who hold both competencies are being tempted to give up their midwifery competency so they can receive the Nursing Pay Equity interim payment they need to survive financially.

"On International Women’s Day (8 March) we met with our midwifery members who are frustrated at being treated differently and at the lack of progress around Pay Equity, despite that they work collaboratively with nurses, have similar qualifications and do essential work that is of equal value.

"Nurses and midwives are so thin on the ground that there is a real danger of people needing hospital or community health services, and mothers having babies not receiving adequate care. Sorting Pay Equity would go a long way towards bolstering staff numbers in both professions, but the Government seems to have other priorities.

"Meanwhile patients and pregnant women miss out, while nurses and midwives are run ragged trying to meet patient needs. This is just completely unsustainable."

Ms Nuku says every nurse and every midwife, everywhere, deserves recognition, and to receive wages that show they are equally valued and essential.

"Our people, our Māori and Pasifika, our elderly and our new young mothers need us to be there for them in numbers and every day - while the Government quibbles over money - more and more nurses and midwives are giving up on Aotearoa New Zealand and heading off for greener pastures.

"We are paying a massive price already for that, and the cost in terms of human suffering will continue to rise."

The New Zealand Nurses Organisation Tōpūtanga Tapuhi Kaitiaki o Aotearoa (NZNO) has noted the National Party’s commitment to providing better health services announced in Christopher Luxon’s State of the Nation speech yesterday.

However, NZNO Chief Executive Paul Goulter said that commitment needs to be contrasted to what appears to be a complete lack of policy and funding detail centred on nurses and other frontline workers, who are key to providing the level of patient care we all want but currently don’t have.

"NZNO wants to hear how National plans to fix outstanding Nursing Pay Parity and Pay Equity issues, and precisely how they would go about ensuring we are recruiting locally the nurses we need and making the profession attractive once again to keep the nurses we have.

"Mr Luxon mentioned nurses just once in his speech on Sunday where he spoke about overseas recruitment.

"There was certainly no long-term solution in his speech to this crisis. We need to be growing our own, committing money to free fees and other incentives for nursing students within Aotearoa, and we need to be doing that right now because the short-term solutions are limited."

Paul Goulter said much more needs to be done to keep nurses in their jobs and this is dependent on commitment to fixing nursing Pay Equity and Pay Parity and increasing nurses’ wages.

"Every nurse everywhere needs to be paid fairly, as a shortage of nurses means patient care suffers throughout the health spectrum."

He said all political parties, including National, must make health a priority as we run up to the election.

"The country is in the midst of a health crisis, where people are not getting adequate care in their communities and when they go to hospital. Poor health outcomes for Māori are not acceptable. We need the details of how National intends to fix that," Paul Goulter said.

"National would do well to consult the workforce to make sure nurses feel heard - that means speaking with us.

"Our doors and lines are always open. We invite all politicians to come and talk to us if they are serious about his commitment to creating better health services in New Zealand."

The New Zealand Nurses Organisation, Tōpūtanga Tapuhi Kaitiaki o Aotearoa (NZNO) has acknowledged the hard mahi on behalf of nurses done by outgoing Te Whatu Ora Health NZ Chair Rob Campbell.

NZNO Chef Executive Paul Goulter said Rob Campbell was a person who spoke his mind, and that he often advocated for nurses and their causes, even where such comments were not always welcome.

"Mr Campbell regularly spoke about the worrying shortage of nursing staff and took our concerns about issues such as pay equity for nurses and frontline resourcing seriously."

"He was an outspoken critic of the Government’s bewildering refusal to put internationally qualified nurses on the fast track to residency and was firmly committed to te Tiriti partnership in health.

"Mr Campbell strongly believed in the principles embedded in the Pae Ora legislation, especially the principle of working in Tiriti partnership to achieve equity in the lives of all people in Aotearoa New Zealand."

Paul Goulter said health workers had lost a powerful and important advocate in the sacking, and that he wished Health Minister Ayesha Verrall well in finding a replacement.

"At a time of reform and uncertainty, it will be important for her to appoint a successor who is willing to work equally hard in the interests of our frontline health workers who desperately require both recognition and support." 

Everyone in Aotearoa New Zealand, including NZNO members, will be asked to answer questions about themselves on Census Day - 7 March 2023.

We encourage all our members to participate this year. By doing the census, we create a better idea of what our whānau and communities need and this makes it important for all of us to get involved.

If we go on the Stats NZ website we can access fliers, posters and resources as well as some really cool videos that reach out to our Māori, Pacific, migrant and refugee families, our youth and elderly to participate. There are also resources that have been translated into 28 languages.

The questions you will be asked reflect the broad range of uses of census data. Most of the topics covered are the same as previous censuses, for example, population demographics, location, ethnicity, culture and identity, education and training, income, work, families and households, housing, transport, cigarette smoking, and disability.

One in seven people did not complete the 2018 census, which was far from ideal to get the best information to our Government. Some of the data was also considered too incomplete to be regarded as official statistics and required revision by combining real census data with other government administrative data. We urge to play your part in making the 2023 Census a better one.

Go to www.census.govt.nz to do your bit.

The New Zealand Nurses Organisation Tōpūtanga Tapuhi Kaitiaki o Aotearoa (NZNO) commends its nurse, health care assistant and kaimahi hauora members working in our flood-devasted areas.

NZNO Kaiwhakahaere Kerri Nuku, who lives in Hawke’s Bay, says many are dealing with their own personal traumas as a result of the floods, but where they can they are still turning up to their jobs, working extra shifts to cover those unable to work, and mucking in with the community clean up.

"The floods have made the region resemble a war zone, with devastation everywhere and helicopters constantly overhead. Just getting to work can take hours longer each way, and short staffing is rife so extra shifts have become the norm for anyone able to work."

Coronary care nurse, Napier resident and NZNO member Sami Mcintosh said everyone has been affected by trauma, either directly, through a loved one, or through compassion or feelings of guilt at not being able to do more for those less fortunate.

"We are doing what we can to keep our patients safe - nurses, cleaners and all the way through to nurse managers - but beds, personnel and resources are short and we are in survival mode."

Ms Mcintosh said standards of care have been compromised by reduced staffing levels, but the hard truth is that many nurses are simply unable to work.

"We have nurses whose homes have been destroyed and they having to deal with that. There’s also fear around looting, which means people are reluctant to leave their houses unoccupied.

"Nurses are used to the tension around balancing their own needs with the needs of their patients, but this has brought that tension up to a whole other level. Do we deal with our own catastrophes, help our neighbour shovel their property, or work ourselves ragged doing endless extra shifts?"

NZNO Kaiwhakahaere Kerri Nuku said that for decades governments have under-invested in the nursing workforce and that our lack of preparedness for disasters, in terms of nursing numbers, is further proof of that.

"Better planning for emergencies is needed of course, but part of that has to be building a large and resilient homegrown workforce."

Nevertheless, Ms Nuku said she is immensely proud of the way nurses and health workers in flood-hit areas have responded to the crisis.

"Once again we’re rising to the challenge where a lot is being asked of us. Despite the tensions and demands on them, nurses are doing their best with what resources they have.

"Community nurses are working with marae and local aid agencies, or with the centres where many of the displaced people are being housed. Hospital nurses are juggling lack of bedspace and resources alongside increased staff absenteeism to see that patients get the best care possible."

She said the devastated communities owe their nurses a debt of gratitude, and that the destruction wrought by Hurricane Gabrielle has only further underscored the need for better investment towards growing the nursing workforce.

New Zealand Nurses Organisation media release, 28 November 2022

The New Zealand Nurses Organisation Tōpūtanga Tapuhi Kaitiaki o Aotearoa (NZNO) has welcomed this morning’s Government announcement that $200m per year will be spent addressing the wage gap between community-based frontline workers and their counterparts who work for Te Whatu Ora. 

But it says the decision to leave out GP practices is regrettable.

NZNO Chief Executive Paul Goulter said the Government needs to be acknowledged for the initiative, which is particularly good news for workers with Māori and Pasifika health service providers whose wage gap has been crushingly unjust for so long. 

“Earning up to 25 percent less just because of where you work is completely unacceptable in Aotearoa New Zealand, so we're really pleased the Government has committed to ongoing funding for this.

“We also think the boost will have a really positive impact for the Aged Care Residential sector, which has been hit really hard by staff leaving for better paid jobs in the public sector.”

However, Paul Goulter said more work still needed to be done because nurses working for general practices have been excluded.

“The Government says it’s not convinced a pay parity gap exists for those nurses. We don't agree with that at all, and both our members and employers say they are losing staff at rate of knots to jobs with Te Whatu Ora where the pay is much better.

“And in a lot of cases general practice employers are topping up wages just to keep their staff, and that money has come out of funding for other services which could have benefitted patients and the community. 

“That’s not a sustainable situation long-term and the Government really needs to re-examine this decision. Otherwise Primary Health Care, and the communities that rely on it, will continue to suffer. It’s just not right that this sector will not participate.”

Paul Goulter also welcomed the Government’s assertion that the money must be used to fix existing pay differences.

“We’re really keen to see what mechanism will exist to ensure transparency and that the funding goes into the pockets of nurses and other health workers, rather than being absorbed into something else.”

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