Nursing reports

New Zealand Nurses Organisation media release, Date 2021

The New Zealand Nurses Organisation (NZNO) says the fact that nurses who live with close contacts are being asked to turn up for work at Auckland’s DHBs, and monitor themselves for symptoms in the meantime, shows how desperate the health system is in terms of short staffing.

On Friday 20 August the Ministry of Health issued an exemption for essential health workers from the need to fully self-isolate as long as certain conditions were met.

Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins has said hospitals are identifying the lowest-risk people they can have working at the moment so our health system can continue to function.

But NZNO Kaiwhakahaere Kerri Nuku says there is a clear public health order that housemates of close contacts are required to self-isolate and they are still required to do so because they are a health risk.

“The health direction to self-isolate is there for good reason and there should be no exceptions.”

Ms Nuku said nurses, midwives, health care assistants and kaimahi hauora working in DHBs have been speaking out about unsafe staffing for decades.

“Successive governments have not listened, and nurses have just been told over and over to do more with less. The result of this is what you see now, where the Government has changed the Ministry of Health’s public health advice because the DHBs don’t have enough staff.

“It just makes no sense and further underscores the very urgent need to address short staffing by recognising and rewarding nursing so it’s a job people will want to do.”

She said nurses staying away from work because they live with close contacts is also a protection for them, and that nurses were as entitled to that protection as anybody else.

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

New Zealand Nurses Organisation media release, 20 August 2021

The New Zealand Nurses Organisation (NZNO) is concerned for the emotional and physical wellbeing of nurses, midwives, health care assistants and kaimahi hauora because of the strain put on them by the community resurgence of COVID-19.

NZNO Kaiwhakahaere Kerri Nuku says the organisation is particularly concerned for primary care nursing staff – who work mainly in medical centres, emergency clinics and testing stations– because they are the first frontline against the virus and are the most exposed and least protected.

“We are already hearing alarming reports that PPE supplies in primary care, such as masks, are running low or being drip-fed; and mask fit-testing, which is essential to proper protection, is not occurring.

“These are among the most essential of essential workers because they help keep people out of hospital. Yet in terms of equipping them, we seem to be in pretty much the same place as this time last year.

“We’re also concerned that the approach to the virus has not been updated, despite the delta variant being airborne and so much more serious and contagious. Current guidelines need an urgent review.”

Ms Nuku said nursing staff in all sectors will be dealing with the emotional toll the renewed risk of contracting the virus will place upon themselves and their family and whānau.

“We know some nurses are struggling to come to terms with what is being asked of them. Even those of us locked safely away in our homes are anxious and we don’t have to go to a workplace where we face the virus every day.

“Nurses in both hospitals and primary care remain chronically understaffed, and nurses leaving, taking roles at MIQ Vaccinations programmes and having the border closed to international nurses, meant many staff are new to their wards or teams which also added strain.”

Ms Nuku also said NZNO would be pursuing matters affecting nurse safety and wellbeing with the Government, DHBs and Ministry of Health – and that it will hold the powers-that-be accountable.

She said nurses are exhausted and don’t have a lot to give right now, and urged the public to get behind them and show their support whenever and however they can.

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

New Zealand Nurses Organisation media release, 17 August 2021

The New Zealand Nurses Organisation (NZNO) says it will withdraw its strike action plans for 19 August after a community case of COVID-19 in Auckland has led to a nationwide lockdown.

NZNO Industrial Services Manager Glenda Alexander said people’s health and wellbeing have to remain our number one priority.

“Our issues are important, but it would not be safe or responsible for us to continue with a strike if the country is under lockdown.

“Our members are resolute, and we will continue to look at future strike action, but our members are also health professionals and know that people and their wellbeing are the most important things. We will not put people in danger to make a point.

“One of our main issues has been that staffing levels are unsafe across the health system. We think it is important that all rostered nursing staff are at work should the COVID situation escalate.”

The strike was planned for 11am until 7pm on 19 August and NZNO will make further media statements as the situation develops.

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

New Zealand Nurses Organisation media release, 9 August 2021

The New Zealand Nurses Organisation (NZNO) stands in solidarity with Midwifery Employee Representation and Advisory Service (MERAS) members’ strike action.

Hospital midwives with the MERAS union will begin a series of rolling strikes today starting in Northland, Southern and the three Auckland DHBS, with the possibility of a 12 hour strike on 19 August – the same day on which NZNO’s DHB members plan to strike for eight hours.

NZNO Acting Chief Executive Mairi Lucas said MERAS midwives face similar issues to NZNO members who work in DHB hospitals and facilities.

“We also have many members who work in midwifery, and we recognise they share similar struggles for safe working conditions and fair pay, and they – in fact all those belonging to NZNO – stand shoulder-to-shoulder in mutual support.

“It’s the same old story where a highly skilled and trained workforce struggles to have the value of their work recognised because they are mostly women.”

She said that, as with NZNO members, strike action is never taken lightly.

“Like nursing, midwifery is a caring profession but, also like nurses, midwives are professionals who deserve to be valued and safe in a workplace where their own wellbeing is cared for.”

Ms Lucas urged the district health boards to come to each negotiation with a mind to settle in a way that will help guarantee the future of both professions.

“Fair pay is essential to both workforces retaining staff and recruiting for the future. But both professions are also stressed, over-worked and under-resourced. The future health of all New Zealanders remains under threat as long as these issues are unaddressed.”

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

New Zealand Nurses Organisation media release, 2 August 2021

The New Zealand Nurses Organisation (NZNO) is disturbed the district heath boards (DHBs) have approached the Employment Court to help resolve a disagreement over providing life preserving services (LPS) during strike action, says NZNO Kaiwhakahaere Kerri Nuku.

NZNO Industrial Services Manager Glenda Alexander said NZNO was not aware of any DHB facility that did not have its LPS needs met during the recent 9 June strike.

“We wonder why the DHBs did not approach us to discuss the matter before issuing a media release about their decision to take this action, which seems just another distraction from meaningful negotiations.

“We believe we have met all of our obligations as set out under the Code of Good Faith for the Public Health Sector (the Code) and that we have complied with all agreements reached. We will continue to do so in the future.”

Ms Alexander said NZNO and NZNO members have put a massive effort into ensuring life preserving services (LPS) are able to be provided and are gearing up to do the same for the 19 August strike.

“This is an affront to NZNO and its members who have worked constructively at all times with the DHBs to agree how best to provide LPS in each circumstance, and who will continue to do so. Our members have bent over backwards to make sure patients were not harmed as a result of strike action, and the services were certainly provided.

“It does appear, from what the DHBs are now stating publicly that NZNO and the DHBs have a different understanding of the extent of any rights and obligations under the Code in terms of LPS.

“However, NZNO members will not be putting patients and other staff at risk, as is implied by the DHB media release.”

Ms Alexander invited the DHBs instead to focus on coming up with an offer centred on guarantees that safe staffing will be in place every day to ensure the future of safe nursing practice is secure. She said she looks forward to negotiations commencing again on Thursday 5 August.

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

New Zealand Nurses Organisation media release, 2 August 2021

The New Zealand Nurses Organisation (NZNO) has today issued strike notices to the country’s district health boards (DHBs) after its 30,000 members who work in DHBs voted in favour of an eight-hour nationwide strike on 19 August.

The notice is for the second of three planned strikes and comes after members voted by clear majority to reject the latest DHB offer on the grounds that if fails to set out clearly how safe staffing will be addressed and how the DHBs will be held accountable for it.

Lead Advocate and NZNO Industrial Advisor David Wait said members are taking a stand for the future of the nursing profession which is in a state of chronic crisis because nurses work in unsafe environments every day and cannot adequately care for their patients.

“Let’s be really clear. This is about the standard of care you and I receive when we go to hospital, and it is about making sure nursing is a job people want to do. We need to be sure nurses will be there when we need them in the future – and we will need them!

“Nurses, midwives, health care assistants and kaimahi hauora have been working under horrific and unsafe staffing conditions for a long time, made much worse by the pandemic and RSV, and they are genuinely worried about the future of nursing in Aotearoa New Zealand.

“Nurses are leaving the profession or are moving overseas where wages and conditions are often so much better and we must achieve better and safer working conditions to help prevent that.”

He said the latest offer is completely unclear about how the DHBs will be held accountable if they do not provide safe staffing and just repeats the same old vague promises that the problem will be fixed at some point in the future.

“Nurses are fed up after years of such promises and have no trust or confidence that the situation will improve on the basis of what has been offered around safe staffing guarantees.

“It’s just not good enough, and the stakes are too high not to take such a stand.”

However, he said NZNO was eager to get back into talks so strike action could be avoided.

“We invited the DHBs to continue urgently with the negotiation/mediation process through this weekend past. But were advised they are not available to meet until this coming Thursday (5 August).

“This delay on the part of the DHBs is regrettable, especially with impending strike action.”

He said the DHBs and Government need to come up with an offer that doesn’t just recognise the contribution of nurses through pay, but one that also assures them the future of nursing is secure.

The nationwide strike will take place on 19 August from 11am-7pm. MIQ and border workers will be exempt and life preserving services will be provided in negotiation with the DHBs.

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

New Zealand Nurses Organisation (NZNO) media release, 29 July 2021

NZNO members who work in district health boards (DHBs) have voted by clear majority to reject the latest offer in their negotiations with the DHBs, saying it fails to address the chronic and systemic safe staffing issues in a way that would ensure and protect the future of the health system.

The ballot closed at 5pm this afternoon.

Lead Advocate David Wait said that, while the DHBs had made promising moves on pay, the offer contained too many ambiguities.

“Members have been clear from the beginning that their safety at work and the safety of their patients is a priority, and that is where they most deserve certainty.

“Better pay will make nursing more attractive, but it is not clear how the DHBs will be held accountable if they do not provide safe staffing. Nurses don’t want more vague promises that the problem will be fixed in the future – which is what we have received once again.

“For decades nurses, health care assistants, midwives and kaimahi hauora have been given these promises and things are now worse than ever, everywhere.”

He said nurses were making a stand for the long-term future of their profession and the wellbeing of people living in Aotearoa New Zealand.

“This won’t happen until the DHBs put accountability systems in place so nurses know things really will change and that their employers will listen when they feel unsafe at work.”

Wait said that, while a commitment to finalising Pay Equity by 30 November was appreciated, members are being asked again to trust in an outcome that remains uncertain at this point.

“This is just one more uncertainty an area where commitments to have the matter ‘sorted by a certain date’ have consistently not been met. The effective pay equity end date remains 31 December 2019, but the process has taken much longer, so it’s not surprising members’ trust has been worn thin.”

He also said NZNO was committed to carrying on with bargaining and continuing with negotiation and mediation. He said he expected the DHBs to do the same.

“We want the DHBs to come back with an offer that provides certainty over how safe staffing will be addressed. Members are tired of ambiguity.”

NZNO lifted a notice for a 24-hour strike on 29-30 July so members could consider and vote on an amended offer. However, given the outcome of the ratification ballot, he said strikes planned for 19 August (8 hours) and 9-10 September (24 hours) will go ahead unless an acceptable offer is made.

“Whether or not they happen will depend on our continued negotiations, which NZNO remains committed to.”

NZNO has more than 52,000 members; around 32,000 work for DHBs.

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

New Zealand Nurses Organisation media release, 16 July 2021

The New Zealand Nurses Organisation (NZNO) says significant progress has been made in negotiations with the district health boards (DHBs) over the latest multi-employer collective agreement (MECA), and it will be presenting an offer to its members next week.

Lead Advocate David Wait said he was glad negotiations had reached this point after talks broke down earlier in the week.

“The DHBs had shown a willingness to move on a number of issues important to our members, but did not have an offer ready by close of business on Wednesday, which was the two-week deadline for issuing the strike notice.

NZNO will be withdrawing the strike notice for 29 July, providing members with the space and opportunity to consider this important information, while not having to prepare for significant industrial action.

Timings for the ratification vote will also be announced to members next week.

NZNO’s 30,000 members who work in DHBs voted in favour of three strikes: 29/30 July (24 hours), 19 August (8 hours), 9/10 September (24 hours) in a ballot that closed on 6 July.

If the offer is not accepted by members the strikes planned for 19 August and 9 September could still go ahead.

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

New Zealand Nurses Organisation media release, 6 July 2021

The New Zealand Nurses Organisation (NZNO) says its 30,000 members working in DHBs have voted in favour of three more strikes: July 29/30 (24 hours), August 19 (8 hours), September 9/10 (24 hours). The strike ballot closed at 12 Noon today.

NZNO lead advocate David Wait said the vote was very high and members clearly remain resolute about ongoing strike action to achieve the recognition and working conditions that will ensure nursing remains a viable profession.

“This is a history-making set of actions that could take place over the next few months, but we will be continuing discussions with the DHBs this week and we remain committed to securing a deal that is acceptable to our members.”

However, he said the DHBs also seem willing to actively seek a solution.

“Progress has been made in our discussions and that has given us some hope a resolution can be found around pay and safe staffing.”

Further discussions with the DHBs are set for later this week, and mediation is scheduled for next week on 14-15 July.

While he had some optimism about the progress made, David Wait said the issues facing nursing staff remain very real.

“We are facing a national health crisis in terms of safe staffing, recruitment and retention; and the working conditions our members face can no longer be endured and that’s why our issues matter.

David Wait said he had not seen this level of member determination before, and that if agreement is not reached, more nurses, midwives, health care assistants and kaimahi hauora will simply leave the profession.

“Nursing is a caring profession and it’s heart-breaking nurses feel so undervalued that they would choose ongoing strike action. To avoid this, we need the Government and the DHBs to come up with an offer right now that truly recognises the contribution nurses make and that ensures the future of nursing. This is about the wellbeing and safety of everyone in Aotearoa New Zealand.”

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

New Zealand Nurses Organisation media release, 7 June 2021

The New Zealand Nurses Organisation says its 30,000 members who work in DHBs have voted overwhelmingly to reject a second offer in their current round of multi-employer collective agreement (MECA) negotiations. This means the eight-hour strike planned for Wednesday 9 June will go ahead affecting all public hospitals and DHB facilities.

The ballot closed today at Noon and NZNO Lead Advocate David Wait said he was pleased at the exceptionally high voter turnout and at the member unity the result reveals.

“Members are facing serious nursing workforce issues, with pay rates that do not attract people into the profession or retain the people we have, and staffing levels which stretch them to breaking point, putting them and their patients at risk.

“This second DHB offer has not significantly changed and does not address these issues. Our members are genuinely concerned that nursing shortages would increase if it was accepted, and that standards of care for all in Aotearoa New Zealand would suffer as a result.

“Ironically some DHBs have requested to have more staff on strike day to provide life preserving services than they would ordinarily have in their wards on a non-strike day. That staff levels are regularly below life preserving services levels should concern everyone.

“We want the DHBs to be transparent about this being a large-scale problem where staff and patients are regularly put at risk. The DHBs have attempted to respond to this claim, but after years of delays and failed promises, members want to see some accountability on their part.”

David Wait said the thing that made the rejected offer different was the inclusion of a lump sum payment of $4,000 (gross and pro rata) which was a part payment on back pay that would be owed to members through the pay equity claim, which should be settled by the end of the year.

“Members know that lump sum payments do not lift actual rates of pay, which impacts on the long-term issues of a health system that values nurses and their work, attracts new people into the profession and encourages others back from overseas.

“They also find it unfair that they are being asked to wait for the pay equity process, when there is uncertainty about when this will happen or what the results will be.”

He said NZNO members were resolute and that further strike action could not be ruled out.

“It’s heart-breaking that nurses and other health workers feel so undervalued that they would choose industrial action. Nobody wants this and the best way for future strikes to be avoided would be through a fair and decent offer.

“We need the Government and the DHBs to come up with a profession-enhancing offer right now that truly recognises the contribution nursing staff make and that ensures the future of nursing for the wellbeing and safety of us all.”

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