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RNZ News
a day ago
- Health
- RNZ News
Nurses start next round of industrial action today
North Shore nurses on strike in July. Photo: RNZ/Calvin Samuel Nurses begin the next round of industrial action from this morning as they push for better staffing levels. Local action would include district nurses on Auckland's North Shore wearing t-shirts saying 'Not Enough Nurses' instead of uniforms. Nurses who worked in the Cardiothoracic and Vascular Intensive Care Units at Auckland City and Whangārei Hospital would refuse to shift to other wards to cover staff shortages. The New Zealand Nurses Organisation (NZNO) said it followed the 24-hour nationwide strike by 36,000 Te What Ora nurses, midwives and healthcare workers at the end of last month . NZNO delegate and North Shore District nurse Lesley Pook told RNZ the team hoped to bring attention to the "chronic" understaffing that had been happening for years. "This current government does seem to be deaf and is really not listening to the nurses with regard to this issue," she said. "It's been going on for way too long. People are just really struggling. I feel really heartbroken with what I see happening in my team, the daily stress that we're under, and the impact that it has on our patients is really upsetting as well." Pook said that the North Shore District nursing service was short of six staff. "I'm just so passionate about our health service and what we do as nurses. I don't want that to be devalued, not only from a pay perspective, that's not really the priority for me at the moment. It's that if we don't have enough staff, we can't deliver the professional care that we've trained to give. And that is really heartbreaking for the nurse." NZNO Whangārei Hospital delegate Chantelle Thompson said the strike was about safe staffing and putting patient safety first. "Nurses are currently sent to other areas that are short-staffed when required, but this often results in their own areas becoming understaffed. They are also sometimes seeing patients outside their areas with no orientation and are often unfamiliar with these patients," she said. "We want to highlight the massive gap within Te Whatu Ora and the need to have safe staff-to-patient ratios implemented." Health New Zealand executive lead industrial relations Robyn Shearer said the agency was aware of the strike action by some nurses in the Northern region from Monday. "Where appropriate contingency plans are in place to ensure the continued delivery of health services during strike action," she said. Acting Minister of Health Matt Doocey said the union should come back to the negotiating table. "We value our nurses and the vital care they give patients. That's why our Ggvernment has invested heavily in our nursing workforce. The number of nurses employed by Health New Zealand has increased by over 2100 since 2023," he said. "Patient safety is Health New Zealand's top priority, but the NZNO Union is choosing to put politics ahead of patients." Nurses planned to hold nationwide industrial action on 2 September and 4 September . Health NZ said it was deeply concerned by September's strike plans, which it said would cause the postponement of more than 2200 planned procedures, 3600 first-specialist appointments and 8000 follow-up appointments. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
2 days ago
- Health
- RNZ News
Nurses to start local industrial action before strikes
Healthcare workers hold placards at a picket line in Wellington as nurses, midwives and healthcare assistants strike nationwide. Photo: RNZ/Samuel Rillstone Nurses begin the next round of their industrial action from Monday as they push for better staffing levels . Local action will include district nurses on Auckland's North Shore wearing T-shirts saying 'Not Enough Nurses' instead of uniforms. Nurses who work in the cardiothoracic and Vascular Intensive Care Units at Auckland City and Whangārei Hospital will refuse to shift to other wards to cover staff shortages. "The North Shore District Nursing Service is short of six staff," NZNO delegate and district nurse Lesley Pook said. "That leaves 26 nurses to provide crucial community-based nursing, such as complex wound care, intravenous medication management, cancer treatment support and palliative care. "Being short-staffed means we have to ration care. We can't see everyone when we need to and have to rush the appointments of those we can get to." The New Zealand Nurses Organisation (NZNO) says it follows the 24-hour nationwide strike by 36,000 Te What Ora nurses, midwives and healthcare workers at the end of last month . Last week, Health New Zealand was deeply concerned by the plans, which it said would cause the postponement of more than 2200 planned procedures, 3600 first specialist appointments and 8000 follow-up appointments. NZNO chief executive Paul Goulter said Te Whatu Ora members voted strongly to go on strike, after a solution could not be found through bargaining. A full strike is planned from 7am-11pm on Tuesday, 2 September and Thursday, 4 September. "I think it very clearly points to nurses being fed up with the government's inability to resource the system properly to ensure patient safety," Goulter said. Health NZ said it was happy to return to the bargaining table and was committed to finding a solution. "We want to do our very best for our nurses and we think we've put a very fair offer on the table," Health NZ chief executive Dale Bramley said. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
