NZNO in the news

The Government’s sudden cap on nursing students is a failure of workforce planning and shows there’s no credible plan to build a sustainable homegrown nursing workforce, Tōpūtanga Tapuhi Kaitiaki o Aotearoa NZNO says. NZNO Primary Health Care College chair Tracey Morgan says at a...

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Tōpūtanga Tapuhi Kaitiaki o Aotearoa NZNO has welcomed Labour's promised pay rise for care and support workers as a first step. It says care and support workers now need a full settlement of their pay equity claim and a workable pay equity system for all of its members. Labour today...

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Tōpūtanga Tapuhi Kaitiaki o Aotearoa NZNO has applauded the Green Party's commitment to restore pay equity and fund a settlement for care and support workers and has urged all other political parties to do the same. The Green Party today announced it would immediately restore the pay...

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An announcement of 380 additional nurses, midwives and health care assistants for hospitals around the country at the end of winter is too little too late, NZNO says. Tōpūtanga Tapuhi Kaitiaki o Aotearoa NZNO Kaiwhakahaere Kerri Nuku says chief nurse Nadine Gray’s comments this morning...

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Around 1200 senior nurses from around the world will attend an International Nursing Council conference in Wellington after the New Zealand Nursing Organisation won hosting rights.  Tōpūtanga Tapuhi Kaitiaki o Aotearoa NZNO Kaiwhakahaere Kerri Nuku says the International Nursing Council...

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New research by Auckland University has found addressing nurse shortages in post-operative care may save 182 lives a year because short-staffed wards have higher rates of potentially preventable deaths and complications after their surgeries.  The newly published research analysed...

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Nurses and health care assistants working on the Muriwai Ward at Waitākere Hospital will strike for the second time this year after last ditch efforts to resolve unsafe staffing concerns with Te Whatu Ora collapsed, NZNO says.  The 60 members of Tōpūtanga Tapuhi Kaitiaki o Aotearoa NZNO...

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Working in an overcrowded emergency department (ED), up to 680% capacity over a week, makes staff feel overwhelmed with the pressure, Tōpūtanga Tapuhi Kaitiaki o Aotearoa NZNO says. For Whanganui Hospital ED delegate and nurse Kathryn Fleming and her colleagues, the pressure of having to...

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Claims by National deputy leader Nicola Willis that 2300 more hospital nurses will be hired by the end of this year have been revealed by Te Whatu Ora as more smoke and mirrors on nursing numbers from the Government, NZNO says. Nicola Willis told RNZ yesterday that 2300 nurses are being...

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NZNO members working at Tauranga Hospital’s emergency department (ED) are frustrated at facing a daily deluge of patients without the staff they need - forcing them to declare a state of emergency. In a letter sent to Te Whatu Ora chief executive Dr Dale Bramley on Tuesday, signed by...

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Health and safety concerns arising from unsafe staffing levels have forced nurses at Gisborne Hospital’s emergency department (ED) to go on strike. Around 34 Tōpūtanga Tapuhi Kaitiaki o Aotearoa NZNO members will down tools for an hour from 2.30pm to 3.30pm on Wednesday (9...

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The Coalition Government must urgently adopt new recommendations from the Waitangi Tribunal which has found significant parts of the disability system prejudice tāngata whaikaha Māori (Māori with disabilities), NZNO says. The Tribunal yesterday released Hauwhaikaha - the Disability System...

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A new proposal that will require Te Whatu Ora to offer all eligible graduate nurses jobs in the public health system will help keep them in nursing and in Aotearoa New Zealand, NZNO says.  Tōpūtanga Tapuhi Kaitiaki o Aotearoa NZNO national...

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Northland nurse and academic Dr Pipi Barton has been awarded the 2026 Te Akenehi Hei Memorial Award celebrating nurse leadership. This prestigious title is awarded only every two years. It is the highest honour that can be given by Te Rūnanga o Aotearoa representing Tōpūtanga Tapuhi Kaitiaki...

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Health Minister Simeon Brown’s claim that hospitals are ‘managing well’ because of the Government’s Winter Plan is delusional, NZNO says. Tōpūtanga Tapuhi Kaitiaki o Aotearoa NZNO Kaiwhakahaere Kerri Nuku says the Minister’s comments yesterday beggar...

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Te Whatu Ora data released today shows patients are continuing to be put at risk by the Coalition Government’s deliberate failure to safely staff hospital wards, NZNO says. The NZ Herald today released data  (available on request) on the 2025 staffing of 663 wards nationwide. It...

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NZNO members working in the emergency department (ED) at North Shore Hospital have declared a state of emergency due to unsafe staffing levels resulting in ongoing overcrowding. In a letter sent to Te Whatu Ora chief executive Dr Dale Bramley last Wednesday (attached), signed by dozens of the...

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The $25 million 2026 Winter Plan launched by Health Minister Simeon Brown in March to erase pressure on the health system has been an unmitigated disaster, Tōpūtanga Tapuhi Kaitiaki o Aotearoa NZNO says. The Minister’s winter plan promised 378 FTEs, 71 extra winter hospital beds across...

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The Government’s gutting of the Nursing Council has been condemned by the largest gathering of Māori nurses, kaimahi, kaiāwhina and tauira (students) in Aotearoa New Zealand, saying cultural safety should never be used to attack Māori. Tōpūtanga Tapuhi Kaitiaki o Aotearoa NZNO Te...

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The Nursing Council chief executive is latest in a string of resignations after its board was gutted by Health Minister Simeon Brown, NZNO says. Tōpūtanga Tapuhi Kaitiaki o Aotearoa NZNO Kaiwhakahaere Kerri Nuku says Nursing Council staff were told today that Catherine Byrne has resigned her...

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Nurses and tauira from around the Aotearoa will descend on Auckland this week for the annual Te Rūnanga o Aotearoa hui-ā-tau and Indigenous Nurses Aotearoa Conference. Te Rūnanga o Aotearoa NZNO's annual Indigenous Nurses Aotearoa Conference takes place at Te Mahurehure Marae in Tāmaki...

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A decision by the New Zealand Nursing Council to pause part of its recertification process will put patients at risk, NZNO says.  Every year the Nursing Council audits five percent of practising nurses to provide assurance that nurses are meeting continuing competence...

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Mums and their newborn babies are missing out because Plunket services are running on shoestring budgets with skeleton staffing, and their health needs are unable to be met, Tōpūtanga Tapuhi Kaitiaki o Aotearoa NZNO says. NZNO national delegate and Plunket nurse Kelly Morrissey says due to...

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Te Whatu Ora must reassure Wellingtonians it is adopting recommendations made by the Health and Disability Commissioner after a damning report was released today, NZNO says. The report followed a complaint to the Commissioner by a 55-year-old man who went to Wellington Regional Hospital in...

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At a time when health care is falling into a deeper crisis with emergency departments bursting at the seams, wards overflowing and workers overworked due to chronic understaffing, Aotearoa’s largest employer of nurses plans to hire less than two-thirds of the nursing graduate cohort over...

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Te Whatu Ora must disclose whether the Waikato emergency department (ED) was short-staffed at the time a man tragically died in the waiting room, NZNO says. A summary of an urgent clinical review was released by Te Whatu Ora this afternoon. The rapid review was ordered after reports the man,...

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Te Whatu Ora’s inability to answer basic questions about staffing levels shows an independent inquiry into the tragic death of a patient in the Waikato emergency department must be held, NZNO says. Tōpūtanga Tapuhi Kaitiaki o Aotearoa NZNO chief executive Paul Goulter says NZNO’s...

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Minister of Health Simeon Brown has gutted the Nursing Council in a ministerial overreach which fails to focus on patient safety and gets ahead of his own deregulation process, NZNO says. The Nursing Council board consists of up to 14 members and is a mixture of Ministerial appointees and...

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The Health Minister’s funding "boost" for aged residential care continues underfunding to the sector and will continue unsafe practices and short staffing, which is putting vulnerable residents at risk, NZNO says. Simeon Brown today announced a 4% increase of $79 million for...

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A coalition promise to "ensure Plunket is funded to do their job properly" was forgotten in Budget 26, NZNO says. Tōpūtanga Tapuhi Kaitiaki o Aotearoa NZNO national delegate and Plunket nurse Hannah Cook says Budget 26 papers show the promise was an outstanding commitment between...

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Budget 26 fails to address unmet health needs or nursing workforce shortages and leaves Māori worse off, NZNO says. Tōpūtanga Tapuhi Kaitiaki o Aotearoa NZNO Kaiwhakahaere Kerri Nuku says Budget 26 is a "money go-round" which requires the health sector to do even more with even...

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NZNO nurses working at Bupa aged residential care homes throughout Aotearoa New Zealand have raised a pay equity claim to address historic gender-based wage discrimination.  Tōpūtanga Tapuhi Kaitiaki o Aotearoa NZNO has more than 380 registered nurse members...

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NZNO nurses, midwives and health care assistants working for Te Whatu Ora have voted to accept the latest Collective Agreement offer following a close secret ballot which closed this afternoon.  More than 38,000 Tōpūtanga Tapuhi Kaitiaki o Aotearoa...

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Nurses at Lakes and Whanganui districts are calling on Te Whatu Ora to explain why after a decade of redress, they still don’t know when they will receive their full Holiday Act remediation payments, NZNO says. While current Te Whatu Ora workers at all other 18 districts have received...

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The Coalition Government’s decision to scrap the fees free policy for third year tertiary students has left nursing tauira outraged Finance Minister Nicola Willis confirmed at the weekend the Government will scrap the fees free tertiary scheme to third-year students in the upcoming...

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A new survey of 186 nurses and care staff at Christchurch’s Hillmorton Hospital has revealed a disturbing picture of overworked staff too scared to speak out about the state of the facility, NZNO says. Tōpūtanga Tapuhi Kaitiaki o Aotearoa NZNO delegate and Hillmorton nurse Sarah Jane...

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A year after the Coalition Government brutally scrapped their Pay Equity claims, the rising cost of living and the fuel crisis is compounding the financial struggle for undervalued and hardworking nurses and their whānau, NZNO says. Tōpūtanga Tapuhi Kaitiaki o Aotearoa NZNO last September...

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Analysis by a media outlet, published today, finding health care staff shortages were contributing factors in the deaths of 11 babies is a national and avoidable tragedy, NZNO says. The analysis by Stuff into the deaths which date back to 2016 also found staffing issues were identified in a...

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Nurses, midwives and health care assistants who are members of NZNO have received a proposed terms of settlement offer from Te Whatu Ora. Tōpūtanga Tapuhi Kaitiaki o Aotearoa NZNO Chief Executive Paul Goulter says the offer was the first received since June 2025. "It will now be up to...

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Staff at Summerset Avonford and Summerset Cavendish in Chrischurch will picket outside their respective aged residential care homes over fewer staff being rostered on the weekends. About 30 union members of Tōpūtanga Tapuhi Kaitiaki o Aotearoa NZNO and E tū will walk off the job...

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Concerns over the Coalition Government’s active reversal of policies designed to improve Māori health outcomes were raised at the United Nations in New York this morning. Tōpūtanga Tapuhi Kaitiaki o Aotearoa NZNO Kaiwhakahaere Kerri Nuku told the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues...

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Te Whatu Ora’s attempt to cut costs by requiring health care assistants to carry out cohort patient watches is harming vulnerable patients and staff, NZNO says.  Patient watches involve trained and experienced health care...

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Te Whatu Ora must explain why its rolling out new uniforms for nurses and health care assistants nationwide at a time when patients are struggling to get the care they need because of short-staffing and under-resourcing, NZNO says. In an internal email seen by NZNO, Te Whatu Ora has told...

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Tōpūtanga Tapuhi Kaitiaki o Aotearoa NZNO apologises sincerely and unreservedly for the involvement of nurses in historic abuses in state care. The apology was made in a video by NZNO Kaiwhakahaere Kerri Nuku and published today on the organisation’s website. It has already been shared...

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The ACT Party should leave nursing to the professionals and medical evidence, NZNO says. Tōpūtanga Tapuhi Kaitiaki o Aotearoa NZNO Kaiwhakahaere Kerri Nuku says ACT MP Todd Stephenson has dismissed the Nursing Council’s draft code of conduct - which proposes strengthening cultural...

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The Government’s announcement today of 378 extra staff to help hospitals cope with winter demand is a drop in the ocean of what patients need, NZNO says.  Tōpūtanga Tapuhi Kaitiaki o Aotearoa NZNO Chief Executive...

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The Health Minister must explain why after years of concerns from nurses about Christchurch Hospital’s barely functioning dialysis unit, he only stepped in late yesterday when life-saving treatment had to be rationed, NZNO says. Tōpūtanga Tapuhi Kaitiaki o Aotearoa New Zealand Nurses...

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Nurses, midwives and health care assistants throughout Aotearoa New Zealand will wear purple on Friday to show their support for Pay Equity - and urge all New Zealanders to join them. The Go Purple day is in recognition of International Women’s Day on Sunday. The NZNO members will be...

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The right of health care workers to provide care during international conflicts must be protected, Tōpūtanga Tapuhi Kaitiaki o Aotearoa NZNO says. NZNO Kaiwhakahaere Kerri Nuku says hospitals and health care workers are increasingly being targeted in war torn nations. "Hospitals and...

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Te Whatu Ora needs to go back to the drawing board and prioritise worker safety after reversing plans to charge hospital workers market rates for car parks, NZNO says.  Tōpūtanga Tapuhi Kaitiaki o Aotearoa NZNO delegate and Christchurch health care assistant Al...

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