Kai Tiaki Nursing New Zealand

Nurses show up for picketing colleagues as NZNO work-to-rule strike wraps

More than 40 per cent of requests to NZNO members to provide life-preserving services (LPS) were turned down as not legitimate, stats reveal, as the two-week work-to-rule strike ends.

Biggest nurse graduate intake ‘in a decade’, claims Te Whatu Ora

After two years of struggle and a public outcry over jobless nurse graduates, Te Whatu Ora says it's hiring the 'biggest intake in a decade'.

Better nurse staffing linked to major drops in physician burnout

An international study has found that better nurse staffing and work environments in hospitals are associated with improved physicians’ wellbeing and job satisfaction.

End-of-year graduate jitters on job-offer day

More than 2000 end-of-year nursing graduates are enduring a nail-biting wait to hear whether they will land their dream job at Te Whatu Ora - Health New Zealand.

Nurse practitioner’s six-year battle to win full prescribing rights

After a six-year battle, Dunedin nurse practitioner (NP) Mark Baldwin says winning full prescribing rights for mātanga tapuhi/ NPs feels "huge".

Every neonatal unit in the country gets baked treats for World Prematurity Day

All 23 of Aotearoa's neonatal units received baked goodies this week to celebrate their staff and families.

NZNO rainbow, child health nurses slam ‘devastating’ ban on puberty-blockers

A decision to ban puberty blockers will have "devastating" impact on transgender children and young people, nurses say.

Extraordinary scenes as 276m-long message to politicians unrolls at Parliament

Forearms bulged, sweat popped from their brows -- carrying the weight of the health system was literally a heavy burden. But they were glad to do it.

Health system is ‘broken’ reveals poll, as strike gets underway — but we love our nurses

"Broken, underfunded and struggling." As nurses launch two weeks of strikes, a new poll reveals how the public sees the health system.

It’s like The Brady Bunch, but with people who actually save lives

One of Melissa Jacobsen's greatest moments as a nurse was as part of a team -- working with an ED doctor to deliver a breech baby that came out blue and unresponsive. 

He rite tēnei ki Te Brady Bunch, engari me ngā tāngata ka whakahaumaru i te marea

Ko tētahi o ō Melissa Jacobsen wā tino hira hei tapuhi, ko tōna whaiwāhi ki tētāhi tīma -- e mahi tahi ana me tētahi rata ED kia whakaora i tētahi pēpi whānau kōaro i puta mauri moe, he kahurangi tōna kiri.

EXCLUSIVE:Five years after Len’s death and emergency department is 15-FTE understaffed

A man's death while a nurse fetched a wheelchair put a human face on "consciously deciding" to understaff an emergency department, a coroner says.

Short-staffing and lack of time stops half of cancer nurses upskilling — survey

Nearly half of cancer nurses surveyed this year reported short-staffing and lack of time is stopping them upskilling, NZNO's cancer nurses college (CNC) has found.

A nurse’s push to vaccinate, as she saw measles outbreak coming

The wave was building on the global horizon but even before the first measles case arrived in Aotearoa, Daana Watson was vaccinating everybody she could.

‘Do it for the patients’: Nurse shares advice, encouragement ahead of partial strikes

It's new, it's different and it means facing new challenges -- but do it for the patients, says a nurse with experience of groundbreaking partial strikes.

Policy welcomed but the two Chrises must work together, says nursing leader

Political debate on fixing Aotearoa New Zealand’s broken funding model for primary health care is an important first step but needs a bipartisan approach, says NZNO primary care spokesperson Tracey Morgan.

Southern start for ‘Hīkoi for Our Health’

A march from the South Island's West Coast to Wellington to deliver a major health declaration to Parliament, has begun.

Rā Whakamana: Iwi and unions call for national day of solidarity to back workers’ rights and Treaty

Iwi leaders are weighing in on the fight to protect essential services and back workers, including nurses, midwives and health-care workers. 

‘One of the biggest strikes we’ve seen’ — nurses, teachers, doctors turn out despite weather chaos

'We are not alone in this,' say nurses and kaiāwhina as an estimated 23,000-plus turn out in Auckland alone for SOS -- save our services -- strikes.

‘Shoulder to shoulder’ — nurses prepare ahead of historic 100,000-strong day of actions

How do you prepare a rally speech for a day when nearly two per cent of the population of Aotearoa strikes?

Canterbury strike action: 93 days of wearing their message on their sleeves

Thousands of nurses, midwives and health-care workers have begun 93 days of partial strike action at the South Island's largest hospital.

Doctors follow nurses’ lead in turning their back on finger-wagging Minister

It wasn't quite a wall . . . but one lone doctor did stand and turn his back on Minister of Health Simeon Brown during a recent lecture on why they shouldn't be striking.

Nurses share pain, hope with firefighters as they turn out across the country

"Here come the nurses!" were the words of delighted firefighters as hundreds of nurses and kaiāwhina turned out to join about 2000 union members on strike around the country Friday.

‘That was a moral, emotional injury to the worker’ — tears and the truth at report launch

Everything we let happen to them now, will inevitably happen to us later.

Cops already outstripping nurses as pay equity crumbles, committee hears

It was nice while it lasted -- cops are already leaving nurses in the dust as pay equity collapses, the people's select committee has heard.

Our hidden shame — workers speak out on the shocking truth of caring for our elderly

Missing showers, being left alone to soil themselves and getting late, cold meals -- this is what kaumātua/residents in many aged-facilities endure today, say hundreds of nurses and kaiāwhina.

Strikes go ahead — but weather warnings force some rally cancellations

An historic day of planned strikes by more than 100,000 workers will go ahead tomorrow -- but some rallies are cancelled due to severe weather warnings.

Official NZNO national committee for thousands of kaiāwhina launches

For the first time in its history, NZNO now has a national committee for kaiāwhina.

A useful guide to help you meet your new competencies

Are you unsure how best to show you're meeting the new cultural safety requirements embedded in the Nursing Council pou (competencies)? Nurse educator Pipi Barton provides a guide that you can download and share.

‘The cracks are showing’ — dangerous staffing practices exposed by current strike, says ED nurse

Whangārei Hospital emergency nurse and NZNO delegate Rachel Thorn shares her thoughts on the current work-to-rule strike, as it draws to a close.

‘Don’t be handmaidens, be critical thinkers’: Strikes reveal emergency-nursing cracks

Hutt emergency nurse Kelly McDonald starts her next shift at 2.45pm and she's expecting it to be a "shit show". This NZNO delegate explains what's wrong with emergency care, how to fix it, and why nurses should stick to the partial strike plan.

Nurses must be digital citizens, users, designers and leaders

In this simulated scenario, two digital nursing experts debate with colleagues the opportunities and challenges nurses must take on in the latest digital revolution.

A cruel history from which we must learn

[Warning: This viewpoint contains distressing content] As a health practitioner, I don’t want to believe that nurses were among the professions responsible for the horrific abuse and neglect of children in State and faith-based institutions such as the children of Lake Alice Hospital – a psychiatric institution – for five decades from 1950. But they … Continue reading "A cruel history from which we must learn"

‘Nursing is inherently political’ — Ebony Komene on her ‘uncomfortable’ work as a young Māori researcher

Young, Māori and a researcher -- together, yes, all of these things are unusual, agrees Ebony Komene.

‘It’s time for NZ to be a destination, not just a stepping stone’

A migrant nurse who departed for Australia, but then returned, outlines her plan to fix the 'leaky pipeline'.

Flight nurses: Working between heaven, earth and hell

There are fewer than 500 flight nurses in Aotearoa. They work between heaven and earth, and sometimes hell, starting their day in a hangar rather than a hospital ward, ready to fly wherever life is hanging in the balance. Kaitiaki talks with two flight nurses about nursing in the air.

Trust, transplantation and the grim question for Māori — who’s left to ask for a kidney if we’re all sick?

She was the only Māori nurse in a room full of indigenous people -- but no matter how far apart their homelands were geographically, their stories were the same.

Nurse puts ‘mana motuhake’ into campaign to fight syphilis

Some are calling her the "syphilis cop" but this registered nurse, and NZNO member, would much prefer to say that getting regular tests for sexually transmitted infections is about looking after your "mana motuhake".

Innovative Māori aged care model set to bring aroha, manaakitanga to kaumātua

Aged care in Aotearoa New Zealand is in crisis. Reports of staff being underpaid and over worked are common as are the reports of elderly residents not getting the care they should. Kaitiaki is exploring what's happening in this space. We talk with a granddaughter who is on a mission to transform aged care for … Continue reading "Innovative Māori aged care model set to bring aroha, manaakitanga to kaumātua"

Skilled nurses crucial for cancer patient outcomes, says new college leader

Nurses are hugely influential on cancer patient outcomes -- but need time to expand their skills, says new chair of NZNO's cancer nurses college (CNC) Heather Bustin.

Nursing research a ‘slow burner’ but crucial tool, say NZNO’s deep thinkers

Nursing research is not just pen-pushing -- it's deeply connected to everyday nursing, says chair of NZNO's nursing research section (NRS)- te wāhanga rangahau, Lorraine Ritchie.

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NZNO research and news journals now online and open to all — bringing unique NZ focus

Nurses, health professionals and others interested in the latest nursing research can now access the Kaitiaki Nursing Research journal free and online.

‘This isn’t just a job, it is heartbreak on repeat’

Wellington nurse Latisha Coffey has her own insight into why nurses have been on strike.

Whitireia’s 2025 journal of nursing out now

The latest edition of the Whitireia Journal of Nursing, Health and Social Services will be released on October 30.