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Kai Tiaki Nursing New Zealand

We want better for our patients
An emergency nurse speaks out Video supplied by Naomi Madeiros
We are shining a light on understaffing in mental health
Wellington mental health nurse Grant Brookes explains why he is striking
Patients’ lives are at risk every day
Lower Hutt nurse manager Nathan Clark explains why he is striking

‘All we can do is take the buggers to court’ — teachers, nurses, librarians join forces in legal challenge

Wāhine across female-dominated workforces stood together outside the High Court in Wellington today, as their unions filed joint legal action against the Government's $12.8 billion rollback of pay equity claims.

Hutt nurses opt to ‘bleed and feed’ in strike next week

Hundreds of Te Whatu Ora nurses in the Hutt Valley are planning to give away their blood and food during their two days of strikes.

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Watch: ‘They saved billions on the backs of women’ — second submission made on pay equity

Watch: NZNO was back at the people's select committee on Monday, before taking the battle for pay equity to the High Court on Friday.

‘I support them as they have supported us’ — nurses lend a hand to striking teachers

NZNO nurses and kaiāwhina might be a little busy with their own strike action -- but it didn't stop a few turning out to support our kaiako (teachers) strike around the country this week.

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Mātaki: ‘I penapenahia ngā tāra piriona i runga i ngā tuarā wāhine’ — he tāpaetanga tuarua mō te tautika utu

Mātaki: Kua hoki mai te NZNO ki te komiti whiriwhiri o te tangata i te Mane, i mua i tā rātou whakarewa i te pakanga tautika utu i te Kōti Matua i te Paraire.

For goodness sake don’t mention the t-shirts: Nurses on strike forbidden to speak about item of clothing

They could wear the t-shirts -- they just couldn't talk about the t-shirts.

Last-minute strike cancellation after Te Whatu Ora barred a third of staff from taking part — Christchurch nurses

Christchurch nurses say they cancelled a strike because Te Whatu Ora tried to stop about 70 staff from joining the action -- a third of NZNO's perioperative, radiology and PACU members.

Nurses, kaiāwhina and doctors throw weight behind ‘heartbreaking’ patient voice petition

Nurses, doctors and patients around the country are making a last big push for signatures on a petition for patient rights, ahead of it being presented to Parliament in November.

Multiply by five, add a lot of years — decades needed to make up shocking Māori nursing shortfall, report says

Multiply by five and add decades -- a new Infometrics report released at the indigenous nurses conference reveals Aotearoa will need a lot of time and enrolments for Māori nursing to hit parity.

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Watch: ‘Their kids can’t afford shoes’ – NZNO pay equity submission goes before the people’s select committee

WATCH: The Government dodged consultation but now NZNO has joined submitters to the people's select committee laying out the impacts of axed pay equity claims.

Weekly $100 for some nursing students for placements outside Auckland as squeeze goes on city spots

One of Auckland's nursing schools has offered cash to its students who do clinical placements outside New Zealand's biggest city.

It’s on: Te Whatu Ora members vote for two days of September strikes

The fight for safe staffing and patient safety in hospitals has ramped up with NZNO Te Whatu Ora members voting for two days of strikes in September.

EXCLUSIVE: ‘Psychologist associate’ role knocked back by professional standards board — for now

NZNO's mental health nurses say they are pleased New Zealand's psychologists' regulator has turned down a "distracting" proposed new assistant/associate psychologist role -- for now.

Tale of two weekends: Nurses mull more strikes for safe staffing as PM says health system ‘fixed’

One weekend, but two systems, two worlds -- and now potentially two days of strikes.

South Island practice nurse-to-prescriber training hits 100 grads

A free training programme upskilling nurses at general practices across the South Island to prescribe common medications is celebrating 100 graduates -- and a boost in community nurses' confidence.

E hia kē ngā rau tapuhi Māori ka “mauri ake” ai ā tērā wiki

Ka hui mai ngā rau tapuhi Māori nō ngā pito e whā o te whenua ā tērā wiki i Rotorua mō te Indigenous Nurses Aotearoa Conference.

Hundreds of Māori nurses to “mauri” up next week

Hundreds of Māori nurses from throughout the country will gather in Rotorua next week for the annual Indigenous Nurses Aotearoa Conference.

Profiles of the candidates for the NZNO board election

Below are the profiles of the candidates for the NZNO board elections, written by the candidates themselves. Online voting for the election starts on Wednesday, August 6.

‘Just the beginning’, say fed-up nurses and kaiāwhina as 24-hour strike wraps

After tens of thousands of nurses, midwives and health-care assistants hit the picket lines, members warn more strikes are coming.

‘Nurses are part of our family’ — author pays back support with march alongside strikers

Author Emily Writes joined marchers in central Wellington during Wednesday's strike -- lending support to the profession that became part of her family after her son's health struggles.

More than 36,000 voices shake ‘ivory towers’ as members walk off hospital floors around Aotearoa

NZNO members shook Aotearoa's "ivory towers" with 36,000 combined voices as they walked off hospital floors around the country on Wednesday morning.

‘PS – go hard’ — primary health-care nurses’ words of support for Te Whatu Ora strikers

Nurses took an oath, clinical nurse co-ordinator Ayla Evans-Warmenhoven said, and frankly it's getting tough keeping it.

EXCLUSIVE:’Shocking’ low job rates for our latest nurse graduates, figures reveal

Less than half -- just 45 per cent -- of registered nursing graduates have been matched to supported-entry roles at Te Whatu Ora after mid-year finals, Kaitiaki can reveal.

‘Kia tū māia’ — ngā kupu tautoko a ngā tapuhi hauora matua ki ngā kiriporotū o Te Whatu Ora

Nurses took an oath, clinical nurse co-ordinator Ayla Evans-Warmenhoven said, and frankly it's getting tough keeping it.

Love, anger, and a reminder to men — mammoth pay-equity petition delivered at Parliament

It's simple - Wendy Rees loves people, loves her patients, but she's really angry.

‘Big leap forward’ for NZNO, as new constitution voted in by members

A historic new constitution for Tōpūtanga Tapuhi Kaitiaki o Aotearoa -- NZNO that fundamentally changes its structure to become more egalitarian and te Tiriti-led has been voted in by members.

‘It’s the polar opposite’ — southern delegates discover public vibe on health, strike

They hustled a spot at the biggest crafts market in Invercargill - then a group of NZNO delegates got a grassroots vibe check: nurses or the Government?

‘He āhuatanga tauaro’ — ka kite ngā māngai Murihiku i ngā piropiro tūmatanui mō te hauora me te porotū

They hustled a spot at the biggest crafts market in Invercargill - then a group of NZNO delegates got a grassroots vibe check: nurses or the Government?

Speaking up for carers: ‘Caregiver abuse is all too common’

Most people are aware of the terrible problem of elder abuse. But much less is known about the insidious issue of elderly dementia patients abusing their carers.

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200 words and done: Pay equity fight headed to court — why, when, where and what even is pay equity?

The battle against the Government's pay equity schemozzle is headed to court -- what's happening, and how does it involve NZNO?

‘I don’t want that brown nurse to look after me’ — racism one of many challenges faced by migrant nurses

"When we come to a new country we can be made to feel a bit small." A nurse who moved from India to Invercargill is making sure other oversea nurses get the support they need when they arrive in Aotearoa, New Zealand.

Dear Simeon Brown — a letter from a longtime registered nurse

Veteran registered nurse Abby Broadbent sent a letter to health minister Simeon Brown asking if he'd like to swap jobs. She agreed to Kaitiaki running the letter, abridged, to share her thoughts with fellow members.

Pay equity changes ‘a major regression in women’s rights’

The cancelling of pay-equity claims is a significant regression in women's rights in this country and had no political mandate.

Government got a cheek to be ‘disappointed’ — Starship nurse

Haim Ainsworth is a 37-year veteran nurse and staff nurse at Starship Children’s Hospital in Auckland. He brought the house down when he took to the stage to speak at Auckland's strike action rally which saw thousands of nurses turn out.

‘Solidarity means standing together’ — delegate calls on members to stick together on strike day

As Te Whatu Ora prepare to go on a nationwide 24-hour strike at the end of this month over stalled bargaining talks, Auckland delegate Troy Stewart explains why it's important everyone takes part.

‘We won’t back down’ — NZNO pushing ahead with 12 pay equity claims

Despite warnings the new thresholds for pay equity claims are impassable, Tōpūtanga Tapuhi Kaitiaki o Aotearoa - NZNO won't be deterred, says long-time nursing pay equity advocate, Glenda Alexander.

It’s time to say enough is enough: Addressing workplace violence against nurses

Many nurses and other health-care workers see violence as part of the job or fear retaliation if they speak up. This has to stop.

She’s aged 87 and still teaches — Grace Benson and her thousands of diamonds

For more than 40 years Grace Benson has lovingly shaped and polished thousands of her 'diamonds' -- so many you can find them in theatres, practices and clinics around the country.

Māori nurse awards bring out the ‘mana in their mahi’

Māori nurses on a journey to advance their clinical practice or develop innovative ways to help Māori communities access and understand their medicines, were recently recognised at the 2025 Te Pātaka Whaioranga (PHARMAC) Tapuhi Kaitiaki Awards.

Four NZANS nurses, posed in front of a pyramid in Egypt (c 1941 – 1943). Photo from the Nancy Frances Carter Collection by courtesy of the South Canterbury Museum.

‘On days off they went to Hiroshima, picked up fused glass’: The Christchurch nurses swept up in history

They fossicked atomic wastelands, witnessed horrors, but in the end were just everyday nurses trained in Christchurch.

ED duo – Mum boss at home, daughter boss at work

Mum is the boss at home but daughter is the boss at work. Bernadette and Melanie Taankink have both worked as nurses at Wellington Hospital's ED for more than 20 years, yet few colleagues know they are actually whānau. 

“Proud of them” – more IQNs finding strength to strike

In Aotearoa New Zealand, striking has long been acceptable when workers' rights are under threat. But now NZNO’s internationally qualified nurses are getting in on the act as well -- and those that don't are getting a bad case of FOMO.

‘Hell no! Aotearoa is my home’ — graduate told to look overseas

Shayna Tiatia heard the Government’s call for more nurses during the COVID lockdown in 2020. She wanted to help the sick, ill and injured in her community and region. She did the training, got the degree. But now she can’t get a job and has been told to look overseas.

Amidst airstrikes, NZNO helps bring nursing knowledge to conflict zone

It's safe to publish the name of the man speaking from the other side of the world, Thant Zin, because it's a very common one in Myanmar, we've been told.

‘What we do matters’ — the heartbreaking work of neonatal nurses

The most vulnerable New Zealander weights 350g -- less than a packet of butter --  and is currently being cared for in a neonatal unit. That newborn and their whānau deserve to be cared for by a skilled and specialist team, says NZNO's ngā tapuhi whare kōhanga o Aotearoa - neonatal nurses college of Aotearoa.

‘We like a steady climb’ — flight and land transport nurses on the up

NZNO college of air & surface transport nurses (COASTN) have fought long and hard for a voice on air ambulance restructuring -- and they have won.

Please send letters for publication to: [email protected]. We reserve the right to edit letters for sense and length, and will not publish letters that are libellous, incite racial, sexual or religious hatred or constitute personal attacks. Shorter letters (under 400 words) are preferred. Please include name, address, nursing qualifications and phone number.

‘I felt extremely proud to walk alongside the nurses’

I felt extremely privileged and proud to walk alongside the nurses and the three students from Takapuna Girls High who were there supporting the strike.

2025 New Zealand Nurses Organisation Elections — Notice of Confirmed Candidates

Nominations for the 2025 New Zealand Nurses Organisation elections closed at 12 noon, Friday 18 July 2025.

Nurse sought for role with Māori/Polynesian family – one child, one whānau, one purpose

We are a loving and dedicated Māori/Polynesian family based on the Gold Coast, seeking a compassionate and skilled registered or enrolled nurse -- preferably with paediatric experience -- to join the close-knit team who care for our child.