Kai Tiaki Nursing New Zealand

Hidden nursing crisis revealed: The shocking staffing numbers, and the Minister’s response

Hidden Te Whatu Ora figures have revealed acute mental health wards in crisis: those most desperately in need of help, face shifts desperately in need of nurses.

Picketing nurses greet visiting Mental Health Minister at under-pressure rural hospital

Picketing nurses outside Thames Hospital greeted Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey on a flying visit to the under-pressure rural facility today.

South Island’s community approach sees boost in cervical screening for Māori and Pacific

Cervical screening rates for Otago and Southland's Māori and Pacific communities have increased 10 per cent compared to last year, after primary health organisation WellSouth joined forces with community health providers.

A few precious days leave, but she picketed instead: Nurses support striking doctors, dentists

Registered nurse Amy Tubman was on precious leave with her children during the school holidays, but she was still out on the picket line, flag in hand, supporting a strike: this time it was the doctors.

Painting a thousand words: Images from Women’s Day of Action around Aotearoa

The Coalition Government got a little reminder on Saturday that women would like their $12.8 billion back.

Mental health, Pacific, emergency nurses among those honoured in emotional NZNO awards

Tears, passion and nurses' deep commitment to their communities over decades -- all were on display at a powerful NZNO awards ceremony in Pōneke this week.

Health Minister Simeon Brown sees red, literally, as nurses turn their backs during NZNO AGM

Health Minister Simeon Brown was greeted with a wall of silence -- and a wall of nurses' backs -- as he spoke to the NZNO annual general meeting on Wednesday.

How many hundreds? Infometric report reveals shocking hospital shortages in every shift

The nation's hospitals were collectively short 576 nurses every shift on average last year, a new Infometrics report has found.

2025 election results sweep in a mix of current and new members for NZNO’s new national executive

A mix of current members and new candidates have been elected/re-elected onto the new Tōpūtanga Tapuhi Kaitiaki o Aotearoa - NZNO national executive.

Nurses forced into silence and Māori patients left invisible — NZNO submits on Government’s health Bill

It's not healthy, and it's bad for the future -- the NZNO has blasted a proposed health law for dismantling Māori gains and stealing nurses' rights, in a select committee hearing.

Bargaining restart gets real: The last-minute dash to negotiation team hui thanks to short-staffing

As NZNO collective bargaining restarts with Te Whatu Ora on Thursday, even planning was hampered by nurse short-staffing.

‘It’s a beginning’, say emergency nurses after joining safe staffing kōrero

As the shocking reality of hospital understaffing is finally revealed, NZNO's ED nurses are finally being invited to join Te Whatu Ora's safe staffing discussions after meeting with the Minister of Health.

The marshmallows are back! Hospital staff celebrate after campaign to bring joy back to their hot choccies

Marshmallows will shortly be back on the menu at a hospital near you, after workers campaigned to 'free the marshmallow'.

Groundhog Day: NZNO files pay equity claims — again — for hospice and Plunket members

NZNO's hospice and Plunket members have become the first in New Zealand to refile pay equity claims after the Government took an axe to the process in May.

Strike day 2: Nurses vindicated, infuriated and bleeding — literally — for their patients

It was an emotional rollercoaster.

Scaled-back psychology assistants a ‘backtrack’, say mental health nurses

A newly-approved psychology assistant workforce will simply be another burden on overstretched health professionals, warn NZNO mental health nurses.

Strike Day 1: Action might be nationwide, but Te Whatu Ora nurses’ motivations are very personal

The strike was nationwide, covering tens of thousands, but the reasons for nursing were simple, personal -- and always about the patient.

‘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.

‘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.

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.

Harmed as a student — left without income support as a nurse

A West Coast nurse calls for ACC reform and fair compensation for 'non-earners' injured during medical care.

Newly-elected student leaders bring mix of youth and maturity — and compassion galore

Tōpūtanga Tapuhi Kaitiaki o Aotearoa -- NZNO's newly-elected student leaders share what drew them into nursing, and what they hope to achieve in their new roles.

A dose of theatre action for NZNO’s strike volunteer wardens

These nurses missed out on the recent Te Whatu Ora-Health New Zealand strikes as they volunteered to oversee life-preserving services (LPS). But free tickets from a production company to the hottest show in Auckland right now, gave them all the drama and action they needed.

‘I want to see every health-care worker valued and paid fairly’

A nurse and 'proud union member' explains why fair pay is so important.

Peace is union business, says long-time Auckland nurse after marching in support of Palestine

A long-time Auckland nurse explains why she attended last weekend's march for humanity in support of Palestine -- and why peace is union business.

A tale from across the ditch: Why I left, and why I want to come back

A former Auckland nurse and NZNO delegate now living in Australia says he is furious he had to leave.

He aha ngā hua ki te tapuhi o tēnei wiki whakahirahira, arā, o tō tātou Wiki o te Reo Māori?

Tau atu, tau mai ka haramai tēnei āhuatanga e whakanui ana i tō tatou reo rangatira, ā, kāhore e kore he tino hira pea te kaupapa kia tuku aroha ki taua taonga i tēnei tau pū.

Community health, patient safety under increasing threat

Nursing leaders share deep concern over the effect of the current political environment on nursing.

Nurse John spins real-life short-staffing trauma into comedy gold, say Auckland fans

A group of North Shore nurses who went along to the TikTok sensation Nurse John's short-staffing show say it hit the nail on the head.

A Singaporean nurse in New Zealand: is the grass really greener?

Adapting to life in New Zealand has been quite the emotional journey for Singaporean nurse Farhana Sulong, who emigrated here in the middle of the pandemic.

Homegrown and hired: Northland backs its own new graduate nurses

Why did every single nurse who graduated from Northtec this July get a job? One of this group thinks she knows the reason.

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.

OBITUARY: Louise Rummel — ‘I was standing on the shoulders of giants in the profession’

Nursing has lost a much-loved educator who was determined that nursing students and new graduates should get the mentoring they needed. Louise Rummel was admired by nursing students for her knowledge, caring and kindness.

Ko Rebecca Fenn: Mai i Rānana ki tāna taraiwa i te pahi me te āwhina ki a rātou “kei raro e putu ana”

Kua whakawhiwhia Rebecca Fenn te tohu Mātanga Tapuhi o te Tau, nā tōna tamaititanga i waenganui i te "rongo ki ngā hōhipera" me "te tākaro hei nēhi" i whakaohooho i a ia kia atawhai i te iwi.

Pirihira Puata — registered nurse prescriber who sends her scripts to the chemist in te reo Māori

Ka tuhia e te tapuhi tūtohu a Pirihira Puata (Muriwhenua) ngā tūtohu rongoā i te reo Māori, ā, ka tukua ki ngā toa rongoā i te tonga me te uru o Tāmaki Makaurau, ā, ka kīia e ia, ko aua tūtohu e tino arohaina ana.

Sarita Sharma: The capital’s face of a fighting nurse

There's one face that shines through at every single rally, picket and march in Wellington that has anything to do with nurses or health. And that face belongs to Sarita Sharma.

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.

‘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. 

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.

‘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.

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Message to the health minister: I’m one of those unemployed graduate nurses who can’t follow my dream

Three years ago, I began studying to become a registered nurse (RN) to create a better future for my children and myself.

A wonderful opportunity for advanced stomal therapy education

Stomal therapy nurses may have an opportunity to take an advanced education course in their specialty, that is usually only available via an expensive trip to Australia.