The baby revived quickly — even went home the next day. But without safe staffing the outcome might not have been so good, she said.
Now the NZNO delegate based in Tauranga has used household furniture, some slightly 70s-themed ingenuity and the recent mega strikes to spread this staffing message across social media.
Jacobsen created a collage poster including the faces of 22 fellow Te Whatu Ora members to tell the story of why they were taking action.
The poster’s format wasn’t unique, she said — it was even used in the opening credits for 70s television show The Brady Bunch.
“It’s an opportunity to show it’s not just one person, it’s a whole collection of people . . . who all come together to take care of every person in New Zealand from beginning to end.”
Read this story in te reo Māori here.
After spraining an ankle a couple of days before October 23, Jacobsen limped into action at the multi-union action at Memorial Park, Tauranga.
She knew there would be plenty of NZNO delegates at the event, so she sent them fanning through the crowd to find other delegates and members.
“Then I just put up a drape, an old white curtain that I had, and a chair to keep them at the same level and then very quickly took some photos.”
“It’s an opportunity to show it’s not just one person, it’s a whole collection of people.”
She constructed the collage that same night then sent the poster out online.
Meanwhile, Jacobsen said she liked the last two panels in the collage in particular., which talk about skill and caring.
“We all have learned the skill of doing this, but we do it because we love it and we want to do what’s right for the community.”
Naming names
With Jacobsen’s help Kaitiaki was able to get most of the names of the people on the poster. Here are the names, from left to right on each row, starting from the top:
Sophie Short, Georgia Maclean, John Wylie, Lesley Alexander, Zoe Wathey; Amber Marshall, Ned Rago, Neil Orito; Jeff Manuel [third from left on third row], Ashley Allison, Helena Joyce; Sarah Randolph, Maegan Shanley, Janita Tangitu, Sandy Shanly; Melissa Jacobsen [second from left on bottom row], Adele Little [NZNO employee], Sarah Mangino, and Maree Moore.