News – Kaitiaki Nursing New Zealand

October 2024

‘Fearless’ and outspoken or humble and calm — Canterbury nurses dominate NZNO awards

By Mary Longmore

October 15, 2024

Te Wai Pounamu (South Island) nurses dominated the recent awards for services to NZNO–Tōpūtanga Tapuhi Kaitiaki o Aotearoa.

October 2024

Kenepuru Hospital: ‘All hell will break loose if he doesn’t keep his word’

By Renee Kiriona

October 14, 2024

Porirua Mayor Anita Baker says she will hold Health Minister Shane Reti to his word that the after-hours accident and medical service at Kenepuru Hospital will not be chopped and replaced with a telehealth service.

October 2024

‘Liar, liar’: Nurses confront Prime Minister over Dunedin hospital betrayal

By Mary Longmore

October 11, 2024

Dunedin Hospital nurses were among dozens of protestors who confronted Prime Minister Christopher Luxon this week, when he made a flying visit to the flood-stricken region.

September 2024

Popular cervical self-test should be free for all, say women’s health nurses

By Mary Longmore

October 11, 2024

NZNO’s women’s health nurses say a popular new cervical screening self-test should be free for all.

October 2024

‘They need to make good! ‘ Nurses deliver $2.1b bill to Margie Apa

By Mary Longmore

October 9, 2024

Hospital nurses delivered a whopping $2.1 billion bill to Te Whatu Ora chief executive Margie Apa in Wellington today for years of incorrect holiday entitlements.

October 2024

Primary health nurses ‘hōhā’ with three per cent offer

By Renee Kiriona

October 9, 2024

In te reo Māori, the word hōhā packs a lot of punch! It can mean many things but in this case it simply means ‘fed up!’ And it is the single word Tracey Morgan, spokesperson for the NZNO-Tōpūtanga Tapuhi Kaitiaki o Aotearoa primary health-care bargaining team, is using to describe the latest negotiations with employers of about 3500 nurses throughout Aotearoa.

September 2024

‘This is just the beginning’ — southerners rise up against health cuts and hospital ‘betrayal’

By Mary Longmore and Renee Kiriona

October 1, 2024

Thousands of staunch southerners turned out in Ōtepoti (Dunedin) and on the West Coast over the weekend to protest Government health and hospital cut backs — and say they won’t be backing down.

September 2024

Pacific peoples warned grass isn’t always healthier in NZ

By Renee Kiriona

September 26, 2024

The first Pasifika nurse to gain a doctorate is warning her kin to think long and hard before making the move to New Zealand.

September 2024

Te Whatu Ora bargaining for 35,000 nurses enters day one

By Renee Kiriona

September 25, 2024

New Zealand Nurses Organisation (NZNO) Tōpūtanga Tapuhi Kaitiaki O Aotearoa entered day one of collective contract negotiations with Te Whatu Ora this morning.

September 2024

New student leaders inspired by nurses while growing up

By Mary Longmore

September 25, 2024

At a tough time for nursing graduates, NZNO’s new student leaders share their passion for nursing and what drives them.

September 2024

Show of solidarity before bargaining begins

By Renee Kiriona

September 24, 2024

Bargaining begins tomorrow on NZNO’s biggest collective agreement between more than 30,000 nurses and Te Whatu Ora.

September 2024

Call for nurses and kaiāwhina to stand against radical policies with ‘elegant militancy’

By Mary Longmore

September 24, 2024

Nurses and kaiāwhina are being asked to stand up for Māori and the country’s vulnerable.

September 2024

‘Where is this abundance of nurses?’ Nurses’ wero to Minister of Health at NZNO conference

By Mary Longmore

September 18, 2024

Run-ragged nurses from around the country “locked eyes” with each other and raised eyebrows after Minister of Health Shane Reti talked about the record numbers of nurses hired into the workforce as he opened their conference.

September 2024

Getting New Zealand-trained nursing graduates in work ‘a very high priority’ — Minister of Health

By Mary Longmore

September 17, 2024

Minister of Health Shane Reti says getting New Zealand-trained nursing graduates in work is a “very high priority” for him, as Te Whatu Ora considers expanding their options.

September 2024

Māori app made for, and by, nurses and doctors

By Renee Kiriona

September 16, 2024

It is Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori and there is a special app for health professionals on a journey to raise their cultural knowledge.

September 2024

Where’s the money? Nurses challenge Government over its health targets plan

By Mary Longmore

September 13, 2024

Exhausted emergency, perioperative, primary health and cancer nurses may be left wondering how they are meant to treat more patients quicker, without any more funding.

September 2024

Rotorua ED nurses ‘devastated’ over woman’s death after three-hour wait

By Renee Kiriona and Mary Longmore

September 12, 2024

Emergency nurses warn more waiting room deaths are ‘inevitable’ in the current squeezed health environment.

September 2024

Call to reverse heated tobacco products experiment

By Karen Howarth

September 4, 2024

NZNO – Tōpūtanga Tapuhi Kaitiaki o Aotearoa is horrified by statements from Finance Minister Nicola Willis that the Government is experimenting with using heated tobacco products as an alternative to cigarettes to see if they will help people to stop smoking.

August 2024

NZNO pays tribute to the Māori King

By Renee Kiriona

August 30, 2024

NZNO – Tōpūtanga Tapuhi Kaitiaki o Aotearoa has joined with the nation to mourn the passing of Kiingi Tuheitia Pootatau Te Wherowhero VII.

August 2024

Residents and families picket retirement village owners’ conference

By Mary Longmore

August 28, 2024

Retirees, families and supporters turn out to picket $2000-a-head retirement village conference as aged care staff and care hours are being cut.

10 Oct	Call to immunise now as New Zealand at high risk of whooping cough outbreak Pregnant people, babies, children and others at high risk from whooping cough are urged to get vaccinated as soon as possible, as Aotearoa New Zealand stands at high risk of an outbreak.
9 Oct	New pilot with Plunket to deliver childhood immunisations To increase access and boost immunisation rates, Health New Zealand \| Te Whatu Ora and Whānau Āwhina Plunket will pilot the delivery of childhood immunisations at a select number of sites across the country.
8 Oct	Health NZ Begins Development of National Perinatal Bereavement Care Pathway As Baby Loss Awareness Week shines a light on the heartbreak faced by many, Health NZ is taking a compassionate and hopeful step forward in transforming the support available for whānau who experience the loss of a baby.
7 Oct	Govt takes the scalpel to regional health budgets At Labour’s insistence, Te Whatu Ora financial documents have been released by the Health Select Committee today showing more cuts are on the way for our health system.
2 Oct	Orion Health and Streamliners form strategic partnership Orion Health, a global leader in digital health solutions, has announced a strategic partnership with Streamliners, creators of HealthPathways which provides an online manual used to assist with clinical assessments.
1 Oct	Rollout of new medicines across New Zealand begins Today marks the first day a range of new medicines, including cancer medicines, will start to become available in hospitals and health centres across the country.
27 Sept	New Dunedin hospital: Southerners deserve better The Government’s announcement today that it will scale back the new Dunedin hospital will negatively impact patient care, the New Zealand Nurses Organisation (NZNO) Tōpūtanga Tapuhi Kaitiaki O Aotearoa says.
26 Sept	Govt not addressing health workforce crisis The National Government is hiding the gaps in the health workforce from New Zealanders, by not producing a full workforce plan nearly a year into their tenure.
25 Sept	New programme offers step up for jobseekers seeking a career in health and wellbeing Local jobseekers have an exciting new opportunity to begin a career in Health following the launch of a new community-based kaiāwhina programme in the Hutt Valley.
23 Sept	Ministers oblivious to cuts’ effect on families The National Government is oblivious to the impact cuts to services will have on New Zealanders who are doing the hard yards caring for mentally ill family members.
19 Sept	Wānaka community to benefit from new overnight health service Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says an Overnight Acute Care Service opening in October will provide people in Wānaka and the surrounding area with the assurance of quality overnight care closer to home.
17 Sept	Dr Le Heron takes title of 2024 Alzheimers NZ Fellow Distinguished neurologist and cognitive neuroscientist, Dr Campbell Le Heron, has been made the 2024 Alzheimers NZ Fellow for his work researching and managing cognitive disorders.
11 Sept	Aged care will be worse off if redesign rushed New Zealanders needing aged care support and the people who care for them will be worse off if the Government pushes through a flawed and rushed redesign of dementia and aged care.
11 Sept	Govt takes action on mpox response, widens access to vaccine The Government is taking immediate action on a number of steps around New Zealand’s response to mpox, including improving access to vaccine availability so people who need it can do so more easily, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti and Associate Health Minister David Seymour announced today.
10 Sept	ICN launches new position statement and discussion paper setting out a revolution in the delivery of Primary Health Care The International Council of Nurses (ICN) is launching its new position statement and a discussion paper on Primary Health Care (PHC) at its Nurse Practitioner/Advanced Practice Nursing Network (NP/APN Network) Conference in Aberdeen, Scotland.
9 Sept	First cancer medicine decision following Pharmac funding boost Pharmac has decided to widen access to two medicines for several types of cancer. Pembrolizumab (branded as Keytruda) will be funded from 1 October 2024 for eligible people with advanced triple-negative breast cancer, head and neck cancer, colorectal cancer, bladder cancer, and Hodgkin lymphoma. Nivolumab (branded as Opdivo) will be funded from 1 November for eligible people with kidney cancer.
6 Sept	Health agencies working with Police on rebalancing roles for mental health responses Health New Zealand \| Te Whatu Ora and the Ministry of Health - Manatū Hauora are working with Police to change some of the ways agencies respond to mental health. The change will see an increased health-led response, supporting Police to focus on core Policing.
4 Sept	Nurses’ bargaining starts with action for safe staffing Nurses are kicking off their collective bargaining with Te Whatu Ora by taking action for safe staffing on Friday, New Zealand Nurses Organisation Tōpūtanga Tapuhi Kaitiaki o Aotearoa (NZNO) says.