News – Page 3 – Kaitiaki Nursing New Zealand

November 2025

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

By Mary Longmore

November 28, 2025

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.

November 2025

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

By Mary Longmore

November 24, 2025

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

November 2025

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

By Kaitiaki coeditors

November 21, 2025

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

November 2025

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

By Mary Longmore

November 20, 2025

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

November 2025

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

By Joel Maxwell

November 18, 2025

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.

November 2025

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

By Mary Longmore

November 17, 2025

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

November 2025

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

By Joel Maxwell

November 12, 2025

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.

November 2025

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

By Joel Maxwell

November 12, 2025

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.

November 2025

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

By Joel Maxwell

November 11, 2025

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.

November 2025

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

By Mary Longmore

November 7, 2025

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.

November 2025

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

By Joel Maxwell

November 5, 2025

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.

October 2025

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

By Joel Maxwell

November 5, 2025

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.

November 2025

Southern start for ‘Hīkoi for Our Health’

By Renee Kiriona

November 3, 2025

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

October 2025

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

By Renee Kiriona

October 31, 2025

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.

October 2025

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

By Renee Kiriona

October 24, 2025

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

October 2025

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

By Mary Longmore, Joel Maxwell and Renee Kiriona

October 23, 2025

‘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.

October 2025

Strikes go ahead — but weather warnings force some rally cancellations

By Joel Maxwell

October 22, 2025

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.

October 2025

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

By Joel Maxwell

October 22, 2025

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

October 2025

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

By Renee Kiriona

October 20, 2025

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

October 2025

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

By Mary Longmore

October 18, 2025

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.

Daily doses – uncut news

25 Mar	National Diabetes Roadmap launched to improve care, prevention, and quality of life Health New Zealand has launched a new National Diabetes Roadmap (‘the Roadmap’) to improve care, strengthen prevention, and support better health outcomes and quality of life for people living with diabetes.
24 Mar	ACT should leave nursing to professionals and medical evidence Tōpūtanga Tapuhi Kaitiaki o Aotearoa NZNO Kaiwhakahaere Kerri Nuku says ACT MP Todd Stephenson has dismissed the Nursing Council’s draft code of conduct - which proposes strengthening cultural safety, whānau-centred care and te Tiriti o Waitangi obligations - as political ideology.
23 Mar	UK report reflects ICN warnings on international recruitment ripoff — now countries must act together The International Council of Nurses (ICN) warmly welcomes a new report from the UK All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Global Health and Security that recognizes the huge sums saved by high-income countries who recruit abroad and acknowledges the severe harms caused by unethical recruitment from fragile source countries left without nurses.
20 Mar	HPV self-test boosts cervical cancer screening ‘across the board’, new study confirms Making human papillomavirus (HPV) self-testing available to all women increases the number of people screened for cervical cancer, a new study led by researchers from Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington has confirmed.
19 Mar	ICN at CSW70: Violence against nurses is a gendered crisis threatening global health The International Council of Nurses (ICN) has warned that violence against nurses is a global gendered crisis that threatens health systems, patient safety and workforce sustainability
17 Mar	Additional winter health care workers a drop in the ocean of need The Government’s announcement today of 378 extra staff to help hospitals cope with winter demand is a drop in the ocean of what patients need, NZNO says.
12 Mar	Funding change will ensure more consistent emergency care for New Zealanders A simple change in how ambulance medicines are funded is set to create more consistent emergency care.
9 Mar	Questions over dilapidated and cramped renal unit forced to ration dialysis The Health Minister must explain why after years of concerns from nurses about Christchurch Hospital’s barely functioning dialysis unit, he only stepped in late yesterday when life-saving treatment had to be rationed, NZNO says.
3 Mar	Hospitals and health workers should never be targets The right of health care workers to provide care during international conflicts must be protected, Tōpūtanga Tapuhi Kaitiaki o Aotearoa NZNO says.
2 Mar	Public and Mental Health Nurses settle collective agreement Health New Zealand welcomes the ratification of the two Public Service Association (PSA) Public and Mental Health Nurses collective employment agreements for Auckland and the Rest of New Zealand.
27 Feb	Whakatāne Hospital to resume secondary obstetrics and gynaecology services Whakatāne Hospital will resume secondary obstetrics and gynaecology services from 8am on 13 April 2026.
26 Feb	Counsellors warn NZ is normalising crisis levels of youth distress Youth mental distress has become entrenched, suicide remains a national tragedy, and our systems are failing to intervene early enough, says the New Zealand Association of Counsellors (NZAC).
26 Feb	Record uptake nearly doubles advanced nurse education scholarships A record 235 primary care registered nurses will begin advanced education this year – nearly doubling the number originally planned – following strong demand for the Government’s new Registered Nurse Primary Care Scholarships, Health Minister Simeon Brown says.
19 Feb	‘Top Up’ to deliver faster access to support Seven grassroots mental health initiatives supporting small and hard-to-reach communities have received funding to deliver faster access to support, Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey announced today.
18 Feb	Pharmac proposes funding new treatments that could transform early care for people with chronic lymphocytic leukaemia, a type of blood cancer People in New Zealand living with chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL) could soon benefit from funded access to targeted treatments under a new proposal from Pharmac.
13 Feb	Te Whatu Ora’s embarrassing U-turn over proposed car park plan Te Whatu Ora needs to go back to the drawing board and prioritise worker safety after reversing plans to charge hospital workers market rates for car parks, NZNO says.
11 Feb	Stark differences in COVID-19 vaccination rates between Māori and non-Māori, research finds A new study analysing COVID-19 vaccine uptake has found markedly lower vaccination rates among Māori, which researchers link to existing inequities in healthcare access.
9 Feb	ICN’s call for International Nurses Day 2026: empower nurses to save lives ICN has announced the theme for International Nurses Day (IND) 2026: Our Nurses. Our Future. Empowered Nurses Save Lives. This focus sends a clear message that to maximize the full life-saving impact of the nursing workforce, we must empower nurses with safe, fair work environments and full nursing practice, influence, and leadership.
5 Feb	Global nurse leaders gather in Japan to address urgent workforce crisis Nursing leaders from Japan and around the world are gathering in Yokohama this week for two major nursing events that are advancing the global conversation on how countries can protect, retain and invest in their nursing workforce as pressures mount across health systems worldwide.
4 Feb	Midwives to deliver more vaccinations to help protect families Midwives are now able to offer a wider range of funded immunisations, supporting families from pregnancy through the early months of a child’s life, Health Minister Simeon Brown says.
30 Jan	Opening of E Tū Wairua Hinengaro – Mason Clinic Health New Zealand has marked the opening of E Tū Wairua Hinengaro, a new purpose-built facility at Auckland’s Mason Clinic designed to strengthen and modernise forensic mental healthcare in Aotearoa.
29 Jan	NZNO disgusted by nurse’s killing in the US Tōpūtanga Tapuhi Kaitiaki o Aotearoa NZNO has expressed disgust at the shooting and killing of nurse Alex Pretti on a Minneapolis, US street on Saturday morning by federal officers.
27 Jan	New national group forms to support public healthcare in Aotearoa Kaitiaki Hauora - Together for Public Health has been formed as a national group bringing together patients, health workers, iwi and Māori health representatives, unions, advocacy organisations, and community groups, with backing from a growing number of organisations across the health sector.
22 Jan	Pharmac proposes to fund life changing treatments for people with cystic fibrosis Pharmac is proposing to fund new treatment options for people living with cystic fibrosis with eligible mutations, including young children, from 1 April 2026.
05 Jan	Nurses pay tribute to Dame Poutasi The passing of Dame Karen Poutasi has seen Aotearoa lose one of its foremost health leaders and a woman of high integrity, Tōpūtanga Tapuhi Kaitiaki o Aotearoa NZNO Kaiwhakahaere Kerri Nuku says.
12 Dec	Holidays Act remediation payments update As of 12 December 2025, more than 83,000 current employees (representing nearly 93% of the current workforce) have been paid over $657m holidays act remediation payments for their current role.
8 Dec	Expanding access to everyday medicines Registered nurse prescribers can now prescribe nearly double the number of medicines, significantly expanding access to timely, local care for New Zealanders, Health Minister Simeon Brown says.
1 Dec	Govt breaking promise to local communities Labour’s new Family Doctor Loan Scheme will support doctors and nurse practitioners with low-interest loans to set up new practices or buy into existing ones.