News – Page 6 – Kaitiaki Nursing New Zealand

January 2026

Work to eliminate cervical cancer continues despite obstacles, says nurse after 20 year anniversary

By Mary Longmore

December 17, 2025

Eliminating cervical cancer in Aotearoa remains the end goal for nurse and emerging researcher Nadine Riwai.

January 2026

EXCLUSIVE:’Disheartening’ — just 34 of 218 enrolled nurse graduates get jobs

By Mary Longmore

December 12, 2025

Just 34 of 218 enrolled nurse (EN) graduates — 15 per cent — who applied to Te Whatu Ora landed a job this year, new figures reveal, prompting fears ENs have been “forgotten”.

December 2025

Mums and grand mums ‘working for free’ to face another tough Christmas

By Renee Kiriona

December 11, 2025

There are unlikely to be many presents under the Christmas trees of hundreds of thousands of women throughout Aotearoa this year because they are “working for free” right now, according to the Council of Trade Unions.

January 2026

He āputa ā-pūtea kua huraina — ko te take e hiahia nei te 80 ōrau o ēnei tapuhi kia wehe

By Joel Maxwell

December 10, 2025

Kua whāki atu ngā tapuhi hauora tuatahi mō ō rātou utu ā-hāora — kia tūhura ake pea i te take ka moemoeā te 80 ōrau o rātou mō ā rātou wehe i te rāngai.

January 2026

Cash gap revealed — why 80 per cent of these nurses think of escaping

By Joel Maxwell

December 10, 2025

Nurses in grassroots health care have dished on pay rates, workloads and just how many of them have considered leaving the sector.

February 2026

EXCLUSIVE: Not so ACE: Less than half of end-of-year grads nab actual jobs

By Joel Maxwell and Mary Longmore

December 4, 2025

New figures reveal only about half the highly-touted new graduate hire intake got actual mahi — the rest join a unmatched list nudging into the thousands since last December.

December 2025

Low-paid workers at private hospital take strike action

By Renee Kiriona

December 3, 2025

Workers in the lowest-paid roles at a private hospital in Palmerston North are fighting their employer’s decision to block them from joining a collective.

November 2025

Biggest nurse graduate intake ‘in a decade’, claims Te Whatu Ora

By Mary Longmore

November 28, 2025

After two years of struggle and a public outcry over jobless nurse graduates, Te Whatu Ora says it’s hiring the ‘biggest intake in a decade’.

November 2025

Nurses show up for picketing colleagues as NZNO work-to-rule strike wraps

By Mary Longmore and Renee Kiriona

November 28, 2025

More than 40 per cent of requests to NZNO members to provide life-preserving services (LPS) were turned down as not legitimate, stats reveal, as the two-week work-to-rule strike ends.

November 2025

Better nurse staffing linked to major drops in physician burnout

By Sanchari Sinha Dutta

November 28, 2025

An international study has found that better nurse staffing and work environments in hospitals are associated with improved physicians’ wellbeing and job satisfaction.

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.

25 Sept	380 more health care workers at the end of winter too little too late An announcement of 380 additional nurses, midwives and health care assistants for hospitals around the country at the end of winter is too little too late, NZNO says.
23 Sept	Auckland University research finds nurse shortages increase post-surgery deaths and complications New research by Auckland University has found addressing nurse shortages in post-operative care may save 182 lives a year because short-staffed wards have higher rates of potentially preventable deaths and complications after their surgeries.
21 Sept	Whanganui Hospital ED averaged 680% capacity over a week Working in an overcrowded emergency department (ED), up to 680% capacity over a week, makes staff feel overwhelmed with the pressure, Tōpūtanga Tapuhi Kaitiaki o Aotearoa NZNO says.
14 Sept	WellSouth's Newborn Enrolment Kahu Taurima Programme a finalist at the Primary Care Awards 2026 WellSouth's Newborn Enrolment Kahu Taurima Programme is a finalist at the Primary Care Awards for the HALEO Best Supplier Service, Product or Campaign category. Winners will be announced on 17 October.
14 Sept	Global Study: Nursing Shortages Require Workforce Policy Solutions, Not Recruitment Campaigns Alone Why people choose nursing, and why they leave, comes down to the same factors. The global nursing shortage cannot be solved simply by encouraging more people to enter the profession, according to a new evidence brief.
8 Sept	Overworked, understaffed Gisborne ED staff strike Health and safety concerns arising from unsafe staffing levels have forced nurses at Gisborne Hospital’s emergency department (ED) to go on strike.
4 Sept	Strong growth in wāhine Māori and Pacific women’s cervical screening rates highlights success of self-testing programme Cervical screening participation has increased significantly for both wāhine Māori and Pacific women, reflecting the strong impact of self-testing, Screening Services and the dedicated efforts of health providers working alongside their communities.
4 Sept	Government must adopt Wai 2713 recommendations on disability system The Coalition Government must urgently adopt new recommendations from the Waitangi Tribunal which has found significant parts of the disability system prejudice tāngata whaikaha Māori (Māori with disabilities), NZNO says.
31 Aug	Employing graduate nurses will help keep them in nursing and the country A new proposal that will require Te Whatu Ora to offer all eligible graduate nurses jobs in the public health system will help keep them in nursing and in Aotearoa New Zealand, NZNO says.
26 Aug	Health Minister’s claim Winter Plan ‘managing well’ delusional Health Minister Simeon Brown’s claim that hospitals are ‘managing well’ because of the Government’s Winter Plan is delusional, NZNO says.
25 Aug	Hospital data shows nursing shortages continue to put patients at risk Te Whatu Ora data released today shows patients are continuing to be put at risk by the Coalition Government’s deliberate failure to safely staff hospital wards, NZNO says.
24 Aug	Fed-up North Shore ED staff declare state of emergency NZNO members working in the emergency department (ED) at North Shore Hospital have declared a state of emergency due to unsafe staffing levels resulting in ongoing overcrowding.
19 Aug	What happened to the winter health plan? The $25 million 2026 Winter Plan launched by Health Minister Simeon Brown in March to erase pressure on the health system has been an unmitigated disaster, Tōpūtanga Tapuhi Kaitiaki o Aotearoa NZNO says.
11 Aug	Applications open for advanced nursing education programmes Health New Zealand is encouraging registered nurses to apply for two advanced education programmes that support nurses to further develop their clinical skills and expand access to care in communities across New Zealand.
3 Aug	Health New Zealand welcomes settlement of NZRDA collective agreement Health New Zealand welcomes the vote by New Zealand Resident Doctors Association (NZRDA) members to settle their collective agreement.
30 Jul	Backing our frontline rural health workforce Rural communities across New Zealand will benefit from three new investments that will support the rural health workforce and help more people access care closer to home, Associate Health Minister Matt Doocey says.
22 Jul	Te Whatu Ora must disclose staffing levels at time of tragic death Te Whatu Ora must disclose whether the Waikato emergency department (ED) was short-staffed at the time a man tragically died in the waiting room, NZNO says.
6 Jul	Reflecting on IND 2026 Looking back on last month’s International Nurses Day 12 May 2026 (IND 2026), the impact of this year's theme "Our Nurses. Our Future. Empowered Nurses Save Lives" continues to resonate across the world. ICN’s landmark IND 2026 report defined seven key powers of nursing and this message has been strengthened with nurses in every region celebrating, naming, and owning their powers throughout May.
3 Jul	Health New Zealand acknowledges Ombudsman statement on Wakari Ward 10A Health NZ welcomes the independent investigation by the Ministry of Health into Ward 10A. On Wednesday the Health NZ board agreed to close Wakari Ward 10a as a forensic intellectual disability (ID) unit, with the future use of the ward yet to be determined.
2 Jul	New programme to fast track bowel cancer care and cut colonoscopy waitlists Health New Zealand is today launching a national initiative, designed to fast track bowel cancer care and reduce colonoscopy waitlists by up to 30 per cent.
1 Jul	Six new Co-Response Team locations announced to strengthen support for people in mental distress The next six locations for Health New Zealand and NZ Police Co-Response Teams have been confirmed, expanding a model that helps people experiencing mental distress receive timely, wraparound support that better meets their health needs.
29 Jun	Mental health and addiction targets progress continues Health New Zealand continues to make important progress against its mental health and addiction targets, meeting four out of five national targets this quarter.
25 Jun	Access to care continuing to improve across a range of health indicators New health data released today shows continued improvement in access to care across a range of health indicators.
18 Jun	Funding "boost" continues dangerous under-funding of aged care The Health Minister’s funding "boost" for aged residential care continues underfunding to the sector and will continue unsafe practices and short staffing, which is putting vulnerable residents at risk, NZNO says.
16 Jun	Labour to make maternity scans free Labour will add free maternity scans to the Medicard alongside three free doctor’s visits a year, so every pregnant woman gets the care she needs.