News – Page 6 – Kaitiaki Nursing New Zealand

August 2025

Nurses, kaiāwhina and doctors throw weight behind ‘heartbreaking’ patient voice petition

By Mary Longmore

August 14, 2025

Nurses, doctors and patients around the country are making a last big push for signatures on a petition for patient rights, ahead of it being presented to Parliament in November.

August 2025

Multiply by five, add a lot of years — decades needed to make up shocking Māori nursing shortfall, report says

By Joel Maxwell

August 14, 2025

Multiply by five and add decades — a new Infometrics report released at the indigenous nurses conference reveals Aotearoa will need a lot of time and enrolments for Māori nursing to hit parity.

August 2025

Weekly $100 for some nursing students for placements outside Auckland as squeeze goes on city spots

By Joel Maxwell

August 14, 2025

One of Auckland’s nursing schools has offered cash to its students who do clinical placements outside New Zealand’s biggest city.

August 2025

It’s on: Te Whatu Ora members vote for two days of September strikes

By Joel Maxwell

August 13, 2025

The fight for safe staffing and patient safety in hospitals has ramped up with NZNO Te Whatu Ora members voting for two days of strikes in September.

August 2025

Watch: ‘Their kids can’t afford shoes’ – NZNO pay equity submission goes before the people’s select committee

By Joel Maxwell

August 13, 2025

WATCH: The Government dodged consultation but now NZNO has joined submitters to the people’s select committee laying out the impacts of axed pay equity claims.

Watch: ‘Their kids can’t afford shoes’ – NZNO pay equity submission goes before the people’s select committee

August 2025

EXCLUSIVE: ‘Psychologist associate’ role knocked back by professional standards board — for now

By Mary Longmore

August 11, 2025

NZNO’s mental health nurses say they are pleased New Zealand’s psychologists’ regulator has turned down a “distracting” proposed new assistant/associate psychologist role — for now.

August 2025

South Island practice nurse-to-prescriber training hits 100 grads

By Kaitiaki coeditors

August 7, 2025

A free training programme upskilling nurses at general practices across the South Island to prescribe common medications is celebrating 100 graduates — and a boost in community nurses’ confidence.

August 2025

Tale of two weekends: Nurses mull more strikes for safe staffing as PM says health system ‘fixed’

By Joel Maxwell

August 7, 2025

One weekend, but two systems, two worlds — and now potentially two days of strikes.

August 2025

E hia kē ngā rau tapuhi Māori ka “mauri ake” ai ā tērā wiki

By Renee Kiriona (te reo Māori translation by Joel Maxwell)

August 6, 2025

Ka hui mai ngā rau tapuhi Māori nō ngā pito e whā o te whenua ā tērā wiki i Rotorua mō te Indigenous Nurses Aotearoa Conference.

August 2025

Profiles of the candidates for the NZNO board election

By NZNO board candidates

August 5, 2025

Below are the profiles of the candidates for the NZNO board elections, written by the candidates themselves. Online voting for the election starts on Wednesday, August 6.

August 2025

Hundreds of Māori nurses to “mauri” up next week

By Renee Kiriona

August 5, 2025

Hundreds of Māori nurses from throughout the country will gather in Rotorua next week for the annual Indigenous Nurses Aotearoa Conference.

July 2025

‘Just the beginning’, say fed-up nurses and kaiāwhina as 24-hour strike wraps

By Mary Longmore

July 31, 2025

After tens of thousands of nurses, midwives and health-care assistants hit the picket lines, members warn more strikes are coming.

August 2025

‘Nurses are part of our family’ — author pays back support with march alongside strikers

By Joel Maxwell

July 30, 2025

Author Emily Writes joined marchers in central Wellington during Wednesday’s strike — lending support to the profession that became part of her family after her son’s health struggles.

July 2025

More than 36,000 voices shake ‘ivory towers’ as members walk off hospital floors around Aotearoa

By Joel Maxwell and Renee Kiriona

July 30, 2025

NZNO members shook Aotearoa’s “ivory towers” with 36,000 combined voices as they walked off hospital floors around the country on Wednesday morning.

July 2025

‘Kia tū māia’ — ngā kupu tautoko a ngā tapuhi hauora matua ki ngā kiriporotū o Te Whatu Ora

By Joel Maxwell

July 28, 2025

Nurses took an oath, clinical nurse co-ordinator Ayla Evans-Warmenhoven said, and frankly it’s getting tough keeping it.

July 2025

‘PS – go hard’ — primary health-care nurses’ words of support for Te Whatu Ora strikers

By Joel Maxwell

July 28, 2025

Nurses took an oath, clinical nurse co-ordinator Ayla Evans-Warmenhoven said, and frankly it’s getting tough keeping it.

July 2025

EXCLUSIVE:’Shocking’ low job rates for our latest nurse graduates, figures reveal

By Joel Maxwell and Mary Longmore

July 25, 2025

Less than half — just 45 per cent — of registered nursing graduates have been matched to supported-entry roles at Te Whatu Ora after mid-year finals, Kaitiaki can reveal.

July 2025

Love, anger, and a reminder to men — mammoth pay-equity petition delivered at Parliament

By Joel Maxwell

July 23, 2025

It’s simple – Wendy Rees loves people, loves her patients, but she’s really angry.

June 2025

‘Big leap forward’ for NZNO, as new constitution voted in by members

By Mary Longmore

July 18, 2025

A historic new constitution for Tōpūtanga Tapuhi Kaitiaki o Aotearoa — NZNO that fundamentally changes its structure to become more egalitarian and te Tiriti-led has been voted in by members.

July 2025

‘He āhuatanga tauaro’ — ka kite ngā māngai Murihiku i ngā piropiro tūmatanui mō te hauora me te porotū

By Joel Maxwell

July 16, 2025

They hustled a spot at the biggest crafts market in Invercargill – then a group of NZNO delegates got a grassroots vibe check: nurses or the Government?

Daily doses – uncut news

30 Apr	BroPilot grounding digital tools in whānau, culture, and care A passion for his Māori culture and a desire to make AI accessible to everyone inspired Troy Baker, Senior ICT Specialist, Health New Zealand to develop BroPilot – a culturally grounded way of working with Microsoft Copilot that reflects Māori values, whakaaro, and real lived experience.
29 Apr	Heartbreaking tragedies were avoidable - NZNO Analysis by a media outlet, published today, finding health care staff shortages were contributing factors in the deaths of 11 babies is a national and avoidable tragedy, NZNO says.
28 Apr	CTU launches Roving Health and Safety Representatives policy on Workers’ Memorial Day The New Zealand Council of Trade Unions Te Kauae Kaimahi has today launched our Roving Health and Safety Representatives policy at the Workers’ Memorial Day commemoration in Wellington, with further events held across the motu in Manawatū, Christchurch, and Otago.
24 Apr	“The 80s Calling”: New national campaign challenges outdated HIV stigma Associate Health Minister Matt Doocey today launched Health New Zealand’s “The 80s Calling”; a provocative new campaign designed to reduce stigma, normalise conversations about HIV, and support people living with HIV.
23 Apr	Government’s attack on Māori health raised at the UN Concerns over the Coalition Government’s active reversal of policies designed to improve Māori health outcomes were raised at the United Nations in New York this morning.
16 Apr	Tribute to Professor Lester Levy’s service to healthcare Health New Zealand Chief Executive Dr Dale Bramley is paying tribute to Health NZ Board Chair Professor Lester Levy, who finishes in the role at the end of the month.
10 Apr	Chronic health care assistant short staffing harming vulnerable patients Te Whatu Ora’s attempt to cut costs by requiring health care assistants to carry out cohort patient watches is harming vulnerable patients and staff, NZNO says.
9 Apr	New group education clinics speeding up knee and hip surgery care Health New Zealand is rolling out a new group education approach for people waiting for hip and knee surgery in north and west Auckland, resulting in more patients being seen sooner.
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.