Opinion – Page 3 – Kaitiaki Nursing New Zealand

August 2025

200 words and done: Pay equity fight headed to court — why, when, where and what even is pay equity?

By Joel Maxwell

August 21, 2025

The battle against the Government’s pay equity schemozzle is headed to court — what’s happening, and how does it involve NZNO?

200 words and done: Pay equity fight headed to court — why, when, where and what even is pay equity?

August 2025

‘I don’t want that brown nurse to look after me’ — racism one of many challenges faced by migrant nurses

By Reshmi Varghese

August 18, 2025

“When we come to a new country we can be made to feel a bit small.”
A nurse who moved from India to Invercargill is making sure other oversea nurses get the support they need when they arrive in Aotearoa, New Zealand.

August 2025

Dear Simeon Brown — a letter from a longtime registered nurse

By Abby Broadbent

August 13, 2025

Veteran registered nurse Abby Broadbent sent a letter to health minister Simeon Brown asking if he’d like to swap jobs. She agreed to Kaitiaki running the letter, abridged, to share her thoughts with fellow members.

August 2025

Pay equity changes ‘a major regression in women’s rights’

By Judy McGregor

July 31, 2025

The cancelling of pay-equity claims is a significant regression in women’s rights in this country and had no political mandate.

August 2025

Government got a cheek to be ‘disappointed’ — Starship nurse

By Haim Ainsworth

July 30, 2025

Haim Ainsworth is a 37-year veteran nurse and staff nurse at Starship Children’s Hospital in Auckland. He brought the house down when he took to the stage to speak at Auckland’s strike action rally which saw thousands of nurses turn out.

August 2025

‘We won’t back down’ — NZNO pushing ahead with 12 pay equity claims

By Glenda Alexander

July 22, 2025

Despite warnings the new thresholds for pay equity claims are impassable, Tōpūtanga Tapuhi Kaitiaki o Aotearoa – NZNO won’t be deterred, says long-time nursing pay equity advocate, Glenda Alexander.

July 2025

‘Solidarity means standing together’ — delegate calls on members to stick together on strike day

By Troy Stewart

July 18, 2025

As Te Whatu Ora prepare to go on a nationwide 24-hour strike at the end of this month over stalled bargaining talks, Auckland delegate Troy Stewart explains why it’s important everyone takes part.

August 2025

It’s time to say enough is enough: Addressing workplace violence against nurses

By Adetoun Oyekunle

July 17, 2025

Many nurses and other health-care workers see violence as part of the job or fear retaliation if they speak up. This has to stop.

July 2025

200-words-and-done: What does the Regulatory Standards Bill mean for nurses?

By Joel Maxwell

July 11, 2025

Nurses are busy – here’s Kaitiaki’s 200-words-and-done explainer of what ACT’s Regulatory Standards Bill means for everyday health-care workers.

July 2025

Dunedin’s grassroots movement for culturally safe care tired of fighting

By Munisha Singh, Zarghona Lafraie, Kym Makanesi, Louela Turner and Anna Egbuji

July 10, 2025

There were three tragic adverse events within the Southern District Health Board (DHB) that resulted in the loss of lives in 2022. These were not just clinical failings, they were devastating reminders of how cultural misunderstanding, lack of awareness and systemic inequities can have fatal consequences. Four health professionals team up to share their views with us.

July 2025

ICN trip inspires new nurse to pursue leadership

By Sione ‘Ulufonua

July 4, 2025

Attending the ICN Congress in Helsinki this year was an exciting and inspiring experience for new graduate nurse Sione ‘Ulufonua, who now wishes to pursue a nursing leadership role.

June 2025

‘Society’s deepest wounds’: Whangārei emergency nurse speaks out on inequities

By Bridget Firth

June 30, 2025

‘This isn’t a funding shortfall, it’s a shift of values,’ a Whangarei ED nurse tells an audience who attended a packed out hui-for-health in her city.

July 2025

A striking perioperative nurse shares the challenges she faces every day

By Steph Moule

June 23, 2025

Forced overtime, understaffing and patient pile ups — NZNO delegate Steph Moule shares her daily experiences as a perioperative nurse.

June 2025

The end is nigh

By Russell Murphy

June 12, 2025

Counties Manukau-based Russell Murphy is a registered nurse who specialises in mental health. In this viewpoint, he shares with us his very real and raw lived experience and his reluctance to retire from the job he loves.

Bowel-screening changes will leave gastroenterology nurses and doctors with more cancer diagnoses

By Karen Kempin

June 11, 2025

A gastroenterology nurse leader says she ‘cannot fathom’ Government moves to condemn more Māori and Pasifika to bowel cancer diagnoses.

June 2025

The main character in pay equity

By Nadia Abu-Shanab

June 4, 2025

Working people are a main character in politics. Not just a group that stuff happens to, but people capable of making things happen.

May 2025

‘Time to get noisy’ — Auckland nurse explains why he voted down Te Whatu Ora’s offer

By Troy Stewart

May 30, 2025

This Government knows the cost of everything and the value of nothing, says NZNO delegate Troy Stewart.

June 2025

Vulnerable women need safe hands of a nurse — women’s health college

By Sarah Marshall

May 21, 2025

Skilled nurses with the confidence to advocate for patients are essential for the care of vulnerable women and patients, argues NZNO’s women’s health college in the face of Government moves to loosen health workforce regulation.

May 2025

‘Show some respect to nurses’ — Steve Chadwick on halting of pay equity claims

By Steve Chadwick

May 13, 2025

Primary and Community Health Association (PCHA) chair Steve Chadwick says New Zealand’s struggling health system and nursing workforce have been dealt another significant blow by the mass dumping of 33 pay equity claims this month.

June 2025

‘Soul-crushing’ work of a nurse today

By Sophie Tomes

May 9, 2025

Just 18 months after graduating, Auckland nurse Sophie Tomes explains why she is struggling with physical pain and mental anguish every day.

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.