primary health care nurses – Kaitiaki Nursing New Zealand

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.

June 2025

‘Don’t forget us’ says primary health nursing leader

By Renee Kiriona

June 24, 2025

Increases in primary care funding announced today must be passed on to nurses to fix chronic staff shortages so New Zealanders can get in to see health-care professionals faster.

June 2025

GP practice funding bump must be passed on to nurses, says primary health leader

By Kaitiaki coeditors

June 19, 2025

A nine per cent funding boost for GP practices and urgent medical centres must be passed on to nurses to fix chronic staff shortages, say NZNO’s primary health care nurses.

March 2025

Extra 60 primary health NPs ‘nice’ but long-term pay boost needed, say nurses

By Mary Longmore

March 7, 2025

NZNO’s primary health care nurses are welcoming training places for an extra 60 nurse practitioners (NPs) in primary health each year — but say only pay parity will stem the exodus of nurses from the sector.

February 2025

‘Unappreciated and underpaid’ primary health nurses speak out

By Mary Longmore

February 10, 2025

As a third of general practices close their doors to new patients, frontline nurses put out a desperate plea for more funding.

January 2025

Poor pay forcing nurses to hīkoi from one crisis to another

By Renee Kiriona

January 30, 2025

Nurses are being forced to walk from their jobs in the community, where they are desperately needed, to other spaces where there is a health crisis or even further, to foreign lands.

December 2024

Primary health ‘ready to tip like jenga’, says nurse vaccinator

By Daana Watson

December 3, 2024

An experienced Christchurch practice nurse warns primary health is in a precarious state.

November 2024

More staff needed to meet health targets, say emergency and primary health nurses

By Mary Longmore

November 13, 2024

Nurses say more staff are needed if they are to meet the Government’s health targets.

May 2024

Northland nurse director joins GP call for more funding as practices face closure

By Mary Longmore

May 3, 2024

Primary health nurses will burn out alongside their GP colleagues unless they get enough funding to adequately care for their complex communities, warns a Northland nursing leader.

May 2024

Tough new government health targets could backfire, warn nurses

By Mary Longmore

April 9, 2024

Emergency nurses fear tough new targets for emergency departments (EDs) will put already-stretched staff under more pressure, risking “gaming” of wait time data.

September 2023

Ground down and left in the lurch

By Vincent Theunissen

September 7, 2023

I write to express my profound disappointment and dismay after reading the recent article “Disappointed primary health nurses pin hopes on pay equity”.

July 2023

Primary health care will ‘implode’ — eight per cent not enough to stem practice nurse haemorrhage

By Mary Longmore

June 2, 2023

Practice nurses say an eight per cent pay rise is a “step” closer to hospital nurses’ salaries — but does not go nearly far enough.

May 2023

‘Disingenuous’ – Kiwi nurses challenge claim pay rates now on par with Australia

By Cate Macintosh

April 3, 2023

The Government says a recent pay increase for Te Whatu Ora nurses puts their base rates ‘on par’ with Australian colleagues. But Kiwi nurses in Australia and a leading economist disagree, saying the claim doesn’t stand up to scrutiny.

April 2023

Ex-minister gets schooled in primary health care as nurses get political

By Cate Macintosh

March 22, 2023

While full-time lobbyists are paid big bucks to door-knock politicians, primary health care nurses are taking time out of their work days caring for patients to do the same. Kaitiaki tagged along for one such visit – to former minister, National list MP Gerry Brownlee.

April 2023

Nurse practitioners reject ‘denigrating’ GP college guidelines, will draw up their own

By Mary Longmore

March 14, 2023

Mātanga tapuhi / nurse practitioners say revised guidelines on their role from the Royal College of GPs (RNZCGP) are “denigrating” and “disappointing”, implying they must consult with GPs before making decisions.

November 2022

Primary health care nurses to strike on October 27

By Cate Macintosh

October 13, 2022

Nurses providing vital care to patients in the community want movement on stalled pay talks. Over 4000 of them will walk off the job for four hours on October 27.

November 2022

Primary health nurses take their message to the streets, the Government, and the Minister

By co-editors Cate Macintosh and Mary Longmore

October 7, 2022

Primary health and Plunket members walked off the job, and onto the streets, to escalate their demand for pay parity with hospital colleagues.

October 2022

Te wero, our challenge, to grow our own workforce

By Sue Adams and Josephine Davis

August 31, 2022

The COVID-19 surge workforce — of unregulated health workers — could be an important source of new nurses.

September 2022

Nurses around the country protest lower pay in primary health care

By Mary Longmore

August 30, 2022

Health Minister Andrew Little promises pay parity “a priority” as protests held around the motu in support of primary health care (PHC) nurses.

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.