One in three Te Whatu Ora members surveyed said they would continue to turn down extra shift requests initiated in a week-long boycott early last month – but many said they would not.
“I believe in continuing this action, they need to step up and sort the pay equity, sort the staffing issues and play fairly,” one survey respondent said.
Of about 35,000 Te Whatu Ora members, 1000 responded to the NZNO Tōpūtanga Tupuhi Kaitiaki o Aotearoa survey about the week of protest from October 3-9.
Some survey respondents were not enthusiastic about continuing the action with 13 per cent ruling it out, while 22 per cent said they would consider future action if it was called for by NZNO.
Some said they were willing to continue the action, but wanted it to be a collective effort.
“I will if that is the feeling, but we all need to do this together; I strongly suspect that staff were picking up [extra shifts] in the area I work [in], which I find disappointing,” one respondent said.
Dunedin ICU nurse and delegate Debbie Robinson said the unit was paying part-time staff overtime rates for picking up extra shifts, and many were accepting them because they needed the additional income.
In his closing speech at the annual conference in September, NZNO chief executive Paul Goulter called on members to turn down requests for additional shifts for the week of October 3-9, if Te Whatu Ora failed to negotiate over pay rates for the work.
Te Whatu Ora had earlier negotiated with two doctors’ unions for winter payment rates for the period from July 1 to September 30, but said it was not necessary to do so with NZNO.
‘ . . . it is all good to refuse shifts but I also need the money as the cost of living and my rent has increased by another $60.’
Nurses were offered $100 for each additional shift, and $800 after five additional night shifts.
Te Whatu Ora lead for people and culture Rosemary Clements said the additional payments were brought in for an “extraordinary time”, but did not need to continue “as COVID-19 and flu infections drop, and spring sees the weather start to improve”.
Just under 65 per cent of NZNO survey respondents refused to do extra shifts during the week. Another 6.5 per cent said they continued to take on extra work for the period.
Just under 26 per cent of those surveyed said they turned down one extra shift in the week which they would otherwise have agreed to.
Another 23 per cent said they turned down two shifts, while 10 per cent refused three shifts, they would have normally done.
One respondent who turned down extra shifts that week said it made her realise “how tired I was”.
“I’m enjoying the extra family time although I’m worried I can’t afford [to go] without the extra money.”
Many survey respondents said the action was mentally and physically stressful, as they knew it would create heavier workloads for colleagues and unsafe care for patients.
They reported bed closures, surgery cancellations, heavy workload, management working on the floor, medication errors, chaos and “so much pressure”.
Some said they felt the action didn’t seem to affect managers.
“Staff shortages have been so bad for so long that they seem to almost ignore it,” one respondent said.
About 80 per cent of those surveyed said they would take the action again, but some were unsure.
‘One said there were ‘many more desperate sounding texts for help’.
One respondent said, ” . . . it is all good to refuse shifts but I also need the money as the cost of living and my rent has increased by another $60.”
About 400 respondents said they continued to work additional shifts for the extra income (28 per cent), or to support colleagues and patients (26 per cent) during the week of action.
A majority of those who turned down additional shift requests said they did not get pushback from their managers, but some reported they came under pressure.
One said there were “many more desperate-sounding texts for help”.
Just over half of survey respondents said they believed the action had a noticeable impact on their workplace, while 11 per cent said it didn’t, and 35 per cent were unsure.
Dunedin Hospital ICU nurse and delegate Debbie Robinson said unit staff fully participated in the week of action and were supported to do so by senior clinical managers, who postponed elective surgeries.
She said it wouldn’t be possible to continue indefinitely, without forcing the complete shutdown of the service.
“If we continued working to contract, and not doing any overtime, then our unit was going to become non-functional. People want to help their patients and colleagues, that’s why we’re there.”
However, she said staff would likely support another limited action, which they could prepare for.
Kaitiaki asked Te Whatu Ora on October 10 how many staffing gaps there were across all services in the week of October 3-9, broken down by districts.
Last week Te Whatu Ora advised they would not be able to respond until November 24.