About 370 perioperative nurses across Auckland City, Starship and Greenlane hospitals, last week began a month-long strike which will see them refuse to be on-call for after-hours surgery till June 23.
Tōpūtanga Tapuhi Kaitiaki o Aotearoa — NZNO delegate Haim Ainsworth said with no permanent overnight perioperative coverage and “chronic” staff shortages, nurses had a rotating on-call night roster at the three hospitals.
‘Who do you want at 3 o’clock in the morning? Somebody who’s already worked their 10-hour shift?’
But instead of going home for a break between their regular shift and being on-call overnight, nurses often felt forced to stay on to care for patients. This was because of their duty of care to patients under the Nursing Council’s code of conduct — but also an assumption from management they would stay on instead of asking permission before surgery began.
That meant nurses often ended up working several hours into the night, on the back of a 10-hour shift. This was hugely risky to both patients and nurses, Ainsworth said.
“Who do you want at 3 o’clock in the morning? Somebody who’s already worked their 10-hour shift? Or someone who’s got home and had their hour-and-a-half of sleep and then come back again?”
Often, the on-call nurse then had to return for another full shift, Ainsworth said.
“They’ll be on call and very often back the next day. Even with the mandated nine- hour break, it still means people aren’t sleeping properly, aren’t getting a full night’s sleep, and not getting away from the job — so they’re tired and exhausted.”
‘We’d actually like to get a decent night’s sleep and go home on time.’
Nor were the after-hours surgeries always urgent, but at times an attempt to clear long elective or other non-urgent backlogs.
Loss of on-call payments
On top of that, the on-call nurses forced to stay on were only paid standard overtime rates of time and a half — rather than double-time callback rates, he said. That could mean up to $150 difference per on-call shift.
About 10 years ago, the three hospitals generally paid staff callback rates even if they hadn’t been able to physically leave the hospital in between day and evening surgeries.
Nurses wanted a return to callback payments; safe staffing to reduce overtime pressures; urgent surgeries only after-hours unless nurses agreed to participate — and to have a break for patient safety as well as their own, Ainsworth said.
“We’d actually like to get a decent night’s sleep and go home on time.”
‘Patient safety’ our priority — Te Whatu Ora
Te Whatu Ora acting northern deputy chief executive Mike Shepherd said they valued the dedication of staff and acknowledged the industrial action of NZNO members.
However, the striking perioperative nurses were already paid extra for being on-call and, separately, for working overtime, he said.
“In most cases these nurses are being paid more than provided for in the collective agreement.”
‘We deserve better so we can look after our patients and perform at our best.’
Patient safety would be a priority, with contingency plans and an agreement with NZNO to provide life-preserving services during the on-call periods over the month, as required under the Employment Relations Act.
The Auckland perioperative nurses also went on rolling two-hour strikes on May Day — May 1 — over the issue, alongside thousands of doctors nationwide protesting understaffing.
Perioperative nurse Chloe Fitzgibbon told Kaitiaki then that nurses were being expected to work overtime without being paid properly.
“We deserve better so we can look after our patients and perform at our best.”
See also: Travel, camaraderie and superb hand hygiene — welcome to the world of perioperative nursing!