A vote to adopt the health-care assistant (HCA) and kaiāwhina policy at the NZNO AGM and conference last month marks an important milestone in a journey that has been years in the making. This journey is about bringing greater visibility, recognition and a collective voice to a workforce working across many parts of Aotearoa’s health and disability system.
HCAs, kaiāwhina, carers and support workers contribute across public hospitals, aged-residential care, primary and community health, mental health, disability and other services. While our titles and workplaces may differ, many of the issues we face are shared: Role clarity, access to education and professional development, recognition, safe delegation and opportunities for progression.
‘We now have something we have worked towards for years: A platform from which our workforce can continue building its future.’
The policy provides an important platform from which these issues can continue to be addressed. It supports greater consistency while recognising that HCA and kaiāwhina roles are not identical across every clinical or care setting.
It also creates an opportunity for meaningful collaboration with employers, nursing colleagues and the wider health sector, while keeping the lived experience of the workforce at the centre.
This policy did not appear overnight. It grew from years of conversations, advocacy and the experience shared by people doing this mahi every day. Founding members Al Dietschin and Marita Ansin-Johnson deserve acknowledgement for their early efforts at the 2023 NZNO conference to bring greater visibility to our workforce and continuing to carry that kaupapa forward.
Acknowledgement must also go to NZNO policy analysts, who listened to our stories and experiences and helped to bring those many voices together into a policy that articulates the issues facing our workforce — and our aspirations for its future.
‘A policy on paper will only have meaning if it reaches the workplaces where HCA/kaiāwhina perform their mahi every day.’
A particularly meaningful moment at conference came when Ansin-Johnson stood to acknowledge what the adoption of the policy represented.
Anamei Graham and Rosina Ake stood with her in solidarity, as HCAs who understood the journey behind that moment.
Adoption of the policy is not the end of the work. A policy on paper will only have meaning if it reaches the workplaces where HCA and kaiāwhina perform their mahi every day.
We now have something we have worked towards for years: A platform from which our workforce can continue building its future –visible, recognised and with its own voice at the table.
At a glance
NZNO’s new policy on the role of the health-care assistant, kaiāwhina & carer recommends:
- Supporting a sustainable HCA workforce with education.
- Defining and protecting the HCA role from pressure to perform non-HCA tasks.
- The ability to upskill across qualification levels without regulation.
- Ensuring Nursing Council guidelines on registered and enrolled nurse supervision of HCAs are followed.
- Any expansion of HCA roles only occurs through a national consultation which takes into consideration training, regulation and pay rates.
- Consider how HCAs can contribute to better health equity for Māori and Pacific communities.
- Develop the HCA/kaiāwhina workforce through national recognition, appropriate remuneration, professional development and clear pathways.
- Te Tiriti-based education and support for the HCA/kaiāwhina workforce.
- A national ethical guide for HCAs to clarify their responsibilities and protect them from risky task expectations.
— Marita Ansin-Johnson, Anamei Graham and Rosina Ake are all members of the new NZNO HCA group
See also: It’s finally happening – NZNO’s new kaiāwhina group celebrated.