Far-flung nursing tauira/students are biking, walking and carpooling to class as fuel prices start to bite.
NZNO Te Rūnanga Tauira representative at Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi, Aānaliese Cassidy, said several first and second year students had started carpooling from Tauranga to the nursing school’s Whakatāne campus.
‘I’ve got a spare bed, if you fellas need somewhere to come and stay for the night.’
“We have students who travel from Ōpōtiki, Ruatāhuna, Otūmoetai in Tauranga, Pāpāmoa, Murupara – we have lots of students coming from different areas,” Cassidy told Kaitiaki.
“I’ve personally started walking. I’ve got two tamariki so . . . I go from my house to kindy then to school so it’s about 45 minutes.
Cassidy was even willing to provide a bed to her fellow students, some of whom lived more than an hour’s drive away.
“I’ve offered some of our tauira who live further out – Ōpōtiki, Murupara – I’ve got a spare bed, if you fellas need somewhere to come and stay for the night.”
Average 91 petrol prices were expected to hit $3.70 this weekend, with no end in sight to the war between the United States and Iran, which has blocked key oil transit point, the Strait of Hormuz.
Fuel fear: An RN faces a decision no parent should have to make.
Cassidy said many students were anxious about upcoming five-week clinical placements, as travel was already a challenge for cash-strapped students even before petrol prices rocketed.
“Whakatāne is not very big. I could be out at Kawarau, which is a 35 minute drive, I could be over in Ōpōtiki, I could have to go to Tauranga — we just don’t know.”
The school was also considering allowing more online classes outside of labs and exploring other ways of financially supporting students, Cassidy said. So far, nobody had dropped out.
“Hopefully it stays that way – hopefully we’re able to keep uplifting and supporting each other”.
Calling for more support, NZNO’s national student unit co-leader Poihaere Whare said tauira, already facing financial pressure, unpaid placements and long travel, were disproportionately affected by the fuel crisis.
Auckland nurse and delegate, Liandra Conradie, who lived an hour’s drive away from the hospital she worked at, said she could now only afford to drive two days a week.
Instead, she was catching the train — but with a 25 minute drive to the station, her daily commute had doubled to four hours.
“We’re not living pay cheque to pay cheque anymore we’re kind of just trying to live on the bare minimum. We have to cut down on the food we buy, [and] I’ve had to take more annual leave for school holidays because I can’t book my daughter into school holiday programmes because I can’t afford it.”
A public transport subsidy would help, Conradie said — but there had so far been no communication from Te Whatu Ora-Health New Zealand (HNZ) on what support it could provide staff.
Many, particularly those living further out in West Auckland, had no idea how they would manage, Conradie said.
HCAs ‘struggling’
Co-chairperson of the kaiāwhina national committee, Natasha Greig said her fuel bill had “gone up a shit ton”, as her vehicle used diesel, which has been hard hit.
“I know HCAs are struggling with the cost of living anyway — food costs have gone through the roof, and this is just adding to it.”
She knew of staff who were solo parents who were thinking “we’re going to get to the point where we’re not going to afford to get to work”.
Greig, who works in aged care in Hawke’s Bay, said she was lucky as she only had a five-minute drive to work. “But a lot of our staff are driving from Hastings to Napier every day and that’s a huge toll.”
One of her colleagues told her that she was paying $80 a week just to get to work — and that was before fuel prices jumped. “I’d hate to know what she’s paying now.”
Last October, NZNO released a report on health-care workers in aged care, Care in crisis/Manaaki i te raru, revealing a critically under-funded sector.
Greig said the fuel crisis drove home the need for the Government to pay more money to HCAs. “Particularly aged care — aged care gets screwed over all the bloody time.”
Oil shock at a glance
- On February 28, US president Donald Trump announced Operation Epic Fury — a joint attack, with Israel, on Iran.
- Although the attack killed a swathe of Iranian leaders, it failed to topple the regime in charge of the country.
- Now Iran’s defence forces have blocked the Strait of Hormuz, choking off oil supply, and launched missile and drone attacks on its neighbours.
- As of publication, Aotearoa has 58.7 days of petrol supplies left.
‘Kick in the teeth’
NZNO kaiwhakahaere Kerri Nuku said people were already being forced to think carefully about how they were spending their money.
“Look at the impact on students as well, in placements, and all they have at risk because they’re still expected to go on placements regardless.”
Better pay rates for the health-care workforce had always been about workers being recognised for their mahi, and connections they made within whānau, said Nuku.
“It’s now more amplified . . . it’s actually impacting on them being able to live a decent quality of life and then going to work and being valued there. They’re being kicked in the teeth all around, really.”
HNZ ‘monitoring’
HNZ national director people and culture, health and safety Robyn Shearer said HNZ was keeping a “close eye” on the Middle East situation.
“We know the increasing cost of fuel and other economic knock-ons from the Middle East conflict is a concern for our people.”
She said HNZ valued the work of staff and was “planning and monitoring to better understand impacts on our people, and to identify opportunities to support our staff and maintain health service delivery”.