‘PS – go hard’ — primary health-care nurses’ words of support for Te Whatu Ora strikers

As strike action begins Wednesday for Te Whatu Ora members, their primary health-care counterparts have shared words of encouragement, solidarity — and a little bit of spiciness — with Kaitiaki.

Evans-Warmenhoven pointed out that every nurse took an oath to do no harm, but understaffing was making this tough to uphold.

“We are only human. You cannot run us like machines, doing back-to-back shifts, missing precious whānau time, hitting rock bottom with burn out – all while trying to simultaneously deliver a high-quality standard of care.”

Read this story in te reo Māori here.

Evans-Warmenhoven said she’d heard horror stories about what was happening inside some hospitals because of inadequate staffing and workplace stress.

“Patients being left in pain for hours, patients not having proper care plans resulting in patient and whanau aggression and basic health rights not being met.”

She had been nursing for a decade but had never been so worried for the health system.

“I support the strike that they are doing, not only for fair pay to reflect the tiring work these people do, but more importantly for safe staffing.”

At a glance

• On July 30-31, 36,000 Te Whatu Ora nurses, health-care assistants and midwives will strike for safe staffing and patient safety for 24 hours.
• Pickets, marches and other events will run around the country as health-care staff walk off the floor at 9am in Aotearoa’s hospitals.
• Members voted to strike following a Te Whatu Ora offer that was considered worse than its previously-rejected May offer.
• It comes as new nursing graduates, and 2024 graduates, face a job shortage in Te Whatu Ora — only 45 per cent matched with work in the mid-year Advanced Choice of Employment (ACE) programme.

Meanwhile, RN Sajitha Ferry said standing together as a single health sector was vital for getting results.

Working in the disability sector she understood first-hand about the challenges of chronic understaffing, unsafe workloads and burnout, she said.

“These issues impact not only health workers but the safety and dignity of those we care for every day.”

Ferry said the collective courage of striking nurses, kaiāwhina and midwives was inspiring — and necessary for the future of nursing and patient wellbeing.

‘We are only human. You cannot run us like machines.’

“Kia kaha, and thank you for leading this important stand for change. I am with you.”

There were shorter but succinct messages of support from the likes of primary health practice nurse Pip Carter, who said strikers should “go hard” for the cause.

“We totally tautoko those in Te Whatu Ora taking strike action. Arohanui to you all.”

Aged care national delegate Brianna Dynes thanked the striking members for standing up for making Aotearoa better for its aging community.

“Let’s make some changes for the better.”