So I read or heard somewhere this week that the Minister of Health and others in Government were ‘disappointed’ that we were taking industrial action today.
‘Disappointed’? Hmmm. I don’t know about you, whānau, but I’m pretty matekiri myself!
I’m disappointed with the lack of support shown to nurses by this Government. I’m disappointed with the lack of commitment shown to health care by this Government.
I’m disappointed that this Government has consistently ignored our requests and concerns. I’m disappointed that this Government has failed to stem the deluge of our colleagues heading overseas, fed up with the conditions we work under.
It’s the tired and exhausted night shift health-care assistants who do the work of two or three because there is no one else — THEY get to be ‘disappointed’.
I’m disappointed by the rhetoric this Government has used when talking about us and the doubts they have thrown on us during this contract negotiation. Rhetoric that often paints us as greedy, as selfish, as somehow unpatriotic.
Yep. I’m disappointed. Simeon, I think the offer your negotiation team brought was ‘disappointing’.
And I think, if anyone gets to be disappointed that this is where we find ourselves, then it’s us. It’s the 36,000 NZNO members who stand together around this great nation today who get to be ‘disappointed’. Not you Simeon. Not you Christopher [Luxon]. Not you.
It’s the tired and exhausted night shift health-care assistants who do the work of two or three because there is no one else — THEY get to be disappointed.
It’s the hospital-based midwife doing the work of more than themself — THEY get to be disappointed.
It’s the senior nurses who haven’t had their claims addressed . . . again — THEY get to be disappointed.
It’s the nurses who file DATIX [patient risk reports] after DATIX to call attention to the lack of staffing because there are no reliable safe-staffing ratios in operation in this country — THEY get to be disappointed.
‘Y’know who I’m NOT ‘disappointed’ in? Nurses, midwives and HCAs working in the Te Whatu Ora workspace. I’m not ‘disappointed’. I’m not hōhā because of them.’ I’m proud.
AND It’s the people of this nation — from the far north to the far south — watching their services get scrapped, their access to care diminished, their carers undervalued, and their confidence in the system eroded by the policies and neglect of this government — THEY get to be disappointed.
Not the politicians. Not hospital administrators.
Y’know who I’m NOT disappointed in? Nurses, midwives and HCAs working in the Te Whatu Ora workspace. I’m not disappointed. I’m not hōhā because of them. No. I’m PROUD. I’m proud of us. I’m proud of what we do every day — day in day out. I’m proud of our commitment to providing the best high-quality care to our patients that we can.
And let’s be clear here. When I say ‘patients’ I’m not talking about faceless and nameless NHI numbers. I’m talking about our neighbours, our community members, our whānau. Our fellow New Zealanders.
Because I believe that what we do is the height of patriotism. Literally birthing and bathing and bringing our countrymen and women and children into health.
We don’t come to nursing because it is easy or lucrative. We come to it because we care. But we do need a committed and compassionate partnership. And that is where this Government has let us down, this is where they have ‘disappointed’ us, and they have ‘disappointed’ our fellow countrymen.
‘It is not you, night shift HCA. It is not you, hospital-based midwives. It is not you, new graduates. It is not you, staff nurses. It is not you. It is not me.’
Our health-care system cannot survive on the smell of oily rags and the goodwill of an exhausted workforce. It takes a financial commitment and a philosophical commitment.
This Government, however, has decided that millionaire landlords and tobacco companies are the philosophical partners they choose over the wellbeing of the people of this nation. They have made their commitment known.
They have shown us by underfunding. They have shown us by under=investing. They have shown us who they undervalue.
From our hungry school children. To our poor and unhoused. They have shown us who they value, and who they do NOT.
And THEY DO NOT VALUE us. OR THE WORK WE DO!
It is not you, night shift HCA. It is not you, hospital-based midwives. It is not you, new graduates. It is not you, staff nurses. It is not you. It is not me.
If you really value something Mr Luxon, you put your money (which is actually OUR money), where your mouth is. If you really value something, Mr Brown, you put effort and commitment behind it. To lift it up!
You don’t come up short for almost a year where you have treated us like serfs begging for crumbs.
Because — y’know what — if you do, you’ll be left ‘disappointed’ all right. Every single time.