March 2026 – Kaitiaki Nursing New Zealand

March 2026

‘Not a birthday I expected to see’ — nurse, patient and professor Jacquie Kidd on stage-four cancer and racism

By Mary Longmore

April 9, 2026

When poet, nurse and Māori health professor Jacquie Kidd, Ngāpuhi, talks to me, it is her 63rd birthday.

March 2026

‘Growing up with Irihapeti’: Revealing the human behind the nursing leader

By Pirimia Burger

April 1, 2026

Even while being extraordinary, Irihapeti Ramsden was extraordinarily human, daughter Pirimia Burger revealed in her speech in February, reproduced here, marking refreshed kawa whakaruruhau guidance.

March 2026

No fee increase for NZNO membership in 2026

By Paul Goulter

March 31, 2026

We know times are tough financially for everyone and recognising this, the NZNO joint hui — the national executive and Te Poari — has worked hard to ensure no increase to your fees for 2026.

March 2026

‘It’s never too late to be what you might have been’ — Ros Rowarth on 50 years of nursing

By Joel Maxwell

March 30, 2026

Somewhere her colleagues miss her, and are gently easing themselves into her absence, somewhere there’s a former patient who gave her an emotional slap in the face that set her on the path to new growth in her 50s. Somewhere there’s a set of red epaulettes that she proudly attached to her first nursing uniform.

March 2026

‘He manawa ora’ mo te kawa whakaruruhau — engari ka rangona tonu te ngānehenehe

By Joel Maxwell and Mary Longmore

March 30, 2026

Kua whakahāngia e te Kaunihera Tapuhi o Aotearoa “te manawa ora” ki te kawa whakaruruhau nā tētahi whakahounga i tō takamua Te Tiriti me te hauora Māori i roto i tētahi pānui marohi tapuhi, kātahi anō i whakarewa.

March 2026

Join together — a night of iconic Kiwi music

By Philip Thet Paing Htoo

March 27, 2026

Join us for an unforgettable evening which brings together generations of Aotearoa’s finest songwriters and musicians — performing timeless classics to boundary-pushing new sounds.

March 2026

‘Breath of life’ for kawa whakaruruhau — but decades-old backlash still ACTs up

By Joel Maxwell and Mary Longmore

March 26, 2026

The New Zealand Nursing Council has “breathed life” into kawa whakaruruhau, launching a revamped guidance document that draws Te Tiriti and Māori health to the fore.

March 2026

NZNO apologises for involvement of nurses in abuse in state care

By Joel Maxwell

March 24, 2026

Tōpūtanga Tapuhi Kaitiaki o Aotearoa New Zealand Nurses Organisation (NZNO) has apologised for the involvement of nurses in abuse in state care.

NZNO apologises for involvement of nurses in abuse in state care

March 2026

‘They’re trying to gag us’ — pamphlets confiscated, as Waitematā district nurses go on strike

By Mary Longmore

March 20, 2026

One minute they were there — then they weren’t.

March 2026

‘It’s important’ — mental health nurse battler never forgets the need for empathy

By Helen Garrick

March 18, 2026

Even in the face of police pullbacks, helping people at a time of crisis and vulnerability can be deeply fulfilling, says long-time mental health nurse Helen Garrick.

March 2026

Remote, but not alone: How nurses’ telehealth system enables safer heart-failure care

By Daman Kaur and Margaret Coghlan-Talbot

March 17, 2026

Nursing is an art with science, which resonates in our practice daily, say two Hawke’s Bay nurses, who are speaking at an upcoming digital health workshop.

March 2026

‘Peeling the onion’: An intensive brief intervention service for young people

By Michela Fox

March 16, 2026

Mental health nurse section committee member Michela Fox shares the secrets of a successful youth mental health service. Experience, complementary knowledge — and the nursing spirit of collaboration are key.

March 2026

Purple passion — a week of health-care workers showing their true colours

By Joel Maxwell

March 13, 2026

So much purple, so little time.

March 2026

‘We stayed true’ — NZNO membership committee’s last chair reflects on achievements, challenges

By Anne-Maree Wagg

March 13, 2026

Final chair of the membership committee, Anne-Maree Wagg says it allowed her to grow as a leader and helped members’ voices be heard.

March 2026

‘So many hospitals are being attacked’: Myanmar doctor seeks NZNO nursing know-how

By Joel Maxwell

March 13, 2026

Cynthia Maung is a Myanmar refugee, a doctor and a leader who started her clinic using a rice-cooker as a steriliser. Now she’s keen to upskill her local nursing workforce with NZNO’s help.

March 2026

‘We are not going to stop until we get it back’ — women, unions vow to fight for pay equity

By Mary Longmore

March 10, 2026

The message was short, sharp and defiant.

‘We are not going to stop until we get it back’ — women, unions vow to fight for pay equity

March 2026

Expect more hacks, but ‘no going back’ warns nurse and health information expert

By Joel Maxwell

March 8, 2026

The shiny new digital world of health care in 2026 is starting to look a lot like the dusty old world of the Wild West — even the names are recycled, reveals Karen Day.

March 2026

Purple reigns — nurses show true colours for pay equity around motu

By Mary Longmore and Joel Maxwell

March 6, 2026

Puzzled passers-by were seeing purple, but some of the nurses were seeing red — it was International Women’s Day again, and pay equity was still on the agenda.

March 2026

Cut-down cupcakes, cute dinosaurs . . . nurses and kaiāwhina get creative for pay equity’s go purple day

By Mary Longmore

March 5, 2026

As nurses and kaiāwhina everywhere prepare to purple up for pay equity tomorrow in the run-up to International Women’s Day, we bring you some eye-grabbing inspiration from around the motu.

March 2026

Upcoming digital leadership workshop features a nurse-designed patient tool

By Rebecca McBeth

March 4, 2026

From IT to digital and AI in health, an upcoming leadership workshop for health providers features a remote patient monitoring tool designed with the help of nurses.

Daily doses – uncut news

16 Apr	Tribute to Professor Lester Levy’s service to healthcare Health New Zealand Chief Executive Dr Dale Bramley is paying tribute to Health NZ Board Chair Professor Lester Levy, who finishes in the role at the end of the month.
10 Apr	Chronic health care assistant short staffing harming vulnerable patients Te Whatu Ora’s attempt to cut costs by requiring health care assistants to carry out cohort patient watches is harming vulnerable patients and staff, NZNO says.
9 Apr	New group education clinics speeding up knee and hip surgery care Health New Zealand is rolling out a new group education approach for people waiting for hip and knee surgery in north and west Auckland, resulting in more patients being seen sooner.
25 Mar	National Diabetes Roadmap launched to improve care, prevention, and quality of life Health New Zealand has launched a new National Diabetes Roadmap (‘the Roadmap’) to improve care, strengthen prevention, and support better health outcomes and quality of life for people living with diabetes.
24 Mar	ACT should leave nursing to professionals and medical evidence Tōpūtanga Tapuhi Kaitiaki o Aotearoa NZNO Kaiwhakahaere Kerri Nuku says ACT MP Todd Stephenson has dismissed the Nursing Council’s draft code of conduct - which proposes strengthening cultural safety, whānau-centred care and te Tiriti o Waitangi obligations - as political ideology.
23 Mar	UK report reflects ICN warnings on international recruitment ripoff — now countries must act together The International Council of Nurses (ICN) warmly welcomes a new report from the UK All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Global Health and Security that recognizes the huge sums saved by high-income countries who recruit abroad and acknowledges the severe harms caused by unethical recruitment from fragile source countries left without nurses.
20 Mar	HPV self-test boosts cervical cancer screening ‘across the board’, new study confirms Making human papillomavirus (HPV) self-testing available to all women increases the number of people screened for cervical cancer, a new study led by researchers from Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington has confirmed.
19 Mar	ICN at CSW70: Violence against nurses is a gendered crisis threatening global health The International Council of Nurses (ICN) has warned that violence against nurses is a global gendered crisis that threatens health systems, patient safety and workforce sustainability
17 Mar	Additional winter health care workers a drop in the ocean of need The Government’s announcement today of 378 extra staff to help hospitals cope with winter demand is a drop in the ocean of what patients need, NZNO says.
12 Mar	Funding change will ensure more consistent emergency care for New Zealanders A simple change in how ambulance medicines are funded is set to create more consistent emergency care.
9 Mar	Questions over dilapidated and cramped renal unit forced to ration dialysis The Health Minister must explain why after years of concerns from nurses about Christchurch Hospital’s barely functioning dialysis unit, he only stepped in late yesterday when life-saving treatment had to be rationed, NZNO says.
3 Mar	Hospitals and health workers should never be targets The right of health care workers to provide care during international conflicts must be protected, Tōpūtanga Tapuhi Kaitiaki o Aotearoa NZNO says.
2 Mar	Public and Mental Health Nurses settle collective agreement Health New Zealand welcomes the ratification of the two Public Service Association (PSA) Public and Mental Health Nurses collective employment agreements for Auckland and the Rest of New Zealand.
27 Feb	Whakatāne Hospital to resume secondary obstetrics and gynaecology services Whakatāne Hospital will resume secondary obstetrics and gynaecology services from 8am on 13 April 2026.
26 Feb	Counsellors warn NZ is normalising crisis levels of youth distress Youth mental distress has become entrenched, suicide remains a national tragedy, and our systems are failing to intervene early enough, says the New Zealand Association of Counsellors (NZAC).
26 Feb	Record uptake nearly doubles advanced nurse education scholarships A record 235 primary care registered nurses will begin advanced education this year – nearly doubling the number originally planned – following strong demand for the Government’s new Registered Nurse Primary Care Scholarships, Health Minister Simeon Brown says.
19 Feb	‘Top Up’ to deliver faster access to support Seven grassroots mental health initiatives supporting small and hard-to-reach communities have received funding to deliver faster access to support, Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey announced today.
18 Feb	Pharmac proposes funding new treatments that could transform early care for people with chronic lymphocytic leukaemia, a type of blood cancer People in New Zealand living with chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL) could soon benefit from funded access to targeted treatments under a new proposal from Pharmac.
13 Feb	Te Whatu Ora’s embarrassing U-turn over proposed car park plan Te Whatu Ora needs to go back to the drawing board and prioritise worker safety after reversing plans to charge hospital workers market rates for car parks, NZNO says.
11 Feb	Stark differences in COVID-19 vaccination rates between Māori and non-Māori, research finds A new study analysing COVID-19 vaccine uptake has found markedly lower vaccination rates among Māori, which researchers link to existing inequities in healthcare access.
9 Feb	ICN’s call for International Nurses Day 2026: empower nurses to save lives ICN has announced the theme for International Nurses Day (IND) 2026: Our Nurses. Our Future. Empowered Nurses Save Lives. This focus sends a clear message that to maximize the full life-saving impact of the nursing workforce, we must empower nurses with safe, fair work environments and full nursing practice, influence, and leadership.
5 Feb	Global nurse leaders gather in Japan to address urgent workforce crisis Nursing leaders from Japan and around the world are gathering in Yokohama this week for two major nursing events that are advancing the global conversation on how countries can protect, retain and invest in their nursing workforce as pressures mount across health systems worldwide.
4 Feb	Midwives to deliver more vaccinations to help protect families Midwives are now able to offer a wider range of funded immunisations, supporting families from pregnancy through the early months of a child’s life, Health Minister Simeon Brown says.
30 Jan	Opening of E Tū Wairua Hinengaro – Mason Clinic Health New Zealand has marked the opening of E Tū Wairua Hinengaro, a new purpose-built facility at Auckland’s Mason Clinic designed to strengthen and modernise forensic mental healthcare in Aotearoa.
29 Jan	NZNO disgusted by nurse’s killing in the US Tōpūtanga Tapuhi Kaitiaki o Aotearoa NZNO has expressed disgust at the shooting and killing of nurse Alex Pretti on a Minneapolis, US street on Saturday morning by federal officers.
27 Jan	New national group forms to support public healthcare in Aotearoa Kaitiaki Hauora - Together for Public Health has been formed as a national group bringing together patients, health workers, iwi and Māori health representatives, unions, advocacy organisations, and community groups, with backing from a growing number of organisations across the health sector.
22 Jan	Pharmac proposes to fund life changing treatments for people with cystic fibrosis Pharmac is proposing to fund new treatment options for people living with cystic fibrosis with eligible mutations, including young children, from 1 April 2026.
05 Jan	Nurses pay tribute to Dame Poutasi The passing of Dame Karen Poutasi has seen Aotearoa lose one of its foremost health leaders and a woman of high integrity, Tōpūtanga Tapuhi Kaitiaki o Aotearoa NZNO Kaiwhakahaere Kerri Nuku says.