May 2025 – Kaitiaki Nursing New Zealand

June 2025

Nursing sisters overcome the odds

By Renee Kiriona

June 4, 2025

The Witton sisters have weathered a pandemic, cyclone, poverty, two jobs each and multiple other challenges during their three-year journey to becoming qualified nurses.

June 2025

Nearly 400 Auckland perioperative nurses strike over ‘forced overtime’

By Mary Longmore

June 3, 2025

Auckland perioperative nurses say forced overtime and sneaky ditching of callback payments has driven them to take strike action.

June 2025

‘Time to get noisy’ — Auckland nurse explains why he voted down Te Whatu Ora’s offer

By Troy Stewart

May 30, 2025

This Government knows the cost of everything and the value of nothing, says NZNO delegate Troy Stewart.

May 2025

Women’s Refuge seeking wāhine for history project

By Elizabeth Ashby

May 29, 2025

Women’s Refuge is starting a project to record our “her-story” (history). We want to gather the stories of wāhine who have been involved with Refuge as staff, kaimahi, or volunteers.

June 2025

‘We need you to stand with us’ — Te Whatu Ora bargaining team call on members

By Mary Longmore

May 28, 2025

It’s time to stand up, says NZNO’s Te Whatu Ora bargaining team after eight exhausting months of negotiation led to an offer they say fails to lock in safe staffing, graduate employment or match the cost of living.

June 2025

Travel, camaraderie and superb hand hygiene — welcome to the world of perioperative nursing!

By Emma Ladley

May 27, 2025

NZNO’s perioperative nurses college (PNC) chair Emma Ladley wants to see more nursing students learn about perioperative nursing in their undergrad studies.

June 2025

Small steps, big impact: How to activate wellbeing in our patients

By Sophie Ball

May 26, 2025

Simple straightforward tools can work well to improve patients’ mental health in primary care.

June 2025

‘Rage, rage, rage’ drives mass turnout to Budget 2025 pay equity protest

By Kaitiaki coeditors

May 22, 2025

They came in their hundreds, wearing bright lipstick. They chanted. They sang. And hundreds of people loudly supported four alternative pledges ahead of the National-led Government’s Budget 2025.

May 2025

BUDGET 2025: Funding primary care nurses the answer to the health crisis

By Co-Editors, Kaitiaki

May 21, 2025

To fix chronic staff shortages stopping New Zealanders seeing their GPs when they’re sick, the coalition Government must use Budget 2025 to keep nurses in the sector by paying them the same as hospital nurses, the New Zealand Nurses Organisation (NZNO) says.

May 2025

Vulnerable women need safe hands of a nurse — women’s health college

By Sarah Marshall

May 21, 2025

Skilled nurses with the confidence to advocate for patients are essential for the care of vulnerable women and patients, argues NZNO’s women’s health college in the face of Government moves to loosen health workforce regulation.

June 2025

Regulatory Standards Bill: ‘Nurses need to be worried’

By Renee Kiriona

May 21, 2025

Nurses need to be very worried about the Regulatory Standards Bill – the latest law the Government is proposing, according to a registered nurse who has been monitoring the development of bill.

June 2025

‘It’s up to you now’ — proposed new NZNO constitution goes to all-member vote

By Mary Longmore

May 21, 2025

‘It’s up to you now’ – that’s the message from NZNO constitutional review panel co-chair Grant Brookes, as all-member voting opens on a proposed new NZNO constitution.

May 2025

Bonding scheme is ‘plaster on a gunshot wound’, says nursing leader

By Renee Kiriona

May 16, 2025

The Government’s move on pay equity has swamped any benefit of the new bonding scheme for health-care workers, says a primary health care nursing leader.

June 2025

Struggling hospice nurses ‘shattered’ by pay equity changes

By Kaitiaki coeditors

May 16, 2025

On hospice awareness week, hospice nurses say they are demoralised and angry after the Government ditched their pay equity claim last week.

June 2025

‘It’s about respect’: Nurses protest at Parliament over pay equity claims

By Mary Longmore

May 15, 2025

Nurses were among many angry women workers who brought their mothers, children and wider whānau to Parliament today to protest the Government’s mass dumping of pay equity claims.

May 2025

‘Show some respect to nurses’ — Steve Chadwick on halting of pay equity claims

By Steve Chadwick

May 13, 2025

Primary and Community Health Association (PCHA) chair Steve Chadwick says New Zealand’s struggling health system and nursing workforce have been dealt another significant blow by the mass dumping of 33 pay equity claims this month.

June 2025

‘Soul-crushing’ work of a nurse today

By Sophie Tomes

May 9, 2025

Just 18 months after graduating, Auckland nurse Sophie Tomes explains why she is struggling with physical pain and mental anguish every day.

May 2025

‘We are burning out’ — Pacific nurses speak out on understaffing

By Imelda Rokoua

May 9, 2025

A survivor of domestic violence who became a nurse to give better care than she experienced says constant short-staffing is making it really hard.

May 2025

Military nurses mark 110th anniversary at Hawke’s Bay Hospital Anzac Day service

By Te Ope Kātua o Aotearoa Defence Force staff

May 8, 2025

The 110th anniversary of the formation of the New Zealand Defence Force’s Royal New Zealand Nursing Corps (RNZNC) was celebrated at the annual Hawke’s Bay Fallen Soldiers’ Memorial Hospital Anzac Day service.

May 2025

2025 survey will capture students’ lived experience

By Kaitiaki coeditors

May 8, 2025

NZNO student leaders say the 2025 survey launched this week will capture the lived experiences of nursing students — including the financial challenges they are facing.

Uncut – news briefs

27 June	New mental health centre to transform care in the Wellington region Health Minister Simeon Brown and Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey have today marked the beginning of construction on the new Sir Mark Dunajtschik Mental Health Centre in Lower Hutt.
27 June	New STI e-learning for midwives will increase detection, testing, treatment and prevention A new e-learning course was launched early June to equip midwives with up-to-date knowledge on effectively communicating relevant and tailored information about syphilis and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs).
25 June	Changes for prescribing ADHD medications Minister for Mental Health Matt Doocey has welcomed prescribing changes that will enable GPs and nurse practitioners to diagnose and treat adults with Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).
23 June	Minister should fess up on cuts Simeon Brown needs to be honest about how much more money he expects Health New Zealand to cut from its budget to get back in the black. “National has chosen to underfund our health system and expects Health New Zealand to make even more cuts - but won’t say how much,” Labour health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall said.
17 June	Notice of NZNO 2025 Board Elections - Call for Nominations Nominations are required to fill seven (7) positions on the NZNO Board. For details, see the notices section in the classifieds
16 June	Gender Gap Closes at Fastest Rate Since Pandemic – But Full Parity Still Over a Century Away The global gender gap has closed to 68.8%, led by economic and political advances – yet progress is still behind pre-pandemic pace, with full parity an estimated 123 years away.
16 June	Against a backdrop of escalating global health challenges, the ruling council of the International Council of Nurses (ICN) has issued a powerful call for urgent action to address the nursing workforce crisis. Against a backdrop of escalating global health challenges, the ruling council of the International Council of Nurses (ICN) has issued a powerful call for urgent action to address the nursing workforce crisis.
13 June	ICN charts a bold vision and calls for urgent investment in nursing to secure the future of care Against a backdrop of escalating global health challenges, the ruling council of the International Council of Nurses (ICN) has issued a powerful call for urgent action to address the nursing workforce crisis.
12 June	Unions take pay equity fight to the ILO New Zealand Council of Trade Unions Te Kauae Kaimahi Secretary Melissa Ansell-Bridges has taken the pay equity fight to the International Labour Organisation (ILO) conference in Geneva, Switzerland. The ILO is a United Nations agency whose mandate is to advance social and economic justice by setting international labour standards.
5 June	Refreshed strategy released to tackle gambling harm Minister for Mental Health Matt Doocey today announced that the Government has released the refreshed Strategy to Prevent and Minimise Gambling Harm.
3 June	ICN launches new topic brief underscoring vital role of nurses to protect the planet, human health and all life on Earth The International Council of Nurses (ICN) has released a new topic brief titled “Nursing for Planetary Health and Wellbeing”, emphasizing the vital role nurses play in addressing the health impacts of our shared environmental crises. The brief highlights the emerging concept of planetary health and stresses the urgency to recognize and take action to reduce the impacts that human disruptions to Earth’s natural systems are having on the health of individuals and communities.
13 May	On International Nurses Day a new State of the World’s Nursing Report charts a path toward Universal Health Coverage As the world’s nurses celebrate International Nurses Day (IND), ICN issues a rallying cry to governments around the globe for urgent nursing support, following the launch of the second World Health Organization (WHO) State of the World’s Nursing (SOWN) report.
8 May	NZ First’s gender definition bill will harm mental health, counsellors warn The New Zealand Association of Counsellors (NZAC) is deeply concerned by New Zealand First’s proposed Member’s Bill, which seeks to legally define “man” and “woman” solely based on biological sex.
6 May	Police and Health NZ continue to implement mental health response changes Phase Two of the Police Mental Health Response Change Programme is set to be extended with a second group of districts implementing Phase Two from 19 May.
1 May	New weekend urgent care service launched in Tairāwhati Access to urgent healthcare on weekends will be restored in Tairāwhati this Saturday (3 May 2025) with the launch of a new service, Health Minister Simeon Brown has announced.
29 Apr	Taupō Hospital accredited to train next generation of rural doctors Taupō Hospital has become the first hospital in the North Island to receive accreditation to deliver Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine (ACRRM) training, Health Minister Simeon Brown and Associate Health Minister Matt Doocey have announced.
14 Apr	Rural Health Roadshow to hear from rural communities Associate Health Minister with responsibility for Rural Health and Minister for Mental Health Matt Doocey announced today he will be coming to 12 rural locations across the country on a Rural Health Roadshow, starting this week in Levin.
10 Apr	Expanded emergency department at Auckland City Hospital will see capacity increase Health Minister Simeon Brown has today officially opened Auckland City Hospital’s newly refurbished adult emergency department.
1 Apr	Health NZ wants your feedback on a Paediatric Adolescent and Young Adult Palliative Model of Care Health New Zealand \| Te Whatu Ora (Health NZ) is seeking feedback on potential options for national palliative care services for tamariki, rangatahi/children, young people and their whānau/families.
27 March	Bar still too high for small mental health providers Small mental health providers will still be locked out of co-funding from the Mental Health Innovation Fund despite a lower threshold.
25 March	ICN advocates for health system gender equity and women’s health The International Council of Nurses (ICN) brought the nursing voice to the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW69) which wrapped up on Friday. ICN participated in critical discussions on gender equity and women’s health throughout the event.
19 March	ICN warns of healthcare crisis as USAID funding cuts devastate nursing initiatives in the world’s most vulnerable regions The International Council of Nurses (ICN) has documented alarming firsthand evidence of widespread disruption and collapse of essential health care services following the sudden withdrawal of USAID and other funding.
19 March	New High Dependency Unit will expand critical care services in Wellington Health Minister Simeon Brown has today officially opened Wellington Regional Hospital’s first High Dependency Unit (HDU).
13 March	Pharmac to fund more cancer medicines Pharmac is funding six more medicines for cancers and one for antibiotic resistant infections.
28 Feb	Pharmac CE resigns The Board of Pharmac wishes to announce that its Chief Executive for the last 7 years, Sarah Fitt, has resigned effective from 30 May 2025.
25 Feb	ICN issues updated statement on health care in conflict, calling for peace and compliance with international humanitarian law In recent years, the world has witnessed a disturbing increase in conflicts and wars, placing immense strain on health systems and exacerbating human suffering. Nurses have been at the forefront of these crises, responding to emergencies, supporting recovery efforts, and providing essential care to those affected by violence and displacement.
21 Feb	ICN’s new guidance on integrating nurse leaders into heart of health workforce planning The International Council of Nurses (ICN) has published a practical guide to including nurses in workforce planning decisions.
17 Feb	ICN warns of effect of US withdrawal from WHO on nurse-led services The International Council of Nurses (ICN) warned that the withdrawal of the United States from WHO has already halted some nurse-led services, including vaccination programmes and care for people with HIV/AIDS.
17 Feb	Minister acknowledges outgoing Director-General Health Minister Simeon Brown has today acknowledged the resignation of Director-General of Health and Chief Executive of the Ministry of Health, Dr Diana Sarfati, and thanked her for her service.
12 Feb	Pharmac funds medicines for liver, ovarian, and neuroendocrine cancers People with liver, ovarian, and neuroendocrine cancers will have access to more medicines from 1 March 2025.
11 Feb	Consultation begins on work to improve patient access to medical devices Pharmac is continuing to improve the way medical devices are managed for New Zealanders, today opening consultation on its comprehensive list of medical devices used by public hospitals.
3 Feb	First Whānau Āwhina Plunket site in NZ delivering childhood vaccinations Childhood immunisations are now being delivered at a Whānau Āwhina Plunket site in Whāngarei, with other regions soon to also provide the new service.
29 Jan	Local access to specialist audiology services comes to Wairarapa A newly established out-patient clinic for ear, nose, and throat (ENT) and audiology appointments is providing Wairarapa patients with local access to specialist hearing services for the first time.
29 Jan	Pharmac reconsiders oestradiol patch options following community feedback Pharmac is reviewing and reconsidering its oestradiol patch options after considerable feedback was received when it announced a move to a single funded brand late last year.
22 Jan	Consultations for cancer and ADHD medicines close soon Pharmac is encouraging people to have their say on proposals to fund six more medicines and change the brand of one medicine before consultation closes on 27 January.