Queenstown nurses strike for safer staffing and inflation proof pay

Queenstown nurses were on strike today (July 30) calling for safer staff levels and pay that keeps pace with inflation.

Nurses that Crux spoke to at the protest emphasised it was not mainly about money but the fact that government restrictions on hiring meant many new graduate nurses were having to go and work in Australia as no NZ jobs were available.

The nurses said that this type of hiring freeze was forcing hospital managers to call in nurses to work extra shifts 24 hours a day, putting extra stress on staff and producing a potential risk to safe patient care.

Pay was also an issue as a current offer does not even keep pace with inflation.

Chronic under-staffing is the main reason behind a nationwide nurses' strike, their union says.

More than 36,000 nurses, midwives and healthcare assistants walked off the job for 24 hours from 9am Wednesday, over deadlocked contract negotiations with Te Whatu Ora.

About 4300 patients would have procedures or specialist appointments postponed due to the strike, Health New Zealand said.

The Nurses Organisation said its members were not just striking over pay, but fighting for safe staffing levels for patients.

Waikato Hospital emergency department nurse Tracy Chisholm said the emergency department (ED) was so short-staffed that patients who soiled themselves could end up lying for hours in their own filth because staff did not have time to help.

Other patients could wait all night just to be seen.

"It could mean 14 hours sitting in a waiting room through the night. It's not uncommon for patients who arrive at 9pm to not see a doctor until the following morning," she said.

"Patients should not have to explain to their visiting children why the man in the bed next door keeps shouting out - using expletives and profanities - because the nurses have been unable to manage his pain or distress - because there are not enough doctors to see, diagnose and direct treatment, nor is there available support staff to sit with the confused elderly to provide calming support and ensure they don't get off their beds and fall."

Her department was short more than 20 full-time nurses, but was unable to replace those who resigned, retired or went on maternity leave because it had "20 more than budgeted".

"One of our previous hospital managers went 'Hell yes, you need more staff'. And we went a little bit above our budget because they could see the need, they could see the issues. However, we've never ever got that budget."

ED was also short of doctors, healthcare assistants and other allied staff, Chisholm said.

"I'm striking because this is my health system. It's the one my parents, my children rely on. And it's not good enough."

Health NZ said senior nurses' pay had jumped nearly 74 percent since 2011, twice as fast as the average worker's.

However, Chisholm, who is also a union delegate, said a big chunk of that increase came from nurses' hard-won pay equity claim, making up for decades of low-pay due to sex-based discrimination.

"We're not asking for the same percentage that they've all just got in their little offices, we're just looking at the cost-of-living so we can feed our children, pay our bills and just carry on.

"We're not even asking for enough to pay for parking since we don't have much of that around hospitals in this country."

Salary not the sticking point - nurses

Health NZ is offering a 2 percent pay increase this year, 1 percent next year and a lump sum payment of $325. It has also sought to extend the term of the agreement by three months to 27 months to January 2027.

The union points out the longer term would further dilute the value of the pay rise.

The Nurses Organisation wants a 3 percent increase this year (backdated to 7 April) and 2 percent next year (effective April 2026).

The union's chief executive, Paul Goulter, said, however, pay was not the critical issue.

"The heart of this dispute is the failure of the government to provide guarantees that they will fund and resource staffing that meets what our patients need."

Data obtained by the NZNO under the Official Information Act for 16 districts over 10 months last year, showed 50 percent of day shifts were under-staffed.

The union accuses Health NZ of erasing long-standing safe staffing commitments from the collective agreement.

Health NZ has argued clinical matters were better addressed through "operational policies".

Paul Goulter said that was misleading.

"Why it's too difficult for them to staff up to what's needed is because the government won't support the resourcing necessary to do it."

Future nurses fearful

National student president Bianca Grimmer, who would be looking for work at the end of the year, said less than half of mid-year nursing graduates had been offered hospital jobs so far.

"It's definitely nerve-wracking for me and my cohort, you're wondering I guess where do I go from here? Do I apply to go overseas as well as applying for here?

"Do I spread my options wide? Or will it hopefully fix itself by then? But you know, it's only a few months away."

Additional reporting from RNZ.