Nurses warned against refusing services

Nurses across the country will refuse all extra services next week, but the new health authority warns them it’s likely an illegal strike.

A special winter bonus of $100 per shift expires tomorrow and the largest union, the New Zealand Nurses Organisation, wants to negotiate a revolving payment system to reflect pressure on nurses who still work extra.

Paul Goulter, general manager of the Nurses Organization, wrote to all 35,000 members who worked for Te Whatu Ora/Health NZ, urging them to only work the services they were contracted to the following week, unless they were already employed.

There was strong support for the move, he said.

Whangārei emergency nurse and union representative Rachel Thorn said Te Whatu Ora ignored that nurses were still doing their best even though winter was over.

“They say we’re going to go back to normal business on October 1, which we know won’t be anything like ‘business as usual’.”

Nurses on her ward have been under pressure to work extra hours since January, she said.

“They’re demanding, requesting, asking, texting, calling, Facebook nurses to work extra hours because they need us to put in those hours to keep the ward safe.”

Goulter said nurses continued to support the health system even though the winter was over.

“They’re really annoyed with the whole process and right now when they’re the most under the pump because of what happened over the winter and the overall shortage of nurses… to let this sort of thing break out just isn’t at all. useful to all,” he said.

In a letter to the union, Te Whatu Ora chieftain Rosemary Clements said the move was likely an illegal strike, as it was a refusal to do anything that was a normal part of the job.

“Nevertheless, in recognition of the outstanding contribution NZNO members have made over the past few months, we do not wish to litigate this matter.”

In a written response to RNZ, she said the winter payments were initiated by Te Whatu Ora and the union has been consulted.

“The payments were an extraordinary step in response to an extraordinary situation, namely excessive staff shortages due to Covid-19 diseases, and it was then made clear that they would only apply between July 1 and September 30, 2022.”

Complicating the compensation for extra services even more was the fact that there were different contracts for nurses depending on where they worked – a hangover from the 20 different district health services that employed them before the switch to Te Whatu Ora in July of this year. year.

Nurse Rachel Thorn said her team was only getting regular rates for working an extra shift before the winter pay, but some at other hospitals were getting penalized rates.

Doctors at Whangārei hospital had comparatively higher incentives to work extra as well, she said.

Nurses who took on additional services often had additional expenses, such as childcare or assistance with the care of elderly parents.

Her team had said no to some off-hours shifts since July, inspiring the nationwide action.

Health workers at many hospitals across the country have said they have noticed little or no reduction in workloads since the Covid-19 and flu outbreaks.

Last night, the Christchurch Hospital said it had overcapacity and urged people to stay away from the emergency department unless they needed real emergency care.

Thorn said staffing problems didn’t start with winter — and wouldn’t end there.

It wasn’t up to nurses to fix them by plugging holes indefinitely and they were tired of being treated like “naughty kids” because they wanted a fair wage, she said.