BWD 31-3 Kerri Nuku

Waatea News, 31 March 2020. (Kerri Nuku)

“What currently happens is the gear goes from the ministry of health care houses to the DHBs, and the DHBs distribute the flow out into the community. What we’re hearing from our providers and our nurses on the frontline, and our health care assistants, is that that flow doesn’t seem to be getting out there to the community workers.”

Covid 19 Coronavirus: Medical students get $40 per hour pay increase

New Zealand Herald, 30 March 2020. (David Wait)

The New Zealand Nurses Organisation industrial adviser, David Wait, said they did not have any issue with the students' pay and said they would be exploring pay bonuses when they had "space" to do it.

"We don't see this as a Covid-19 issue, we see this as a general pay rate issue. An experienced nurse that's in the front-line and providing this direct care should be paid more than an intern doctor."

Coronavirus: Hundreds of thousands of masks to be released to district health boards

Radio New Zealand News, 26 March 2020. 

Nurses Organisation Kaiwhakahaere Kerri Nuku told Nine to Noon that there were concerns for the front-line staff who lack PPE, which was essentially a barrier to prevent transmission or suppress risk to healthcare workers.

Update from The New Zealand Nurses Organisation (NZNO)

Te Hiku, 26 March 2020.

"Because of the transmission of the virus, via droplets, it's important that any front-line practitioner, whether it be a nurse, a midwife, a dentist, a doctor, that comes within close proximity to a person with suspected COVID-19, has their own personal protective equipment." 

Covid-19: Nurses asked not to wear masks feel unsafe at work

Radio New Zealand News, 26 March 2020.

The Nurses Organisation is calling for nurses in hospitals and primary care to be given personal protective equipment.

The organisation said there's inconsistency around the DHBs in terms of who gets the various types of PPE, which includes gloves, gowns, masks, eye protection, head gear and hand sanitiser.

Not enough protective medical gear available despite govt assurances - supplier

Radio New Zealand News, 27 March 2020. 

Lives at risk from lack protective gear for medics

Radio New Zealand News, 26 March 2020

"[DHB’s and Primary Health Care employers] be mindful of your workforce, how to protect them not only when they have direct contact with patients, but how do we protect them once they leave work? And if they are and have been dealing with positive patients, what mechanism is in place to ensure that that workforce has got an independent place to go to so that they will be looked after?”

Covid-19: Healthcare workers fear oncoming onslaught

Radio New Zealand News, 23 March 2020.

Board member Katrina Hopkinson on the fears of nurses around the workload brought by COVID-19. "The health system's been at capacity for a number of months. So a lot of us are going into this already a little bit fragile.”

Hilary Graham-Smith from the New Zealand Nurses Organisation

Radio New Zealand News, 23 March 2020.

"[Upon hearing the decision to move to Rāhui level 4] we were surprised but not surprised. It's clearly the right thing to do, given that we're trying to contain the spread of this virus."