Since the break, we have hit the ground running.

Three straight days of negotiations have already taken place at Whakarongorau Aotearoa. This collective agreement is negotiated alongside our sister unions PSA and NZAA who cover allied workers, counsellors and paramedics at the telehealth provider. This year we had a very strong team of delegates, who contributed their experiences of doing the mahi every day and the obstacles and difficulties they face daily. The employer, we feel, was prepared to listen to the delegates this year and a lot of progress was made, resulting in an offer we will be taking to members as soon as we get the paperwork.

We’ve spent time reflecting on our meeting with delegates immediately before the break at Access Community Health.

We have already been in negotiations with Access for eight full days and the employer is refusing to move on many of our claims, or fully commit to timely introduction of a PDRP programme with suitable pay recognition for members. The Access delegate team said they preferred us to seek mediation assistance to try to break the deadlock before discussing potential industrial action by members. Mediation was applied for and will occur next week on Tuesday in-person in Auckland. Fingers crossed, the mediators will be able to get the employer to listen to our members’ claim not to be the worst paid nurses in New Zealand anymore, despite the employer stating that they are very happy to be the lowest paying employer in the sector while also claiming that they want their staff to feel valued.

The initiation letter for Sexual Wellbeing Aotearoa will be sent this week. This is the first step in the negotiation process for a new collective agreement. Over the next couple of weeks, we will be surveying members for claims and nominations for delegates to be on the bargaining team.

Work started before the break on the Primary Health MECA. This is a huge piece of work for us, having hundreds of employers and covering more than 3500 members nationwide in a variety of employers, large and small. The negotiations themselves are complicated as employers are represented by up to four teams of advocates and are able to self-represent at the table too, giving multiple priorities and points of view for us to navigate as we try to negotiate the best outcome for members. Over the next month or two we will be surveying members for claims and talking to delegates about forming a bargaining team in time for initiation at the beginning of the renegotiation process.

Summerset

In our last round of bargaining in 2025 the company made an offer that fell below the expectations of our bargaining team:

1. Cut weekend allowances
   Nurses: From time and 40% - down to time and 30%.
   HCAs and others: From time and 40% - down to time and 10%

2. Offer wage increases far below the sector
   1.5% for Nurses
   2% for HCAs

We have bargaining coming up again on 4 February and while we don't expect a greatly improved offer, we will report back to you after that meeting and let you know what happens. 

It's a key time to join our union at Summerset. If you have colleagues who are not yet members, they too would be impacted by these cuts. If we join together and say no, we can protect your terms and conditions of employment. Speak to your colleagues about joining today.

Arvida

We have a number of change proposals at Arvida sites around the country. Members and organisers have been working together to understand the proposals and provide feedback. If you need to talk to your union about your change proposal. Please call us on 0800 28 38 48

Oceania

Following a change proposal at Elderslea in December of last year, we have change proposals now underway at Elmswood and Palmgrove. Please work directly with your site organisers to ensure that we know your shift preferences.

A Defining Issue in an Election Year

Pay equity is shaping up to be a key issue in this election year. An in-depth piece in The Spinoff has outlined how changes to the pay equity system saw dozens of claims delayed or scrapped, with particular consequences for health and care services. The article highlights the risks for community, rural, Māori and Pacific services — where workforce pressures are already acute — and raises serious questions about how our healthcare workforce is being resourced and valued.

(Read the analysis in The Spinoff here.)

This underscores the importance of NZNO’s ongoing work, our claims have crucial role to play in testing how the new legislation will operate in practice. 

Since our last update, NZNO has been meeting with employers across the sectors covered by our pay equity claims. These early discussions are about testing how claims are being handled in practice and making sure nursing and care work is properly valued. 

We all know how important it is to advocate for Government funding, NZNO is part of the collective union action being led by the NZ Council of Trade Unions. Together with other unions, we are building pressure, coordinating action, and keeping pay equity firmly on the agenda as the election approaches.

We’ll continue to update members on how work progresses and opportunities for members to take action in election year. 

The Code of Conduct sets expectations for professional behaviour and underpins public trust and confidence in the nursing profession. It provides guidance for nurses on ethical and professional conduct and supports safe, culturally responsive care for health consumers and whānau. The current Code was published in 2012. A review of the Code was initiated last year after the new Standards of Competence were implemented, recognising that these need to inform a review of the Code.

The link below is to the NCNZ consultation page which invites nurses to give feedback on the review – this can be done anonymously if you prefer. 

Consultation link here

You are also invited to email feedback to Sue Gasquoine, Nursing Policy Adviser and Researcher at sue.gasquoine@nzno.org.nz. She is coordinating NZNO's response to the review. Please send feedback by Monday 16 February.

The year has just begun. Nationally and internationally, we see, hear and experience turmoil everywhere. How do our hearts not break for those families who have lost loved ones in the recent rains, floods and slips that have changed the lives of many in an instant? It could have been any one of us.

It was one of us in America where an ICU nurse named Alex Pretti was shot multiple times trying to help another. He is not alone. Between 80,000 to 180,000 nurses lost their lives during the Covid pandemic according to WHO. Countless thousands more have lost their lives delivering critical care under fire, stabilising the wounded, managing scarce resources, and sustaining essential services amid devastation. In Gaza, Ukraine, Sudan and many other crises affected countries, nurses are holding entire health systems together. We do so, during times of political turmoil, not just war. We do so when political promises are broken, when our patients and ourselves are put in harm’s way as a result of decisions made about us, without us. Buying into divisive politics is destructive.

Instead, our actions, as carers, are grounded in our values and that is why we should not become what we fear or criticise. We must constantly reflect on our cultural identity and recognise the impact it has on our professional practice and social responsibilities.  However, we cannot sit idly by and not be concerned about what happens to others as there by the grace of God, go we. Human progress never rolls on wheels of inevitability; it comes through the tireless efforts of people who join in the shared struggle against injustice that impacts on the health and wellbeing of our communities.

In the past year, we have gone on strike many times in many different ways. We have withdrawn our labour and marched in the streets. We have worn T-shirts with a clear message “Not enough Nurses”. We have declined to be used as pawns, being shifted here and there to cover up the multitude of roster gaps that are deliberately not being filled to save money regardless of the burnout, fatigue and moral distress it causes to all involved. We have ignored daily calls for overtime and extra shifts to make visible the expectation of employers and Government that we keep giving until we collapse. We have illuminated the injustice of the decisions made by others that are negatively impacting on our work environment, our patients and communities, and ourselves.

Injustice must be rooted out by strong, persistent and determined action. This requires resolving the issues that precipitate our protests and strikes such as the need for collective and agreed long term workforce planning and protection through legislated culturally safe nurse to patient ratios, and a safely resourced work environment with the funding to make it happen.

Martin Luther King Junior once stated that an injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. Therefore, we must ALL be part of the change we want to see. The “do-nothingism” of the complacent or those who leave it to “someone else” will not see justice done. Worse it will see a rise in racism and discrimination (already embedded in our health system infrastructure) that is escalating in America, empowered by the few who have never been willing to share their power and privilege. In turbulent times, a house divided against itself will not stand.

Every gain we make, for our members and those we care for, must be made through determined legal and collective non-violent pressure. Further, we must be mindful of the legislative and regulatory changes that are being made to curtail our right and responsibility to speak out and act for the greater good. Changes to the Pae Ora Act made by the current govt state that we must be politically neutral when health care inequity and inequality is inherently a result of political decisions and actions. Yet it is our regulatory obligation to advocate for our patients and our communities. Therefore, we must not be silent or still. We must ALL stand up together, as communities have done in recent days in Aotearoa and America, and work to protect and strengthen the country’s public health system that is patient, whanau, and community centred.

If we want a different kind of world and a different kind of politics that result in an affordable, accessible, culturally safe and appropriately resourced public health system, we have choices to make. Politicians only have the power we give them. We need to decide if those we vote into power hold the values WE hold dear.

Kia kaha!

Colleges and sections are central to NZNO’s success and influence and brings together groups of members who are focused on a specific nursing specialty.

So far only less than 20% of members have elected to join a college or section, and we'd like to see you grow that number. NZNO colleges and sections can help you advance your practice through policy and professional development opportunities, and membership at most colleges and sections is open and free to NZNO members.

There’s bound to be one for every member as there are 20 colleges and sections across a range of specialty areas and members can choose to belong to as many as three. Individual membership choices are usually related to clinical specialty and/or study and research interests.

Check out our colleges and sections here. Which one(s) will you join?

Venue: Novotel Christchurch Airport

Date: Thursday 5 March – Friday 6 March 2026

This conference brings together nurses, specialists, educators, and industry partners who are passionate about improving the lives of people living with a stoma.

This year’s theme, Resilience, highlights the ability of both patients and clinicians to adapt, recover, and grow — strengthening stoma care for all. Resilience is found in the courage of our patients, the dedication of our teams, and the ongoing commitment to innovation and compassionate care.

During the two-day event, you’ll be able to explore innovations, enhance skills, connect with colleagues and experts in stoma care, and celebrate our collective progress. Together, let's advance patient wellbeing and support excellence and compassion in Ostomy Management. Together, we can make a real difference by delivering equitable and holistic care across Aotearoa.

Link to the conference page, which includes the programme and registration: Home - NZNO College of Stomal Therapy Nursing Conference 2026

Registration is at the reasonable cost of $200 for the two-day event, or $120 for a single day, and includes the conference dinner.

Open to all – there is no requirement to be a member of the College of Stomal Therapy Nurses to attend.

Don’t miss this opportunity to be a part of something truly special — register today and join us at NZNO CSTN Conference 2026!

Find the programme here

Event flyer

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.

Kaiwhakahaere Kerri Nuku says the organisation is increasingly concerned at the callous and aggressive attacks on its own people by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in the US.

"It seems that nobody is safe, and when health workers are losing their lives on the street it is gravely concerning," Kerri Nuku says.

NZNO extends solidarity with health workers everywhere and the organisation stands with all peoples aspiring for freedom from an oppressive system and unprovoked attacks, she said.

Alex Pretti was an ICU nurse working for the Veterans Health Administration in Minneapolis.

"Nurses are always at the forefront of ensuring the safety and well-being of their communities. We are appalled that health workers and communities in general in the US live in constant fear of being indiscriminately harassed, assaulted and even killed.

"Nurses in particular are carers and protectors. Alex was an ICU nurse so cared for patients when they were at their most vulnerable."

She said the thoughts and sympathy of NZNO lay with Alex Pretti’s family.

"We are calling for an immediate stop to ICE’s aggressive and murderous tactics in the US."

The next NZNO Maranga Mai! funding round opened on 31 December 2025 closing end of March 2026.

This grant is available to all NZNO financial members and is awarded annually.

The purpose of this fund is to provide members with assistance for professional development activities to enhance health care outcomes/provision in Aotearoa /New Zealand.

The fund is available for a variety of activities such as short courses, conferences, seminars, postgraduate and undergraduate study, workshops, books and travel. Other course related costs may be considered.

The fund is not available for any mandatory training required by an employer which is the employer’s responsibility to provide or fund.

The amount of any grant is determined by the Committee and will be decided based on total fund amount available once all applications are assessed.

You can apply through the Maranga Mai! online form on the NZNO Scholarships and Grants webpage.

Cost of living data released by Stats NZ today shows that working people are being left behind, said NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi President Sandra Grey.

“Data released by Stats NZ today showed that the cost of living rose at its fastest rate for 18 months. 68% of workers across the economy are currently facing another year of real terms pay cuts under this government”

“80% of items measured in the CPI basket saw prices rise. Food prices rose 4.3%, electricity prices rose 12.2%, and gas prices rose 16.2%. Working people are struggling to afford the basics.”

“Minimum wage workers are now facing a third straight year of real terms cuts to their income. The lowest-paid workers in the country are paying the price for this Government’s economic mismanagement.

“National keeps promising opportunities for New Zealanders but they’re only delivering for the wealthy. When last measured, annual household inflation was running 2.7 times faster for the lowest income New Zealanders than for the highest income earners.”

“Working people need wage increases, not tax cuts. The Government may be celebrating the economy improving, but working people aren’t feeling any relief. Its time the Government stopped leaving workers behind,” said Grey. 

The International Council of Nurses (ICN) has been in direct contact with the Venezuelan Nursing Association (Federación de Colegios de Profesionales de Enfermería de la República Bolivariana de Venezuela/Federation of Nursing Professionals of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela) in response to recent political developments and the ongoing crisis affecting the country. 

ICN has reached out to express solidarity and to reaffirm that the global nursing community supports Venezuelan nurses during this challenging time. For nurses, the pressures of emergencies are often intensified by already difficult working conditions, resource shortages and high demands for care. Even so, nurses in Venezuela and around the world continue to fulfil their professional and ethical responsibilities to patients and communities, often while facing heightened personal and professional vulnerability.

More broadly, ICN recognises that times of political, social and institutional crisis place individual and collective rights at particular risk. It is critical that International Humanitarian Law, protecting the safety of health care workers and facilities, is respected in all places. States of emergency and crisis can also involve strong risks to civil liberties, including the right to speak and organise freely and to come together collectively to promote and defend work interests, as enshrined by the International Labour Organization.

Read more

Survey on the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in lung cancer screening

We are looking for nurses working in primary health care, respiratory, or oncology in Aotearoa New Zealand to take part in a short (15 min) survey of their views on the use of AI in lung cancer screening.

AI will inevitably be part of a national lung cancer screening programme, however for implementation to be successful, its use has to be acceptable to both recipients and those delivering the screening.

Please visit https://redcap.otago.ac.nz/surveys/?s=TDCLMDACMEC7H9KH to give your views and help us plan for lung cancer screening in Aotearoa New Zealand.

This research is funded by the Health Research Council of New Zealand (HRC), with research team members based at the University of Otago/Ōtakou Whakaihu Waka and Health NZ/Te Whatu Ora.

This study has been approved by the University of Otago Human Ethics Committee (Health) - Te Pae Matatika Tangata (Hauora), Otakou Whakaihu Waka (Ref H25/0473).