Nurses campaign for ‘ratio justice’ in Gisborne

Gisborne nurses and midwives campaign for increased health spending and nurse-to-patient ratios yesterday during a nationwide tour by the New Zealand Nurses Organisation/Tōpūtanga Tapuhi Kaitiaki o Aotearoa.

Wet weather did not deter nurses from taking their case for increased funding and culturally appropriate staff-patient ratios to the Gisborne public yesterday.

The New Zealand Nurses Organisation/Tōpūtanga Tapuhi Kaitiaki o Aotearoa (NZNO) Ratio Justice bus tour arrived in Gisborne after campaigning in Whakatāne and Tauranga on Wednesday.

NZNO president Anne Daniels said the understaffing crisis could not be resolved unless the coalition Government put more money into health.

“However, in Budget 2024, the bulk of health funding that was announced was committed to meeting cost-pressure funding,” she said in a statement.

“This means there is limited funding for new initiatives in health and nothing concrete announced for nurses, midwives and healthcare assistants.”

More nurses were desperately needed and having culturally appropriate ratios was the best way to ensure the best and most efficient health service for all New Zealanders, she said. Many issues arose from poverty, which was then made worse by a lack of understanding from staff.

NZNO wants nurse/midwife-to-patient ratios locked into legislation so they are protected across successive governments and budgeted for.

NZNO delegate and East Coast rural health nurse Gina Chaffey-Aupouri told the Gisborne Herald culturally appropriate services meant people “being there for their patients”.

“So it’s Māori for Māori, and Pacific Islanders for Pacific Islanders.

“We want the best care for our people, and there’s nothing like your own looking after your own.

“We get poorly funded as Māori and Pacific Islanders.

“Ratio Justice is when you get the right number of nurses to care for patients. You don’t want one nurse to a thousand; you want enough nurses to look after the patients they have to care for.

“And you have to remember, Māori have the worse health statistics.

“You have to ensure nurses have been trained well to care for patients.”

This would ensure nurses had the right skills and knowledge base to provide the best care, she said.

“We need the Government to fund those nurses to train. Then we would have ratio justice.

“If they can fund apprenticeships, they should be able to fund nurses.”

Daniels said most states in Australia, Ireland and Wales, as well as California in the US and British Columbia in Canada, had fixed nurse-to-patient ratios to improve the quality of healthcare.

“Since being introduced in Australia nearly 10 years ago, they’ve resulted in fewer readmissions and shorter hospital stays, resulting in better patient outcomes and tens of millions being saved in the health budget.”

Nurses moved their “informational picket” from their originally planned locations to The Warehouse in Customhouse Street because of the weather.

Earlier, NZNO representatives met members for coffee in the Gisborne Hospital cafe and at a barbecue for Ngāti Porou Hauora nurses at Te Tini o Poro.