Plunket nurses set to get pay in line with hospitals

Plunket nurse Margaret Wong with 9-month-old Sophia Timmins-Crawley. Picture / Kenny Rodger

Plunket nurses have been offered a 13 per cent pay rise - bringing their pay in line with their public hospital counterparts.

The Nurses Organisation believes its 600 Plunket members will accept the offer, and hopes Plunket's move will spur other primary healthcare providers to take similar steps towards pay parity.

If ratified, the deal will give a fourth-year Plunket nurse - the payscale most are on - a jump in May from $47,430 a year to $53,860.

Epsom-Roskill Plunket nurse Margaret Wong believes the deal will help to stem the loss of trained staff to public hospitals.

In addition to better wage rates, public hospital nurses also receive penal rates and night allowances.

Mrs Wong, a 30-year nursing veteran, took a pay cut when she joined Plunket in 1997.

"I was just looking for a better lifestyle balance for myself, really. I've got a family with three children and I was looking for a job with better social hours."

But she also had to retrain for a year. Plunket nurses were specialists in caring for children aged under five, but most had other areas of experience as well, she said.

"We are all experienced registered nurses. Many of us have got experience in hospital, as well as being midwives and lactation consultants. Lots of the nurses have worked in medical wards and mental health, so we've actually got a vast amount of experience in Plunket."

The 13 per cent increase covers Plunket nurses and community health workers. Administration staff receive a 5 per cent raise.

Negotiations started last September, but a firm offer was delayed as Plunket worked out its ability to finance the increases.

Chief executive Paul Baigent said its present contract with the Ministry of Health did not cover wage rises, so the society was funding most of the costs itself.

But he said it was necessary to keep pay levels relative to district health board nurses after their historic pay increases last year.

"Our nurses do a fantastic job; we need to be recognising what their peers are being paid for similar work."

Nurses Organisation negotiator Chris Wilson said Plunket had been supportive from the beginning.