Nurse staffing figures ‘alarming’
The most understaffed children’s ward in the country last year was the neonatal intensive care ward at Waipapa Christchurch Hospital, new figures reveal.
The New Zealand Nurses Organisation (NZNO Tōpūtanga Tapuhi Kaitiaki o Aotearoa) says official information figures have revealed an “alarming nurse staffing crisis” in the nation’s hospitals.
More than half of the country’s children’s wards were understaffed at least 20% of the time, the figures showed.
Waipapa Christchurch Hospital’s neonatal intensive care ward had 865 shifts below target during 2023, which meant it was understaffed for nearly 80% of all shifts.
In total, more than a quarter of nursing shifts were below target staffing numbers, and some wards operated below these levels nearly all of the time.
Nursing numbers rose by 2500 last year, helping vacancy rates drop from an estimated 4800 in July to fewer than 1700 in December. Pay rates have also leapt by more than 50% for graduate nurses and 60% for senior nurses.
Despite this, NZNO chief executive Paul Goulter said nurses were continuing to leave because of burnout and concerns about pay and their health and safety at work.
“We have an impoverished health system that continues to be eroded by the coalition Government’s spending restraints and frontline service cuts.”
Goulter said of particular concern was understaffing in wards for children, cancer patients (oncology), surgical, women’s health, and mental health.
Five out of eight adult inpatient oncology wards and almost half of women’s health wards were understaffed 20% of the time or more.
Mental health wards reported the most acute levels of understaffing. Three wards reported more than 1000 shifts below target, with the Mason Clinic’s Tane Whakapiripiri ward in Waitematā being understaffed 99.45% of the time. This meant only six shifts were safely staffed there in 2023.
Shifts “below target” meant either not enough staff on duty, or not the correct mix of skills among those working, putting patient safety at risk.
Nurses would hold public rallies at more than 20 locations across the country today, where they would picket and speak about safe staffing issues and solutions such as legally mandated nurse-to-patient ratios, Goulter said.
Health New Zealand Te Whatu Ora acting national director for hospital and specialist services Christine Lowry said the figures reflected a wider issue of workforce shortages, across New Zealand’s health system and the rest of the world.
“We’ve been very focused on addressing these workforce challenges, and have made some significant headway.”
The Health Workforce Plan 2023-24 estimated New Zealand was short about 4800 nurses as of July 2023.
The number of nurses employed by Health NZ rose by almost 2500 in 2023 compared to December 2022, and the vacancy rate was down to 6%, or 1692 of its 28,200 fulltime equivalent rolls.
Health NZ supported 3200 internationally qualified nurses to complete a Competence Assessment Programme between August 2022 and March this year.
About 7400-degree level nursing students are in training and, since 2017, the salary for a graduate nurse has risen from about $49,500 to $75,500 – a 53% increase. The top step for a registered nurse also rose from $66,750 to $106,739, a 60% increase, Lowry said.