Staffing crux of strike
Nurses say Palmerston North Hospital was safer while they went on strike – an indictment on how it is usually run.
‘‘We should strike more often. ‘‘That’s how crazy it is,’’ said surgical nurse Andrew Cunningham.
Up to 200 protesting nurses flanked Ruahine St outside the hospital from 7am yesterday as part of nationwide industrial action.
Cunningham said the New Zealand Nurses Organisation and Midcentral District Health Board had planned carefully to make sure there were enough nurses on the wards or prepared to be called in to ensure patient safety.
‘‘There are more staff than on a normal day. At the moment, it’s awesome.’’
More than 450 appointments and surgeries were rescheduled to keep in-patient numbers as low as possible but Cunningham said the hospital had been running at 98 per cent of capacity in the leadup, and there were a lot of seriously injured patients.
The strike prompted cancellation of dialysis services for the day but patients would be provided with a catch-up session on Sunday. Renal nurse Merete Hipp said safe staffing was at the heart of Midcentral Health nurses’ decision to strike for a better deal.
She said it was normal for nurses to be caring for five to seven patients when it should be only four.
Hipp said there was also a vicious cycle of nurses covering for others who called in sick, missing their rostered days off, and then falling sick themselves when they didn’t get a break.
The dispute was more about safe staffing levels than it was about money.
‘‘In places like Auckland and Christchurch, they need the money to cover the cost of living.
‘‘But the majority of people here are not worried about the money. It’s safe staffing.’’
Cunningham said the latest offer, which included 500 extra nurses, was likely to deliver only about five more nurses for Palmerston North Hospital.
As well as nurses, clinical and non-clinical volunteers were helping staff the hospital, and family and wha¯nau had been asked to spend as much time as they could sitting with patients and keeping them comfortable.
Board chief executive Kathryn Cook confirmed the car park barrier arms had been disabled and parking was free for visitors throughout the 24-hour strike.
Family, volunteers and staff were also being provided with free food and drink in a gesture of gratitude for the extra support they were providing for inpatients.
The flow of patients into the emergency department was ‘‘steady’’ and was being closely monitored.
Hospital bosses were reassuring people they should go to the hospital in an emergency, but use other options if possible.