Nursing Futures Taskforce Meeting Notes 29 August 2025

Taskforce in Nursing

Meeting 29 Aug 2025, 0930 to 1030

Present	Apologies	No response
Andrew Jull, UoA Jill Wilkinson, VUW Helen Hamer, UoA Kate Weston, CNA Jocelyn Peach, independent Sandra McDonald, NorthTec Nicolette Sheridan, Massey Sue Adams, UoA (minutes)	Jill Clendon, NEA Jenny Carryer, Massey Chelsea Willmott, NPNZ Sue Gasquoine, NZNO Sandy Bayliss, NZNO Catherine Cook, AUT Wendy Blair, NZNO	Kiri Hunter, CNA, AUT Josephine Davis, UoA To’a Fereti, Pacific, independent

Principles/purpose of Taskforce (raised so far…)

• Te Tiriti aligned and focused on equity and patient/public safety across hospital and community health. Underpinned by civil liberty, social justice, freedom of speech, holding power accountable, shaping society, democracy

• Create balance and understanding – evidence-based, logical, drawing on pillars of nursing practice

• Pull together the multitude of policy changes to provide a comprehensive view of risks to nursing

• Use a networked approach; be a vehicle and provide a voice for nurses and others, to provide evidence, data, logical arguments for others to use in their own settings/communities

• Be strategic and offer hope and a longterm future for nursing

Activities

• A long-term project – until at least the next election

• Respond in both planned manner and reactive manners

• Use multiple ways of communicating with nurses, public, policy-makers and politicians - op-eds, journal articles, media, podcasts

• Take authorship on various pieces - lead/contribute, ensuring people feel safe and have choice to be at the forefront or in the background

• Connect with wider networks, media, journalists

Work in progress

Op-Ed – Jenny, Andrew, Nicolette – pitch submitted 29 Aug

Brief notes

1. Update on The Conversation piece.

Andrew submitting today. Authors Nicolette, Andrew & Jenny. UPDATE – The Conversation down on capacity – Andrew looking at Newsroom or The Spinoff.

Added one sentence on new grad appointments – from Sandra’s meeting yesterday – that all positions are to be filled by new grads (when available). Seems across the country in the main appointments for new grads 0.6FTE and allowed to work on the pool for extra money.

2. Next piece – risk of a nursing workforce not supported/not fit to practise – Jos, Kate, Sue

Issues in context of strike action 2^nd and 4^th Sept:

• Safe staffing and patient safety foremost for nurses. Ratios, balance between experienced and junior/new staff, nurse vacancies (regardless of experience) being replaced by new grads at HNZ’s directive

• Risk of lack of strong nursing workforce – risk to health outcomes, equity. Who is looking after new grads – changes in service spec, reduction nurse educators, availability of preceptors. No longer NEtP; instead supported first year. Sandra will ask Liz Manning for the service specs.

• Obfuscation - Reality gap between nurses on the ground and what govt & ministers are telling them is happening and what they are experiencing. And govt telling the public what nurses are doing.

• Salary contentions – new grads on $75,000 to increase by $8,000 if Union accept pay offer; but doesn’t consider 0.6FTE; $125,000 per annum considered totally incorrect. Only C&C, Tairawhiti, & Waikato have clarified 0.6FTE. Whangarei also 0.6.

• Simeon Brown says staff turnover down – but no jobs – nurses can’t move – unhealthy and stagnant system

• Attrition to Australia

• Patient/whānau/community – what is the government doing to you/impact by detrimental changes to nursing

• Give voice and words to nurses to argue from their position – data, evidence, logical

• Similar concerns internationally - ICN

• Where is this taking our nursing workforce for the future

• Return to the pillars of nursing

Who is accountable for nursing

• Multiple players (meddling) across all areas of nursing and health sector – TEC, HNZ, Nursing Council, Te Pukenga, universities, NZQA; and not clear who is responsible for what

• Divisiveness amongst nursing groups and leadership; a blame game – who is accountable for what

• Accountability for education – health organisations or tertiary education? Is there a move back to hospital training? NP training – likely won’t have same level of academic funding

Leadership

• Chief nurses not visible in the conversations. Previously the networks were stronger across nursing – NNLg disempowered and chief nurses no longer engage to use NNLg as their advisor group, nor their networks to inform what was happening within the Ministry. Despite some issues, Taskforce in 1998 showed cohesive leadership.

• NZNO has lost strong nursing leadership – now managerial and minimising professional advisory capacity

• So who is making the decisions on nursing – are nurse present, who are they, and under how much duress?

Primary/secondary division

• While positive to see a focus on primary care, high risk to nursing workforce in secondary/tertiary services

• TEC limitations; HNZ funding; primary vs secondary

  • Scholarships for PHC nurses moving to RN prescribing - $45,000 – ambiguous but likely means $11,000 per year (60 credits) – and presume will include fees ($5,400), and study leave (12 days at $50/hour = $4,800); $800 left for what else – travel & accommodation, supervision, mentoring. Probably about the same as Health Workforce funded was previously??

  • New grad funding for primary care – straight to primary care providers

  • Secondary care – reduced PG study days or reduced number of nurses funded; NP training – just 37/180 places for secondary services – 120 for PHC and 23 in MH&A.

Other points/comments

• Nursing Council education standards – are they going to move to the Australian model?

• NP education contract – due to be released soon – will need to respond

• Silencing of nurses in institutions – and risk for those who stand up/speak back

• HNZ decisions are rushed, reactive. Not inclusive of the people who have the knowledge/expertise – they have been moved, left etc

• Road to privatisation – Jonathan Coleman previously. “Run your stock down before you sell”

• Pedagogy of the oppressed – fighting amongst ourselves – so if we know that tactic, we can strategise against it – hence this group.

• Chaos has been caused – now need to shift

• Similar actions by doctors – podcasts – offering strong political views etc. At some point could connect with these groups. But first need to worry about nursing.

FYI – from a PG student

Letter from Abby Broadbent – Kaitiaki Dear Simeon Brown — a letter from a longtime registered nurse – Kaitiaki Nursing New Zealand