It follows the challenging DHB NZNO negotiations that saw resolute DHB nurses unite to take the first national strike in nearly 30 years over pay and safe staffing concerns – and ended with 64% voting in favour of a fifth DHBs’ offer following the signing of the safe staffing Accord and NZNO’s recommendation that further industrial action would not lead to extra funding for the deal.

The hui is being held on August 19 in Auckland by the newly-formed NZNO Members Action Group to discuss where-to-next for the NZNO members who expressed frustration on social media about the union’s responsiveness to members during and after the DHB MECA negotiation process.

Asked what lessons he believed NZNO could learn from the 2017-18 negotiation round NZNO chief executive Memo Musa said the union would be conducting its usual evaluation and review of the MECA negotiation process to look at what worked well and what could be improved on.  “Particularly in regard to the growing climate of social media dialogue that took off during the negotiations”. And he said it would be engaging with members on how they would work together on planning the next round of negotiations – including the pay equity process – taking into account the review results.

Musa added that members have a wide range of views and the negative comments on social media had to be viewed with the context of the 64 per cent who had voted in favour of the final offer.

Action group spokesperson Danni Wilkinson said the group had about 400 members and  was a ‘rank and file’ member response to unite NZNO members who had spoken out about their concerns on a number of the nursing social media platforms.

Wilkinson founded the Facebook page Nightingales Fight for Fair Pay in late May as a spin-off from the ‘Nurse Florence’-founded New Zealand, please hear our voice page.  The page has 2800 followers compared to Nurse Florence’s 45,000 plus, and the longer-established NZNO Members & Supporters page (8200 members) and the New Zealand Nurses Organisation page (20,200 followers).

“I think if we don’t keep the momentum that we have gathered over the last six months – if we don’t keep that going we will go back to that apathetic – ‘the union doesn’t give a (toss) so why should I’ – attitude with people refusing to vote and just not paying attention to what is going on,” said Wilkinson.

“And we will sit on that for another ten years and flare up again.  And I don’t think that’s healthy. I think we’re better to create the change and maintain our healthy union along the way rather than clash and fight every ten years or so – which is exhausting.”

“I guess we are at the point where there have been a lot of people talking – and it’s time to put up or shut up – if you are just going to sit in the background and whinge, whine and complain but not actually participate in creating the change that you want, then stop your whingeing.”

Musa said alongside the negotiations review NZNO was now turning to delegate and member education and communication about what the new DHB/NZNO MECA contains.  “And show we will work together on the implementation and planning for the next round of negotiations including the pay equity process, taking into account outcomes from the review.”

He said NZNO was supportive of members being able to speak openly about the deal on social media. “However, what is disappointing and unacceptable on social media are the personal attacks on the negotiating team and process based on insufficient knowledge, evidence and facts about the technical aspects of the negotiation process.”

Musa said some of the comments had been unpleasant and unprofessional and directed at people “doing their utmost to deliver the absolute best for members” and who had to “personally dig deep” to continue in an environment where they suffered continual criticism from some members. He said the relationship between senior staff and many grassroots members remained strong.  “NZNO gained the best possible MECA offer and we are now receiving many, many emails of thanks to the senior staff which had been heartening.”

Wilkinson said the action group was particularly keen to see change in how the upcoming pay equity negotiations were carried out and to have assurance that the negotiations would be backed by quality research.  “The other concern that we have is that NZNO said repeatedly that the members are the union but there is definitely a strong feeling that that is not the case.” Wilkinson said she was aware of many members who felt that NZNO had prioritised the union’s partnership with DHBs over representing many members’ wish to push for a better offer or consider further industrial action.

But she said if members are wanting change from the union in return they also had to be ready to participate themselves.  “They don’t have to be the workplace delegate – they can just be the person who helps the workplace delegate, collects signatures on petitions or offers other support so they are active participants. We are hoping if we can encourage 30,000 members to take a bit more interest then things will change from within for sure.”

Wilkinson said talking on social media had been great – while acknowledging there had also been some misinformation and confusion – but more action than social media posts and comments were needed to create the change that members had talked about.

“If our group finds that we don’t have enough support – and actually members are happy to just go back to work and tick along – then we (Action Group leaders) will keep looking at doing things through official channels –  because we do believe there is a strong need for change and we will help guide that.” The group is also inviting people from other centres to join the  Auckland meeting via teleconference.

‘Nurse Florence’ – as the two administrators of the snowballing New Zealand, please hear our voice Facebook page are collectively known – told Nursing Review that they had launched the page on Saturday night (March 4) because they believed nurses needed a voice to help engage the public during the current pay claim campaign. “We were seeing on other sites, media coverage and comments how poorly New Zealand felt about us.”

Around 27,000 nurses, midwives and healthcare assistant members of the New Zealand Nurses Organisation start voting this week over whether to accept a revised pay offer from the 20 DHBs, knowing the likely next step if they reject the deal is a strike ballot. A single nurse post about the pay offer went viral last week and the Nurse Florence-run Facebook page – which the pair says is not to encourage a strike but to allow nurses to be heard – has similarly grown swiftly this week.

The pair say they were strangers from opposite ends of the country who saw the success that midwives had had in engaging public backing and the media and wanted the same opportunity for nurses. They wanted nurses stories to be heard anonymously as said nurses felt silenced in their jobs as they needed to respect the privacy of their patients.

“We wanted to create a forum that would give people an insight into what a nurse is and what our job entails, especially in light of the negative comments in the media about nurses being undeserving of a pay rise and that we should be grateful for the current offer.”

They said they had been overwhelmed by the support, which hit 2000 members the morning after the Saturday night launch, 6000 by Tuesday and – despite ‘Nurse Florence’ being disabled as the administrator by Facebook temporarily on Wednesday – had reached more than 13,000 members by Thursday afternoon.

The pair posted on Thursday that the page had been taken down on Wednesday by Facebook because of the difficulties in keeping their identities anonymous – and it had taken a stressful day to get it back up and running to allow nurses to continue to share their anonymous messages.

“We are both juggling shift work, difficult hours and home lives but we will reply to every message that we receive. We look forward to having more contact from New Zealand nurses and the public.”

Nurse North told Nursing Review that she only had been nursing for a month after graduating as a registered nurse (RN) last year and being fortunate enough to be accepted for a NETP (nurse entry to practice) programme. “I  love my job as a nurse and hope that I will have a long happy career in the nursing industry.”

Nurse South said she was an enrolled nurse working in a psychiatric acute in-patient ward and while not as experienced as some of the nurses sharing their stories via ‘Nurse Florence’ she had a passion for the job she was trying to do.

She said she used to think she would eventually train as an RN and felt valued by her RN colleagues who had encouraged her by saying she had the skills to make a good RN. But now she was finding RNs unhappy with their jobs, with “hurt in their eyes” and feeling scared to come out on the wards due to the level of violence and abuse.

“I don’t feel as confident as I was because we are being placed in situations that are dangerous and it feels like we are ‘expected’ to manage this ourselves,” said Nurse South. “I love my job but I would love it more if we had the opportunity for change we deserve. With change I can do a job I love.”

The pair said the page and ‘Nurse Florence’ were not there to tell NZNO’s DHB members what choices to make.  “We are not here to convince anyone to make the same vote as we are. We are a forum trying to be heard so we can have change.”

“We are encouraging as many people from the public, family and friends to speak up and share with us what they are feeling and to hear their experiences. As it seems we have lost sight of our purpose as a nurse. We want the public to help us create movement towards change.”

You can visit the New Zealand, please hear our voice Facebook page here.

One Facebook post has gone viral and another Facebook page has gained thousands of members in just a couple of days.

A Christchurch nurse told Health Central that she was “just blown away” by the almost 6,000 likes, more than 1,000 comments and 5,000 shares of a post where she talks of New Zealand nursing facing a “horrendous and awkward decision” as nurses “hate to strike”. After gaining national publicity, the nurse said her post had taken its toll and she now wanted others to carry on with the conversation she had started.

Taking up that conversation is the ‘New Zealand, please hear our voice’ Facebook page that shares stories of how “we are struggling, we are broken and we as nurses are hurt”. The site was launched on Saturday and by midday Tuesday had 3,641 members, but this had nearly doubled in two hours to more than 6,300. The administrator for the page, ‘Nurse Florence’, told Health Central that the speed of its growth “speaks volumes on the current mood among nurses”.

Around 27,000 nurses, midwives and healthcare assistant members of the New Zealand Nurses Organisation start voting today in a series of meetings being held up and down the country over the next few weeks to decide whether to accept a revised pay offer from the 20 DHBs.

The union’s negotiators have indicated to members that if nurses are unhappy with the offer the next step is likely to be a strike ballot, as the DHBs had already met with the Minister of Health and Director General of Health three times and indicated they could not increase the offer.

The revised pay offer remains at 2 per cent a year but shortens the length of the contract, increases the lump sum payment to $1,050, brings forward the date for any pay equity settlement to 2019 and tightens the safe staffing requirements.

Nurses are expressing frustration that the offer does not recognise the skills and responsibilities of modern nursing or the stress and working conditions that nurses in public hospitals face, with hospitals reporting being under major pressure to meet upsurges in patient demand.

One emergency nurse posting on the ‘New Zealand, please hear our voice’ page said she was ready to strike, despite having started as a new graduate three years ago feeling lucky and privileged.

“Fresh-faced and naive, little did I know the struggles I would face. Fast forward to now, and I have some questions. How is it that we have got to a place where nurses feel unsafe in a hospital surrounded by hundreds of staff? How is it that we are so undervalued that we can’t get the staffing levels we need to feel safe in our workplace? How is it that my colleagues leave work crying and call in sick for their next shift because they can’t take the stress, pressure and mental torment?”

Another nurse – a caregiver who retrained as a registered nurse – said she had never entered nursing for the money but she too was ready to strike. She spoke of her frustration at, despite gaining an extra qualification, getting no extra pay until she completed additional professional work to meet the DHB’s requirements.

“I also work on call 40 per cent of my off-duty time so I can help provide care to those in emergency situations – and whilst I’m helping bring other people’s children in to the world I’m ashamed to not be at home with my own.

“Why [will I strike]? Because I am passionate about nursing, passionate about fair pay, and passionate about safe staffing. I will go without pay and strike to get the acknowledgment we deserve. Who’s with me?”

Another post from a registered nurse described the health system as chronically unwell and down to just “skin and bone”, leading to experienced nurses leaving the profession.

“Nurses aren’t just tired anymore – they’re completely over it; they fret that today might be the day they are the one who is going to make that monumental error that will cause detrimental harm and put them before the Nursing Council for a ‘please explain’. Nobody should be working like this, least of all health professionals that are entrusted with the wellbeing and lives of others. It’s not safe, it’s not healthy, and there is no work/life balance for many.”

In the Facebook post that went viral, the Christchurch nurse wrote that “nurses HATE industrial action” because if nurses strike it can cause “serious grief”.

“When I started nursing I loved it so much I thought being paid was a bonus! And felt so grateful for our pay scale. A lot has changed since 1986! If my daughter wanted to be a nurse… would I encourage her.. ?”

She said it was time for the New Zealand public and the Government to care for the carers, saying that the phrase “you get what you care for” applies: “Burnt-out staff who have to work full-time to keep afloat financially; staff too stretched to give anything but the bare minimum in care; and loss of experience, which IS happening as people have had enough.”