Source: New Zealand Nurses Organisation
A review of Nelson Hospital has confirmed concerns that staff shortages are increasing wait times and delaying people getting the care they need, the New Zealand Nurses Organisation Tōpūtanga Tapuhi Kaitiaki o Aotearoa (NZNO) says.
The Nelson Marlborough Clinical Quality and Systems Review carried out by Te Whatu Ora was released this afternoon and has found serious issues with the management and development of the nursing workforce at Nelson Hospital.
NZNO delegate Marijke Cooper says the findings of this review go to the heart of concerns nurses are striking over next week.
“Te Whatu Ora is failing to resource safe staffing levels and are delaying hiring more staff because of issues with their recruitment process.
“This is having a real impact on patients because they are unable to get First Specialist Assessments. We saw in media last week concerns over ghost First Specialist Assessments at Nelson,” she says.
The review also found Nelson Hospital needs to do more to upskill their nurses.
“Requests from nursing staff to upskill are being frequently turned down. The hiring of high-calibre nursing staff is being limited because of an inflexible approach to part-time work.
“Nelson is also underinvesting in advanced nurse practice roles compared to other parts of New Zealand.
“Te Whatu Ora needs to commit to building a sustainable and high-skilled home-grown nursing workforce by upskilling nurses and hiring graduate nurses.”
Marijke Cooper says NZNO is concerned that despite the review raising concerns about poor communication practices at Nelson Hospital, none of our delegates are aware of any staff being consulted on it.
