Nurses in New Zealand are poorly paid. There is a significant shortage which is only going to get worse as experienced nurses leave the profession through exhaustion or burnout. This puts those still left in the profession under more pressure, which will only result in more nurses leaving. It is a downward spiral that could be fixed with a more empathetic Minister of Health, who needs to understand that the part nurses play in the controlling of the pandemic is absolutely critical, and that nursing shortage will have serious consequences for our health service. But Andrew Little is probably the least empathetic minister in the cabinet, and let’s be honest: that is saying something.
But look across the ditch and things are actually not much better. Yes, nurses are paid well in Australia, but they too are having enormous problems.
Yes, I know. Last year, the nursing profession did itself no favours by producing Tiktok videos of themselves on empty wards. Many of us looked on in scorn as they spent their days on full pay just clowning around with expensive medical equipment. They lost some of the enormous goodwill that is generally awarded to them with that idiotic behaviour.
I have a family member who is a nurse in Melbourne. The picture she paints of an overloaded health system there is very grim. Exactly the same thing is happening over there as here; nurses are leaving the profession in droves, not because of pay but because of burnout. This again is an awful downward spiral. Those left behind are put under more pressure and strain in a system fighting the pandemic as well as all other health conditions.
Nurses are working double shifts, in full PPE gear, which is exhausting. Where they normally take care of 3 patients at a time, now it can be 6. Leave is cancelled. There are no casual nurses or contractors to provide cover. Many of the nurses have left the wards to become COVID testers or vaccinators at a very high pay rate. Those left behind on the wards are just struggling to offer their patients, most of whom do not have COVID but obviously have other health conditions, some semblance of care.
It has become so bad that those nurses who have been exposed to COVID are put into hotel quarantine but are still required to come to work. They work their shifts, in full PPE gear including R95 masks, and then go back to the quarantine hotel. And if you think that is madness, then just think of what the alternative would be… a dangerous shortage of nurses on the hospital wards, and a breakdown of the care system.
Apparently, Chris Hipkins is talking about doing this too.
Remember, this is Melbourne, which has relatively few cases of COVID, compared to Sydney. What it must be like there is hard to imagine.
So I looked on in rage as the police used tear gas and rubber bullets against protestors in central Melbourne at the weekend.
This is no way to live in a developed country. But then when I hear about the chaos in the hospitals, I really wonder what the solution is. Those protestors only make things worse, but they have a right to protest. But do they have the right to put more and more people at risk? Where will it all end?
In the meantime, we have a very stressed and weakened family member who is talking about giving up nursing. She is not alone. Three nurses on her ward have resigned recently and left the profession.
Andrew Little needs to think long and hard before he mistreats our nurses. What’s the expression? You don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone. But hey, that’s this government for you.
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