Wellington, New Zealand – In the 25 years Lisa has been a healthcare assistant, short-staffing has only got worse.
Her typical day involves changing a patient’s dirty linen, clearing their rubbish, escorting them to and from the bathroom, helping them with their exercises, and feeding, walking, and washing them.
“You can’t complete the patient care because there’s just not enough of you,” Lisa told Al Jazeera. “It means you feel like you’re failing people, and it’s not fair to them or us.”
Weary from years of trying to fit 10 hours of work into an eight-hour shift, Lisa is one of more than 30,000 nurses, midwives, and healthcare assistants working in New Zealand’s District Health Boards (DHBs) who have been negotiating with the government for the last year to improve pay and working conditions.
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New Zealand nurses consider new wages after strike, working hours health news
Wellington, New Zealand – In Lisa ’s 25 years as a health care assistant, the understaffed situation will only get worse.
Her typical day includes changing the patients’ dirty sheets, cleaning their trash, escorting them in and out of the bathroom, helping them exercise, feeding, walking, and washing them.
“You can’t complete patient care because you don’t have enough staff,” Lisa told Al Jazeera. “It means you feel that you have failed people, which is not fair to them or us.”
For years trying to arrange 10-hour work in 8-hour shifts, Lisa is tired of it. She is one of more than 30,000 nurses, midwives and medical assistants working at the New Zealand District Health Board (DHB). The final year of negotiating with the government to improve salaries and working conditions.
New-zealand
Hawke-bay
New-zealand-general
Wellington
Dale-oliff
Glenda-alexander
Andrew-little
Zealand-district-health-board
Al-jazeera
Ministry-of-health
Zealand-nurses-organization
New-zealand-district-health-board