A Gisborne nurse says staff on her ward are stretched to their limit. The conditions have prompted a provisional improvement notice to be issued against Te Whatu Ora Tairāwhiti. Photo: Liam Clayton / Gisborne Herald
A Gisborne nurse has described unworkable conditions at the district hospital's acute ward, where staff are putting their own wellbeing on the backburner to cope with demand.
On Tuesday afternoon, the health and safety officer of Gisborne Hospital's Ward 5 issued a provisional improvement notice in response to concerns over unsafe staffing levels.
The notice, backed by the New Zealand Nurses Organisation (NZNO), legally requires an employer or service provider to address a health and safety issue before a set time.
Ward 5 is the hospital's acute medical ward where cardiac, respiratory, renal and hospice care is provided. It also treats the region's Covid patients.
Ward delegate Christine Warrander has worked at the hospital for 10 years and said it was difficult to pinpoint when conditions began worsening.
The past six months had been particularly difficult as the ward was short six full-time equivalent nurses, she said.
"The shift can be horrendous right from the beginning. You walk into the handover room and see the board is completely full with no spare beds.
"Patients aren't getting the care they deserve. Nurses are getting stressed and burnt out, working over their contract hours and coming to work sick or injured as they know there is no cover.
"It's demoralising and heartbreaking."
'Running from one patient to another'
Warrander said it wasn't uncommon for breaks to be missed or for nurses to leave late and exhausted.
"Nurses are in tears as they know they aren't able to provide the care they want to due to time constraints.
"You spend the shift literally running from one patient to another, hoping that a patient doesn't deteriorate and that you get through the shift without a serious adverse event happening."
Although it would take some time for Te Whatu Ora (formerly the Ministry of Health) to recruit more staff, both pay and working conditions needed to improve to make the job more attractive, Warrander said.
Safety concerns had been repeatedly raised with Te Whatu Ora Tairāwhiti over the past few months but had not been adequately addressed, she said.
In response to the criticism, Te Whatu Ora Tairāwhiti interim district director Jim Green said his organisation was committed to safe working environments for all staff.
"Staff shortages combined with increased staff absence due to Covid has caused additional pressures across the organisation.
"We have worked closely with NZNO and Ward 5 staff to implement a number of measures to improve staffing levels.
"We will continue to do all we can to resolve the situation, which we monitor and respond to on a shift-by-shift basis."
Green said the government was implementing a wide range of initiatives to address immediate workforce pressures as well as working on longer-term measures to ensure a sustainable health workforce.
The provisional improvement notice recommended the bed count in Ward 5 be reduced from 25 to 20 to take pressure off staff.
Te Whatu Ora Tairāwhiti would comply with the notice and had already responded to NZNO to meet this week for further discussions, Green said.
The organisation has until 9 January to comply with the notice.
Local Democracy Reporting is Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ On Air.