NURSE SALARIES

susanlin · Posted: Sun Feb 22, 2004 10:14 am Post subject: NURSE SALARIES

Hi - can anybody tell me what the average salary for a nurse is in NZ? Also, are there any nurses out there who could tell me how NZ nursing differs from UK? Is it better, different, worse!? Are the pressures the same as we have in UK - short-staffed, overworked and underpaid?!

Arlevien · I Like It Here Joined: 12 Dec 2003 Posts: 56

susan,

check out the New Zealand Nurses Organisation

http://www.nzno.org.nz

I'll bet they have the answers to your questions.[/url]

John Miller · Posted: Sun Feb 22, 2004 5:12 pm Post subject:

Susan, Reg nurse pay scale is about $30,000 - $40,000. Shift allowance and overtime takes actual pay scale to more like $40,000 - $50,000 plus.

Here's a good link for nurses pay and conditions. Staff turnover is high with nurses shopping around for better conditions.

http://www.careers.co.nz/jobs/3a_nur/j35111a.htm

John Miller · Posted: Mon Mar 01, 2004 6:07 am Post subject:

Just found this article about overworked nurses.

The Nurses Organisation daytime general ward safe staffing ration is

1 nurse: 4 patients, plus 1 nurse in charge.

Auckland: between 1:4 and 1:6, at the discretion of the charge nurse.

Christchurch: between 1:4 and 1:5, depending on nurse skill and patient need.

Hutt Valley: between 1:3 and 1:6.

Nurses launch campaign over patient numbers
01 March 2004

Nurses are calling for strict limits on the number of patients they can care for, to reduce workloads and protect the public from fatigued staff.

The Nurses Organisation releases its Blueprint for Patient Safety today, setting out how many patients a nurse can care for safely in specific wards at different times.

Nurses Organisation president Jane O'Malley said an informal survey last year of 16 wards in 13 public hospitals around New Zealand showed wards were often understaffed, putting patient safety at risk.

The organisation's new safe staffing levels recommend a ratio of one nurse to four, five or six patients - depending on the hospital size - in a general ward, plus one nurse in charge. The survey revealed it was not uncommon for a nurse to be looking after up to nine patients on an afternoon shift.

"Far too many nurses are leaving the profession because of work overload, many feeling demoralised because they can't deliver the care they went into nursing to provide," Ms O'Malley said.

The Australian experience showed that mandated nurse-to-patient ratios could help reverse that trend. Since legally binding ratios were introduced in Victoria in 2001, more than 4000 nurses had returned to hospitals, she said.

But the Health Ministry and district health boards strongly oppose binding ratios.

Ministry chief nursing adviser Frances Hughes said staffing issues could not be solved by numbers alone.

The ministry acknowledged that nurses were under pressure but internationally there was not enough evidence that ratios actually improved quality of care and outcomes for patients.

Better organisational structures and education were needed to develop and support nurses, she said.

An Auckland health board spokeswoman said strict ratios were too inflexible and did not reflect the different needs of patients. For example, a patient recovering from an operation needed more care than an elderly person with a chronic condition.

But the Nurses Organisation argued that ratios could be flexible. How many patients each nurse cared for would depend on their skill and the patient's need.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,2830005a11,00.html