Student nurses at Dunedin Hospital – more proof that mandates need to go, say Nurses For Freedom NZ

This week’s report of an Otago Polytechnic School of Nursing student being assaulted whilst working in a voluntary capacity caring for high risk patients is further evidence of the unfolding crisis in our hospitals and the urgent need to remove the health care mandates and bring highly experienced nurses back into the failing health system, say Nurses For Freedom NZ (NFFNZ).

The report was published on nzherald.co.nz.

The students were offered $200 vouchers by means of recompense and in acknowledgement of their volunteer status. This young inexperienced nurse then went on to share her experiences on TikTok and has since been required to offer an apology for informing the public about the dire circumstances she found herself in.

‘NFFNZ have several concerns namely that a young inexperienced student should be assigned to care for high risk patients without adequate training and secondly that the boundary between her role as a student nurse and volunteer is being conveniently blurred.

‘As a volunteer she is quite within her rights to inform the public of the dangers faced by fellow volunteers and patients. As a student nurse she is within her rights to receive appropriate training, support and guidance to include appropriate use of social media, which clearly did not happen.

‘The first year student nurse who has never worked in a hospital previously, reports Dunedin hospital “needing people to watch over patients who are at a high falls risk or have dementia, things like that, because they need someone literally an arms-length away from them at all times.”

‘She said she felt very unprepared for the shift, had no idea what she was doing and a fellow nursing student was teaching her.

‘NFFNZ believe Otago Polytechnic School of Nursing and A Te Whatu Ora – Southern failed to equip a first year nursing student with the necessary competencies to care for her patients appropriately, the tasks being clearly outside the scope of a first year student nurse and/or untrained volunteer. A Te Whatu Ora – Southern have a duty of care under the Health and Safety Act 2015 to ensure risk to students and the public is managed appropriately. NFFNZ do not believe the risk to the public has been adequately assessed.

‘NFFNZ recognises the pressure that covid, seasonal influenza and chronic staffing shortages are having on the New Zealand health system. NFFNZ represents hundreds of mandated nurses and carers with thousands of years of experience. Many of these live in the Otago region and are willing to care for our vulnerable patients who deserve the best care New Zealand can offer.’

For futher information about NFFNZ, visit their website.