Kidney disease: Takutai Moana Natasha Kemp's death highlights Māori health challenges
When Kemp, 50, passed away last week, she was one of 400 people on the national kidney transplant waiting list.
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RNZ News
2 hours ago
- RNZ News
Over half of student nurses will look overseas if jobs unavailable in New Zealand
A survey of student nurses has found nearly 62 percent are considering looking for a job overseas when they graduate if they can't find one in New Zealand. Photo: A survey of student nurses has found almost 62 percent are considering a job overseas if one isn't available in New Zealand when they graduate. The survey of 1246 student nurses was undertaken by the New Zealand Nurses Organisation Tōpūtanga Tapuhi Kaitiaki o Aotearoa (NZNO). NZNO said it comes as Health New Zealand refuses to address the union's claims around obligations to employ new graduates in collective agreement negotiations. Union National Student Unit (NSU) co-chairperson Bianca Grimmer said the 2025 student survey results were "crystal clear". "Hire us or we will leave," she said. "The survey shows 61.86 percent of students were considering seeking a nursing job overseas if they were unable to get a new graduate job in Aotearoa New Zealand. "This increased to 73 percent of Māori respondents. This is a significant potential loss of our domestic nursing workforce." Grimmer said last year only 50 percent of nurse graduates applying for a hospital job got one. "It's still looking very uncertain for this year as to how many jobs there are but students are constantly getting information from Australia and other countries as well, saying that they're happy to take students over there." She said hospital jobs were sought after because they exposed young nurses to specialist experience and often paid better. Grimmer, a third year nursing student, said 80 percent of those surveyed indicated they were stressed by finances during study. This was because a nursing degree cost upwards of $30,000 in tuition fees, which did not include uniforms, parking and petrol to get to placements - where nurses can train for up to six weeks at a time in a hospital or clinic during their training. Student nurses were not paid during the placements, which involved working up to 40 hours per week including shift work, and Grimmer said that made it difficult to keep a part-time job, which made studying financially fraught as well as contributing to burnout in some students who were supporting a family. "An increased fear of not getting work is exacerbated by most students' money concerns issues, many of whom depend on funding from student loans for their survival. "Paying all students the minimum or living wage while on clinical placements would make a massive difference to graduate numbers. Nursing students need assistance while they study." Health New Zealand national chief nurse Nadine Gray said nursing turnover in hospitals had markedly decreased - from 14 percent in December 2022 to 8.6 percent in December last year. She said more than 60 percent of nurses worked outside the hospital system and graduate nurses were encouraged to consider jobs right across the health system, including in primary, community and aged care. "Earlier this year the government announced a major investment into primary care including several initiatives to build nursing career pathways in primary and community care." More than $30 million over five years was being allocated to increase the number of graduate nurses working in primary care, including general practice and aged care, by 400 a year, Gray said. Providers would receive $20,000 to employ a graduate nurse in rural areas, and $15,000 in urban settings to boost resourcing in general practices. "We're also working hard to make part-time roles available for graduate RNs (registered nurses), as we know everyone's life circumstances are different." She said Health NZ remained committed to employing and retaining graduate RNs. Minister of Health Simeon Brown said the government's plan to grow frontline health workers was demonstrated in the employment of an extra 2100 nurses since 2023. He said the average salary of a registered nurse (including senior nurses) was $125,660, including overtime and allowances - with comparable base salaries to nurses in New South Wales. "Since 2011, the top salary step of a registered nurse covered by the NZNO collective agreement has increased by 73.95 percent, compared with a 35.53 percent increase across the broader labour market." The government backed nurses with recruitment incentives, training positions, and accelerated tertiary education in primary and community care and Budget 2025 included several initiatives to create more opportunities for nursing graduates to begin their careers in primary care, Brown said. This included doubling the number of nurse practitioner training places each year to 120 by 2026 and investing in fast-track advanced tertiary education for up to 120 primary care nurses each year to become nurse prescribers. "I encourage the NZNO to put this improved offer to its members, noting that the Employment Relations Authority has already recommended NZNO accept the offer that was presented to them in May." Additional reporting RNZ staff. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
NZ Herald
10 hours ago
- NZ Herald
Kidney disease: Takutai Moana Natasha Kemp's death highlights Māori health challenges
The sudden death of Te Pāti Māori MP Takutai Moana Tarsh Kemp has highlighted kidney disease as a killer - particularly among Māori and Pacific peoples. When Kemp, 50, passed away last week, she was one of 400 people on the national kidney transplant waiting list.
Scoop
21 hours ago
- Scoop
The Rising Rate Of Type 2 Diabetes In Young New Zealanders Is Becoming A Health Crisis
No longer just a condition of middle age, type 2 diabetes is increasingly affecting children, teenagers and young adults in New Zealand. And our health system is nowhere near ready to manage this surge. Type 2 diabetes is a condition where the body stops properly using insulin, the hormone that helps control blood glucose. Glucose then builds up in the blood. Over time, that can damage the heart, kidneys, eyes, nerves and more. This condition is more aggressive in young people. It progresses faster, causes complications earlier, and is harder to manage, often due to the accumulation of damage across their lifetime. People with young-onset type 2 diabetes also tend to die earlier than those diagnosed later in life. Our research looks at who has been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes across the Waikato and Auckland regions of New Zealand. From a dataset of more than 65,000 people with type 2 diabetes, 1,198 were aged under 25 years. More than a quarter of people (28.0%) with diabetes under the age of 25 had type 2 diabetes (the rest mostly have type 1 diabetes – an unrelated autoimmune condition), up from less than 5% of this age group 20 years ago. Further, only one in four young people with type 2 diabetes meet their blood glucose (HbA1c) targets, meaning a higher need for more doctor visits, more medication, and more chance of serious problems later on. This rise in under 25s with type 2 diabetes has been flagged in recent years, but our research gives a clear picture of just how worrying the trend is. Even though all young people with diabetes have access to specialist care, healthcare access remains challenging for many, particularly Māori and Pacific communities which are disproportionately affected. And the pressure isn't just on patients – it's on the entire health system. Young people with type 2 diabetes may need care, medication and effective treatment plans for the rest of their lives. That means higher costs for general practice, increased demand on diabetes clinics, and a growing strain on hospitals and emergency services. There are also rising wellbeing costs associated with young-onset type 2 diabetes. These young people often miss school or work. They struggle with the emotional toll of living with a chronic illness. Some lose trust in a health system that doesn't always meet their needs, and for some it feels like the start of a long, unsupported journey. Addressing the deeper causes There's no one cause for young-onset type 2 diabetes. Obesity is a huge factor. Nearly 90% of young people in our research were overweight or obese, and childhood obesity has been rising in New Zealand for years. Poverty plays a big role, too. It's harder for families with less money to buy healthy food or get access to regular healthcare. Health inequality in New Zealand also matters. Type 2 diabetes can be inter-generational and children born to mothers with diabetes are at a much higher risk of developing the disease. Opportunities to turn this rising tide exist, but it needs a multi-pronged approach. That starts with addressing child poverty, making healthy food affordable and accessible, and making sure families have the support they need. Patients need to be well-supported right from their time of diagnosis. This means culturally respectful care, better access to medications and tech and making sure no one is left behind just because of their postcode or their background. Managing type 2 diabetes in young people is also not the same as managing it in older adults. Clinicians need appropriate support to provide integrated care, including resources and programmes that are age appropriate. Ideally, we also need to screen and detect those at high risk early on. Young-onset type 2 diabetes screening programmes have been effective in other countries such as the United States but are not yet widespread in New Zealand. Timely screening of at-risk asymptomatic young people could catch type 2 diabetes early, delaying or even preventing serious complications. Yet right now, many young people are being diagnosed late. The increase in type 2 diabetes in young people demands serious investment, coordinated effort and long-term commitment. With better detection, smarter treatment plans, and a stronger, more connected health system, the problem can be addressed.
