More than $1m investment in new nursing positions for Hawke's Bay

Hawke's Bay Fallen Soldiers' Memorial Hospital, Hastings. Hawke's Bay Today photograph by Warren Buckland

More than $1million will be invested to create nearly 17 new full-time equivalent nursing roles at Hawke's Bay Hospital, the district health board has announced.

Chief executive Kevin Snee said the new registered nurse and care associate roles would be introduced over a 15-month period, with the first of these roles filled by February 2018.

This was an investment of $1.128 million, with the majority of new roles in place by June next year and the remainder by February 2019.

Snee said as a consequence of the hard work from all staff in the organisation, the board was in the enviable position of being financially able to act on the extensive work undertaken through its Care Capacity Demand Management (CCDM) programme which was designed to establish the right nursing resource to meet patient demand.

Initial findings from the district health board's survey of its staff, "The Big Listen", supported the CCDM programme outcomes.

Part of this investment would also support re-scoping the role of care associate's nursing positions so they could undertake more clinical duties.

This would mean care associates have the opportunity to develop new skills, which would help free up registered nurses so they could practice at a higher level of scope.

Lisa Skeet director Safe Staffing Healthy Workplaces Unit (SSHW) of the Ministry of Health said Hawke's Bay District Health Board and its health union partners should be congratulated for the excellent outcome accomplished.

"Everyone should be very proud of what has been achieved so far.

"This is an excellent example of true partnership in action and will certainly support quality patient outcomes, a positive work environment for staff and the best use of health resources," she said.

Hilary Graham-Smith associate professional services manager of New Zealand Nurses Organisation (NZNO) also complimented the district health board.

"HBDHB is to be congratulated on the outstanding progress being made, and NZNO is delighted to see the positive outcomes that will benefit patients, staff and the DHB as a whole."