Nurses union members want better nurse-to-patient ratios and a return to hiring every graduate, as they prepare to strike for two days in early September.
Health New Zealand said it was deeply concerned by the strike plans, which it said would cause the postponement of more than 2200 planned procedures, 3600 first specialist appointments and 8000 follow-up appointments.
Nurses Organisation chief executive Paul Goulter said their Te Whatu Ora members voted strongly to go on strike, after a solution could not be found through bargaining.
The strike action is planned to take place from 7am to 11pm on Tuesday, 2 September and Thursday, 4 September.
"I think it very clearly points to nurses being fed up with the government's inability to resource the system properly to ensure patient safety," Goulter said.
Nurses were stretched and burnt out, and the union was asking the health agency to return to the bargaining table with a commitment to hire more staff when staffing models required them, to hire every nursing graduate, and "starting the work on nurse-patient ratios that are enforceable".
Nurses last went on strike in late July, with similar demands.
Health NZ said it was happy to return to the bargaining table, and was committed to finding a solution.
It said it had not yet received a formal notice of the strike from the union, only an informal notification.
Health NZ chief executive Dale Bramley said it would have a "major impact" on thousands of New Zealander - many of whom had already waited a long time for appointments or surgeries.
"We want to do our very best for our nurses and we think we've put a very fair offer on the table," Bramley said.
He said they were already working to improve nurse-patient ratios. The number of hospital beds across the country had gone up by 100 to 200, while the number of full-time equivalent nurse had increased by more than 3000 in the past two years.
Turnover among nursing staff had dropped from 13.3 percent to 8.1 percent, and the current vacancy rate was 3.6 percent.
"At any one time in our pipeline of recruitment we have up to 2000 nurses in our pipeline," Bramley said.
What's in the latest offer?
A nurse on $75,773 would gain a total pay increase of $8337 (or 11 percent) by the end of June 2026 once step progression was included
A registered nurse on the highest step with a base salary of $106,739 would see their pay increase by $3224 to $109,963 by the end of June 2026
The average salary for both senior and registered nurses, including overtime, PDRP allowance, and penal rates, would be $125,662.
