# NZNO — Care in Crisis: Manaaki i te Raru Report

**Source:** New Zealand Nurses Organisation (NZNO)  
**Date:** Report launched 15 October 2025 (ongoing advocacy through 2026)  
**URL:** https://www.nzno.org.nz/about_us/media_releases/artmid/4731/articleid/6944/new-report-finds-broken-aged-care-sector-harming-our-elderly  
**Accessed:** 9 June 2026

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## Executive Summary

The NZNO's _Care in Crisis: Manaaki i te Raru_ report reveals the disturbing impact of chronic understaffing in New Zealand's aged residential care sector. Based on 80 in-depth interviews with nurses and kaiāwhina from Kaitaia to Bluff, 415 surveys, and analysis of 156 health & safety forms.

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## Key Statistics

| Metric                                            | Finding       |
| ------------------------------------------------- | ------------- |
| Shifts understaffed often/most of the time        | **53.4%**     |
| Staff say staffing affects care quality           | **87%**       |
| Don't have enough time to do everything most days | **43.9%**     |
| Always have sufficient time                       | **Only 5.8%** |
| Frequently think about leaving the sector         | **39.8%**     |
| Shifts where residents miss toileting help        | **25.2%**     |

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## Key Voices from the Frontline

> "Some days it honestly feels like a milking shed, you know, line them up, hose them down." — Tina, Kaiāwhina, Summerset, Central

> "Some residents don't get fed at all." — Logan, Kaiāwhina, Bupa, Central

> "Underarms didn't get washed… teeth and dentures… missed more often than not." — Ava, Kaiāwhina, Presbyterian Support Services

> "Three out of five residents do not need incontinence products." — Rebecca, Clinical Nurse Manager, Arvida

> "We started getting really budget dressings that would disintegrate into the wound." — Sarah, Clinical Nurse Manager, Arvida

> "Sadly, I know people don't get turned… the evidence is on the residents." — Grace, Unit Coordinator, Bupa

> "Everything in te ao Māori world is missing in aged care." — V, Māori Kaiāwhina, Heritage

> "I feel I did my best to support them, but I feel ashamed." — Jenna, RN, Bupa, Te Waipounamu

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## Recommendations

1. **All facilities must have a 24/7 nurse on site**
2. **Legislated, evidence-based care hours** that providers are legally required to meet
3. **Safe staffing ratios**
4. **Funding determined on the cost of delivering care** (not political convenience)
5. **Proper recognition and funding of cultural care** — so kaumātua receive care upholding tikanga and whānau connections

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## NZNO Age Safe Committee

- **Brianna Dynes** (co-chair, kaiāwhina): "Our kaumātua are being harmed by the sector designed to care for them."
- **Tracey Morgan** (co-chair): "Everyday nurses and kaiāwhina show that quality aged care is possible, if they are given the time and resources."

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## Cross-References

- **02_Aged_Residential_Care**: Core evidence on care quality failures
- **08_Elder_Abuse_and_Advocacy**: Evidence supports elder abuse prevention
- **07_Dementia_and_Health**: Report includes dementia-specific concerns
- **05_Funding_and_Subsidies**: Links between funding model, staffing, and care outcomes
- Related: NZNO Budget 2026 response — "A bed without a workforce is simply furniture"

## Related: BUPA Pay Equity Claim (May 2026)

On **21 May 2026**, NZNO nurses at Bupa's 40 aged residential care homes nationwide lodged a formal **pay equity claim** covering 380+ registered nurses, citing historic gender-based wage discrimination.

- Claim references _Care in Crisis_ findings — nurses "forced to make impossible choices" due to stretched resources
- "Aged care nursing has been historically and systematically undervalued because it is work predominantly performed by women"
- Lodged one year after Coalition Government dismantled NZ's pay equity scheme
- While specific to Bupa, NZNO says gender-based pay discrimination exists across the entire aged care sector
- **Source:** https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/GE2605/S00082/bupa-nurses-take-pay-equity-claim-over-historic-wage-discrimination.htm (accessed 10 Jun 2026)

## Government Response to _Care in Crisis_

**Minister Casey Costello (Associate Health Minister)** described the report as a "very distorted picture" and said the sector is "not in crisis." She pointed to $270m in additional funding over two years and ongoing system-level reform. The Minister said an Aged Care Commissioner (Erin James) had been appointed.

**Aged Care Association (CEO Tracey Martin)** welcomed the report but cautioned that "confronting accounts don't reflect what's happening across the sector as a whole" — describing the challenges as symptoms of underfunding, not lack of care. The ACA opposes legislated care minutes (citing Australia's experience where rigid requirements harmed smaller/rural facilities) and supports a case-mix funding model instead.

## Follow-up: Care in Crisis Report Impact (as of June 2026)

- **NZNO** continues to use the report as key advocacy document for the 2026 election campaign
- **E tū union** running parallel campaign (#safestaffingnow) for mandated staff-to-resident ratios with Grey Power and NZNO
- **No legislation** for mandated staffing ratios introduced as of June 2026
- **Ministerial Advisory Group on Aged Care** (final report due 31 May 2026) has NOT yet published its recommendations – the _Care in Crisis_ evidence is expected to feature in their deliberations
- **Bupa pay equity claim** (May 2026) is the most significant union action following the report's publication

**Cross-Reference:**

- `17_Automated_Research/02_FINDINGS/2026-06-10_0530_Prompt34_AgedCareStaffingCrisis.md` — full findings on staffing crisis developments