{"id":385293,"date":"2026-04-18T04:39:28","date_gmt":"2026-04-18T04:39:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/385293\/"},"modified":"2026-04-18T04:39:28","modified_gmt":"2026-04-18T04:39:28","slug":"health-nz-defends-flu-jab-stickers-after-banning-nurses-strike-stickers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/385293\/","title":{"rendered":"Health NZ defends flu jab stickers after banning nurses\u2019 strike stickers"},"content":{"rendered":"

Staff were reportedly told the stickers were an infection risk<\/a> because they could not be wiped clean and could fall off, she said.<\/p>\n

Thorn claimed some were threatened with being reported to the Nursing Council, at risk of losing their registration, which stopped some wards from taking part<\/a> in the strike.<\/p>\n

She said it was ridiculous Health NZ was now encouraging clinicians who had an influenza vaccine<\/a> at the hospital to wear a sticker saying \u201cI\u2019ve had a flu jab\u201d.<\/p>\n

The stickers were worn by clinicians in the ED in-patient rooms<\/a>, highlighting Health NZ\u2019s inconsistency, Thorn said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe wearing of stickers is clearly not an issue for Health NZ because if people have a flu jab, they\u2019re telling them they have to wear the stickers.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"NZNZ Nurses Organisation members Monica Pilcher (left), Kylee Lal, Tina Stiffe and Rachel Thorn show off their bright colours as part of the uniform strike at Whang\u0101rei Hospital.<\/p>\n

In a statement, Health NZ defended its differing responses to the two stickers.<\/p>\n

It said the NZNO industrial action applied for up to four months, from January 1 to April 30, in areas where there was significantly high risk to patient vulnerability<\/a>.<\/p>\n

These included the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), ED and Neonatal ICU, where there was greater risk of sepsis and patient deterioration, and low tolerance for environmental changes.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe wearing of stickers in these areas, and for a sustained period, inherently creates more infection prevention and control, and patient-care risks.\u201d<\/p>\n

Health NZ said stickers given to the public and staff who received flu jabs<\/a> were generally only worn on the day provided and were not intended to be worn when providing close patient care.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe NZNO union stickers are banned because they might spread infection or come loose during procedures.<\/p>\n

\u201cStickers that carry positive public health messaging are intended to improve the health of patients, their wh\u0101nau and wider communities, to reduce the strain on the health system over winter.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thorn said although the industrial action lasted up to four months, staff intended to put on a new sticker each day.<\/p>\n

While she agreed the uniform strike was on high-risk wards, she said those were the areas where safe staffing levels were most important.<\/p>\n

Staff felt the uniform strike \u2013 which did not impact patient care \u2013 was a better way of getting their message across than a full strike withholding labour<\/a>, Thorn said.<\/p>\n

The nursing workforce was in crisis<\/a>, with many nurses moving to Australia because they had no faith Health NZ would improve staffing numbers, due to a lack of funds, she said.<\/p>\n

\"NZNONZNO delegate Rachel Thorn (right), pictured with Bridget Firth during the mega-strike in October 2025, says staff decided the uniform strike was a better way to get their message across than a full withdrawal of labour. Photo \/ Denise Piper<\/p>\n

Te Tai Tokerau group director operations Alex Pimm previously said Health NZ continued to prioritise recruitment of nurses in Te Tai Tokerau, recently implementing more nursing positions as a result of its positive safe staffing programme<\/a>.<\/p>\n

It remained committed to reaching settlement with the NZNO, and valued the contribution of nurses<\/a> and healthcare assistants, he said.<\/p>\n

Denise Piper is a news reporter<\/a> for the Northern Advocate, focusing on health and business. She has more than 20 years in journalism and is passionate about covering stories that make a difference.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Staff were reportedly told the stickers were an infection risk because they could not be wiped clean and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":385294,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[74,76914,3526,45609,3039,3602,1379,13800,305,134,527,2241,67231,111,139,9709,69,7192,6302,86499,4485,13917,165,3608,1869,80],"class_list":{"0":"post-385293","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-healthcare","8":"tag-after","9":"tag-banning","10":"tag-clinicians","11":"tag-defending","12":"tag-defends","13":"tag-earlier","14":"tag-flu","15":"tag-giving","16":"tag-have","17":"tag-health","18":"tag-healthcare","19":"tag-hospital","20":"tag-jab","21":"tag-new-zealand","22":"tag-newzealand","23":"tag-nurses","24":"tag-nz","25":"tag-risk","26":"tag-safety","27":"tag-stickers","28":"tag-strike","29":"tag-telling","30":"tag-their","31":"tag-were","32":"tag-whangrei","33":"tag-zealand"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/385293","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=385293"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/385293\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/385294"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=385293"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=385293"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=385293"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}