Listen Now: 
The New Zealand Nurses Organisation says unregistered staff assisting in COVID-19 vaccination programme lack the clinical knowledge to respond in an emergency.
Non-clinical kaimahi working at Māori health providers are being trained to administer vaccines because.
Nurses Organisation Kaiwhakahaere Kerri Nuku says successive governments have failed to train enough Māori health professionals, leading to a massive shortage across the sector.
Nurses train for years to become registered and earn their regular annual certificate while non-clinical workers are only trained to carry out one task.
"As healthcare professionals we are trained in what if there is as anaphylactic shock, how do you look at the whole clinical assessment, not just do these one-off task activities. We need to make sure there is protection in lace for these unregulated staff," she says.
Ms Nuku says there enrolled and registered nurses who could be enlisted in the vaccination effort.
The second phase of the Covid 19 vaccination programme is now starting, with Māori health services joining GPs and other services to vaccinate about 480,000 frontline health workers, people living in high risk settings, and older Māori and Pacific people and their carers.
!["p_facebook"]("/site/uma/images/story_img/facebook.jpg")
& !["p_twitter"]("/site/uma/images/story_img/twitter.jpg")
Copyright © 2021, UMA Broadcasting Ltd: www.waateanews.com
RELATED NEWS
