Nurses are questioning the number of people who voted yes to the latest offer.

District Health Boards (DHBs) have finally reached an agreement with nurses, healthcare assistants and midwives over the terms of their collective agreement.

The New Zealand Nurses' Organisation (NZNO) announced on Tuesday morning the "majority" of its 30,000 members voted to ratify the fifth version of the deal during an online vote which closed on Monday, bringing an end to nearly a year of negotiations.

The endorsement means the threat of further strike action no longer loomed over the country's hospitals.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says the collective agreement settlement "goes a long way to addressing nurses' concerns, but the Government accepts there is still more to be done to better support them."

﻿Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern was "delighted" nurses have accepted the latest DHB offer - the fifth put forward for consideration.

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"This settlement rightly delivers the biggest pay increase nurses have seen in a decade and will put 500 more nurses in our hospitals.

"There is no question that nurses have felt undervalued over recent years. We needed to listen to their concerns and respond in the interests of both nurses and patients," Ardern said.

CAMERON BURNELL/STUFF. DHB spokesperson Jim Green talks to media after NZNO signs collective agreement.

NZNO industrial services manager Cee Payne declared: "Our members' voices have been heard and action has been taken."

ROSS GIBLIN/STUFF NZNO Industrial Services Manager, Cee Payne says nurses' voices have been heard. (File photo)

Last month, pickets and rallies took place across the country, as NZNO members protested against the terms of the DHB agreement, unhappy with the pay and conditions it offered.

​The majority of its 30,000-strong union put down their stethoscopes and walked off the job for 24 hours on Thursday, July 12, after last-minute facilitation failed.

The industrial action saw as many as 8000 procedures cancelled or postponed across the country, with nurses only offering life-preserving services over that period.​

MONIQUE FORD/STUFF NZ Nurses Organisation rally as part of the fight for better pay outside Wellington hospital

MONIQUE FORD/STUFF Nurses in solidarity with striking colleagues volunteer to pick up duties to ensure patient safety. (Video first published in August 2018)

DHB spokesman Jim Green says the new agreement acknowledges the value of the wider nursing workforce.



"There are three pay increases of 3 percent – two of which take effect immediately. There's a third increase next year, as well as two new steps at the top of the nurses and midwives scale that specifically recognise the skill and experience of this group.



"There is also a commitment to Pay Equity and the DHBs can now continue working with the NZNO on that process," Green said in a statement.

Last month, a joint accord was signed between DHBs, NZNO and the Ministry of Health aimed at ensuring adequate nursing staff levels in public hospitals.

In a press conference alongside Ardern, Health Minister David Clark admitted that it was "clear" nurses' workloads were not sustainable.

As the Government and DHBs turned their attention to attracting more nurses back to the profession, Clark said he was not worried the new deal for DHB nurses might create a staffing problem in the aged care sector.

"The accord lays out a process which will see the focus on retaining nurses and on attracting nurses back to the workforce. But also, it opens up conversations in the future about whether there is a guaranteed training place for every nurses that completes their formal education, just as we have currently for doctors who go through training," he said.

There was space to grow the workforce locally, so the Government did not believe other nursing sectors would be disadvantaged by the DHB deal.

"I think we're going to see a bigger nursing workforce and people are going to want to train to be nurses when they recognise there's a commitment to employ more nurses," he said.

KATARINA WILLIAMS/STUFF New Zealand Nurses' Organisation chief executive Memo Musa on the picket line in Wellington during last month's national nurses' strike. (File photo)

On Tuesday, NZNO chief executive Memo Musa said the focus on safe staffing and pledges to recruit 500 extra nurses to the industry helped to get nurses buy-in.

"We have asked for safe staffing to be mandatory and previous ministers have not taken that on. This minister has.

"I think the strike helped this offer. It drew a line in the sand to say unsafe staffing levels are unacceptable," Musa explained.