Nurses worried about their safety in treating potential patients with coronavirus can refuse to work, their union says.

On Friday, the New Zealand Nurses Organisation released a statement "reminding" employers and employees of their rights and obligations about their safety during a pandemic.

Under the Health and Safety Act, employees have the right to refuse to work if their health and wellbeing isn't being adequately protected, the union said.

rido/123RF Under New Zealand law, nurses and healthcare staff can refuse to work if they are worried about the measures taken to protect their safety, such as during a pandemic. (file photo)

But NZNO associate professional services manager Hilary Graham-Smith said hospital systems should be robust enough to prevent this, and was not aware this had happened before in a pandemic situation.

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Graham-Smith said nurses and health care assistants would be "central" in reducing the likelihood of disease spread, should coronavirus cases start turning up in New Zealand.

The novel coronavirus, which is understood to have originated from a live animal market in Wuhan, China, has killed more than 500 people and infected about 28,000 worldwide.

As such, employers had to ensure staff and patients were properly protected and taken care of, she said.

This included having good infection control practices in place, stressing the importance of hand washing, and ensuring nurses had proper protection equipment - such as masks.

ROSA WOODS/STUFF NZNO recommended all health facilities had up-to-date disaster and pandemic guidelines for employee health and safety. (file photo)

Ideally the union did not want nurses to have to refuse to work, Graham-Smith told Stuff.

If staff were concerned, they should approach their employer and ask them to ensure the right protections were put in place.

If this wasn't done to a satisfactory level, nurses could then go to the union representatives, who would work with employers to ensure this happened, she said.

NZNO recommended all health facilities had up-to-date disaster and pandemic guidelines for employee health and safety.

"Naturally, there's concern and anxiety when these sorts of viruses are about," Graham-Smith said.

"But ideally, if nurses were properly protected, and the [hospital] environment is as it should be, there shouldn't be any barrier to them nursing [coronavirus] patients," Graham-Smith said.

If nurses had doubts about their safety at work they were urged to contact NZNO, she said.

There have been no coronavirus cases in New Zealand to date.

One New Zealander tested positive for coronavirus while on a cruise ship in Japan. There were at least 13 New Zealanders on board, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

Graham-Smith was not aware of any previous epidemic or pandemic events where nurses have refused to work.