The Wire with Alex

After years of hiring freezes, underfunding, and now cancelled pay equity claims, nurses' working conditions have continued to worsen, and many are now facing burnout, impacting their and their patients' well-being.

Despite a clear need for more nurses, with THIRTY SEVEN per cent of all nursing shifts in public hospitals being understaffed, many newly graduated nurses are still struggling to find work, and those who do are more commonly being put on part-time contracts.

With poverty and economic hardship increasing, emergency departments find themselves increasingly burdened and struggling to deliver quality care while being under-resourced.

To discuss the state of nursing in New Zealand and why it's leading to burnout, host Thomas talked to University of Auckland Professor of Nursing Andrew Jull.

New research from the University of Auckland has found children’s screen use is linked with later difficulties in skills like attention, planning, self-control, and emotional regulation. The study pulled together 58 studies from around the world, with 81 percent showing at least one negative association between screen use and executive function over time. Researchers caution this does not prove causation, but say the findings raise important questions about how screen use affects children’s development.

Producer Pranuja spoke with Doctoral Researcher Claire Reid about what the research found, what executive function actually means, and how parents, schools, and policymakers should think about healthy screen use.

For City Counselling this week, Wire Host Caeden spoke to Councillor Shane Henderson about Council’s transport policy statement and the Waitākere Ranges being left out of the Resource Management Act reforms. 

They spoke to Associate Professor at Victoria University and trustee at Better Public Media, Dr Peter Thompson, about the Government announcing that the Broadcasting Standards Authority will be scrapped. 

And they spoke to Migrant Rights Network President Sher Singh on the Government announcing a new test for people applying for New Zealand Citizenship. 

For our weekly catch-up with the Labour Party, Producer Pranuja spoke with Shanan Halbert about New Zealand’s new trade deal with Singapore, Act’s proposed immigration policy, and the Government’s leaked emails on Iran.

She also spoke with Doctoral Researcher Claire Reid from the University of Auckland about new findings in her research on how children screen use affects brain function.

This week on the Wednesday Wire...

For our weekly catchup w/ the Green Party, host Manny spoke with MP Ricardo Menéndez March about the Green Party’s bill to protect people placing emergency calls for drug overdoses and the tensions between National and NZ First over our stance on the Iran war.

Producer Toby spoke to Auckland University emeritus professor Dr. Ralph Cooney about the uptake of renewable energy in the United States.

Producer Theo spoke to Lo Aleen, campaigner calling for New Zealand to officially recognise the Armenian Genocide.