New Zealand Nurses Organisation (NZNO) president Anne Daniels urged the health system to stop putting "money before people" and boost the ratio of nurses to patients.
However, she doubted the hiring freeze announced by Health New Zealand Te Whatu Ora (HNZ) last month amid a savings drive would end soon.
Dunedin Hospital was unable to fill nursing vacancies, she said.
"The recruitment has completely stopped for frontline nursing, despite what Te Whatu Ora states, and that is very, very clear."
HNZ chief executive Margie Apa told RNZ recently hospital nursing vacancies were low in many areas, with about 2000 nursing FTEs more than planned.
Ms Daniels said if this was the case, she questioned what was causing recurring roster gaps.
"You cannot tell me everybody all over New Zealand is sick at the same time — it’s because they can’t fill their rosters and they’re not hiring."
Meanwhile in Australia, nurses in Victoria had just won a 28.4% pay rise over four years, and the Northern Territory was overtly recruiting the graduate nurses who were also part of the freeze, she said.
Nurses would go where they were paid well and had enough colleagues to work safely.
Nurse-patient ratio legislation, despite the upfront investment, would in the long term help prevent burnout and poor mental health among nurses, as well as improve patient care and save lives.
However, the New Zealand government was reluctant to implement it, and was putting money before people.
She had recently completed a tour of the country as part of NZNO’s ratio justice campaign calling for more nurses, Ms Daniels said.
While the South had similar issues to the rest of the country, community-owned hospitals, in particular, were struggling due to funding differences compared with HNZ, and in some areas — such as rural health — up to one-fifth of nurses were aged over 65.
They were very committed, but more nurses were needed.
Public Service Association (PSA) organiser Poppy Stowell also said the current reality was a freeze on all roles.
"HNZ says it will establish regional forums that assess and prioritise recruitment requests — without approval to proceed, those roles will remain vacant."
Recruitment had been an issue for members for quite some time, and she had heard of candidates waiting months before receiving letters of a job offer.
"However, to completely stop processes without a clear timeframe — or a definition of ‘patient facing’ — leaves our members and the public in a worse position."
The PSA encouraged members to report vacancies so the union could build a precise picture of the FTE deficit in the health system, she said.
In April, HNZ confirmed public hospitals had been given the target of saving a combined $105 million by July.
It said several districts had gone over budget in the past three months, and it was "not making cuts" but rather reducing overspend in the fourth quarter.
The Southern health district was ordered to save $9m, or 1.2%, of the district’s annual budget.
HNZ and Health Minister Shane Reti said this would not affect patient care, a message that was reiterated earlier last month regarding a hiring freeze.
An email from Ms Apa said HNZ was spending over its current year budget, especially in hospitals and specialist services.
It announced an immediate hiring freeze for all non-frontline roles, and a new forum for approving recruitments.
"These new measures will not impact frontline services.
"Staff and patient safety and clinical delivery remain our priorities and will be considered when making decisions on which roles to progress."
