Nursing Council signs up to Pride Pledge 

"We commit to all LGBTTQIA+ (rainbow) people having the freedom to be safe, included, healthy and visible and we will use our voice to actively support and celebrate rainbow communities.”

Te Kaunihera Tapuhi o Aotearoa Nursing Council of New Zealand is pleased to announce that we have signed up to the Pride Pledge.

The Council is committed to providing a positive environment for all our staff, and signing up to the Pride Pledge demonstrates this publicly. We need to be an inclusive, safe, and welcoming workplace for people with rainbow identities.

But we also recognise that rainbow responsiveness should not just be about our own working environment. It is also about how we fulfil our statutory role. We regulate nursing practice and education to ensure public safety, and LGBTTQIA+ people – including nurses themselves – need to have confidence that when we carry out our functions the Council is committed to the values expressed through the Pride Pledge.

Nurses are the largest single group of health professionals in Aotearoa New Zealand. They work across the entire health system in almost every setting and every specialty area. Nurses also work outside the formalised system in industries, organisations, and private companies that require health support or expertise. Nurses can be found in schools and tertiary education, film crews, primary industry and extractives firms, oceangoing vessels, the Defence Force, and more.

Because of this near-uniquely broad scale, nurses are a cornerstone of everyone’s health and disability support experience; people are regularly supported by, cared for, and treated and advised by nurses across their whole lives. And the Council believes it is critical that when they need one, members of rainbow communities can be confident that a nurse will respect, understand, and work appropriately for them and their health needs. We are delighted to be working with the Pride Pledge team to ensure we have the capability needed to give people this confidence.

About the Pride Pledge

The Pride Pledge is a values-based commitment that organisations and individuals can take to demonstrate their dedication to the safety, visibility and inclusion of the rainbow members of their community and workforce, both internally and externally. The Pride Pledge are not an accreditation service but rather a supporting partner – working consistently with their subscribing organisations to incrementally improve their commitment to diversity.

More information about the Pride Pledge and the organisations that support it can be found here.