Nurses strike begins after negotiations fail

In the last few minutes about 30,000 of the country's nurses have walked off the job, after their union and DHBs failed to reach agreement on pay and conditions. It's the first time in three decades there's been a nationwide nursing strike. Roughly 3,500 elective surgeries have been deferred and outpatient appointments are also postponed. Last ditch talks took place yesterday with the Employment Relations Authority but the nurses announced they were going ahead with the strike before receiving the Authority recommendations. The DHBs spokesperson Helen Mason says that was disappointing. RNZ reporter Nita Blake-Persen is at Auckland Hopsital, RNZ Christchurch reporter Dan Dalgety is at Christchurch hospital, and RNZ health correspondent Karen Brown is at Wellington Hospital.