More than 30 staff at Waitākere Hospital refused to care for a racially abusive patient in a bid to get hospital managers to defuse the situation. 

The male patient had asked for white-only staff, making racist and sexual remarks over a period of six weeks. 

Their drastic action prompted hospital managers to escalate their response and defuse the situation. 

New Zealand Nurses Organisation delegate Ben Basevi told Kerre Woodham he thinks management was out of touch, and didn’t come down to see what was happening when complaints started arising.  

He said that when they talked to staff about the situation, it was clear that nothing short of the cease work order was going to work. 

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