Nurses still on hand for emergencies during strike

Life threatening emergencies will still be dealt to by protesting nurses.

A strike gets underway on Thursday, but Ian Powell from the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists says there are plans in place.

"There will be nurses available via agreement that will be able to come in and help out in the event of potential death or risk [of] permanent harm," he said.

Mr Powell said the striking nurses will certainly be missed though as they make up such a large part of the health workforce.

"It is going to be a challenge we've not had a strike of this magnitude before, nurses make up about 60 percent of the workforce so that’s a big part of the workforce to be away."

This is the first strike action taken by nurses in 30 years.

Newshub.