The Pressure on Community-Based Care Workers

Community-based care workers provide essential support to some of New Zealand’s most vulnerable people. They work with people who may have intellectual disabilities, significant behavioural needs, mental health needs, complex medical conditions, mobility challenges and intensive support requirements.

It is skilled, demanding and important work.

But feedback gathered by NUPE shows a workforce operating under significant and sustained pressure. Workers remain deeply committed to the people they support, yet many describe systems that are not keeping pace with the increasing complexity and risk of the work.

Too Few Staff Carrying Too Much Risk

One of the strongest themes raised by workers is staffing.

Members have described working alone with several people, including during night shifts when service users may be awake, distressed or require active support.

The problem is not simply the number of people being supported. The level of behavioural, medical and mental health complexity must also be considered.

When staffing does not reflect that complexity, one worker can be expected to manage several competing needs while also responding to an emergency or escalating situation.

This pressure becomes even greater when shifts cannot be filled, experienced staff are moved between homes, or unfamiliar casual and relieving workers are brought into complex environments.

Violence and the Risk of Serious Injury

Workers have also described significant exposure to violence and aggression.

Member feedback has included reports of workers being punched, kicked, bitten, scratched, spat at, struck with objects and injured while providing personal care.

Some workers describe situations where they cannot easily get away, particularly when working in confined spaces or providing close personal support.

NUPE's position is clear: being assaulted should never simply be accepted as part of working in community care.

The risk must be identified and managed through appropriate staffing, environments, training, placement decisions and reliable emergency support.

Fatigue and the Inability to Take Proper Breaks

Understaffing creates another pressure: fatigue.

Workers have reported long shifts and situations where they cannot take a genuine break because they remain responsible for the people they are supporting.

When a worker is alone, there may simply be nobody available to relieve them.

Over time, this contributes to exhaustion, burnout and reduced ability to safely make decisions in already demanding environments.

Training, Information and Experience Matter

Staff are also placed under pressure when they are sent into unfamiliar homes without adequate information or preparation.

Workers have raised concerns about limited house-specific orientation, insufficient information about client risks, lack of equipment training and inexperienced staff being placed into complex environments.

Experienced workers can then find themselves managing both the people receiving support and helping an inexperienced colleague understand what they are walking into.

A Workforce That Needs Greater Support

These pressures do not exist independently.

Unsafe staffing contributes to fatigue.

Fatigue increases risk.

Poor information makes difficult situations harder to manage.

An unsuitable home can make it impossible for a worker to safely disengage.

A lack of emergency backup can leave a worker managing an escalating situation alone.

The result is a workforce that can carry an extraordinary level of responsibility every day.

NUPE believes community care workers deserve systems that recognise the reality and complexity of their work.

That means safe staffing ratios, reliable backup, fit-for-purpose homes, proper training, meaningful supervision, good communication and the ability to raise concerns without fear of being ignored or blamed.