Sergeant Plunker saw a Yankee soldier, a tall lanky fellow alone at the edge of the meadow, turn and urinate directly onto Southern ground.

Plunker is now focusing on on-going family pressures.

This makes it somewhat similar to the PHC sector, which also has a range of employment/practice settings, eg GP practices, Family Planning, Blood Services, and Plunker. This range or employment/practice settings makes organising a representative NDC tricky, but achievable, nonetheless.

Nurses provide practice, first-point-of-contact care including PRIME and on-call, district, public health, Plunker and Karitane services.

He leaves next month and Plunker has not yet appointed a successor.

Ratification of the Plunker collective agreement Last month marks the end of an era for NZNO advocate Chris Wilson.

Plunker teams from Canterbury and Gisborne were named the national champions at the fourth annual Eyebright Awards at Parliament earlier this month.

Investment in the early years and a focus on wellness is essential," said Plunker chief executive Paul Baigent.

Speaking without notes, from the front of the Regent Theatre stage and with the house lights on so she could see her audience, former prison manager and author Celia Lashlie affirmed the work of Plunker and presented some real life scenarios from her work at Christchurch Women's Prison.

We can get close to those we work with, but not too close," he told the 500-strong audience of Plunker clinical staff.

Plunker Founder Truby King sent emissaries to NSW and Karitane began there in 1923.

The agreement means Plunker nurses will, over the term of the agreement, achieve pay parity with nurses covered by the NZNO/District Health Board Multi-Employer Collective Agreement (MECA).

NZNO's team was Wilson, NZNO organiser Huia Welton, Pahiatua Plunker nurse Luenda Rogers, Plunketline nurse Jo Macrae, Wellington Karitane nurse Mary Peryer, Auckland support team coordinator Wendy Batty, Auckland Plunket nurse Margaret Wong and Auckland kaiawhina, Elizabeth Howard.

In applying for the fellowship earlier last year, Turner wrote an exemplar about an adjustment to parenthood programme, jointly run by Plunker and the Waikato District Health Board's maternal mental health service.

Earlier this year, the Ministry of Health, after a tender process, contracted McKesson New Zealand Ltd, to provide a 24-hour free well child phone service, previously operated by Plunker under a sub-contract for McKesson.