13 minute read
News in brief
UNITED STATES
North Dakota governor asks COVID-19 positive nurses to keep working Last month, North Dakota’s governor, Doug Burgum, asked nurses who had tested positive for coronavirus but did not display symptoms to still report for work. North Dakota has been devastated by COVID. In one week in November, one out of every 42 people in the state tested positive for the coronavirus. Of 6869 total tests in a single day, 68 per cent were COVID-positive. Lesley McKamey, an emergency department nurse in Bismarck, North Dakota, told The Guardian she was shocked by the governor’s call. “We are willing to break our backs and work as hard as we physically can. But then to ask us to come in as a potential infectious source, is just stunning,” she said. A recent survey from National Nurses United, revealed more than 70 per cent of US hospital nurses said they were afraid of contracting COVID-19 and 80 per cent feared they might infect a family member. More than half said they struggled to sleep and 62 per cent reported feeling stressed and anxious. Nearly 80 per cent said they were forced to re-use single-use, PPE, like N95 respirators. Lost on the Frontline (a joint effort by The Guardian and Kaiser Health News), is investigating the deaths of 1375 healthcare workers who appear to have died of COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic. Nearly a third of those were nurses.
AUSTRALIA
After the pain, pride Victoria dealt with its second wave of COVID-19 extremely well by international standards. Only Vietnam and Hong Kong did as well as Victoria in defeating a second coronavirus wave. Of the 215 nations and territories that have reported COVID-19 cases, 120 have experienced clear second waves or late first waves that began in July or later according to data from national ministries of health and the World Health Organization. Of these 120, only six have definitively emerged from their second wave: Australia, South Korea, Japan, Hong Kong, Vietnam and Singapore. In other parts of the world the severity of the second COVID wave has been grim. By late October, the worldwide tally of cumulative cases was adding one million new cases every three or four days. Just seven countries reported fewer than 50 new cases: Australia, China, Nigeria, Singapore, Ivory Coast, Zambia and Senegal. At the same time, France and the United Kingdom each reported more than 26,000 new cases, and 20 European countries posted all-time daily record numbers. Some European countries have reported daily case numbers 25 to 30 times higher than during their first wave. Stephen Duckett, Director of the Health Program at the Grattan Institute says Victoria’s achievement in getting down to zero or near-zero community transmissions is unprecedented. “No other place in the world has tamed a second wave this large. Few have even come close.” ‘No other place in the world has tamed a second wave this large. Few have even come close.’ — Stephen Duckett, Grattan Institute
AUSTRALIA
WHO launches global strategy to eliminate cervical cancer For the first time ever, the world has committed to eliminate a cancer. A global strategy to accelerate the elimination of cervical cancer was launched on 17 November by the WHO Health Assembly. The Australian Government was one of the co-sponsors of the event. Cervical cancer is the fourth most common cancer in women. In 2018, an estimated 570,000 women were diagnosed with cervical cancer worldwide and about 311,000 women died from the disease. Effective primary (HPV vaccination) and secondary prevention approaches (screening for, and treating precancerous lesions) will prevent most cervical cancer cases. When diagnosed, cervical cancer is one of the most successfully treatable forms of cancer, as long as it is detected early and managed effectively. Cancers diagnosed in late stages can also be controlled with appropriate treatment and palliative care. With a comprehensive approach to prevent, screen and treat, cervical cancer can be eliminated as a public health problem within a generation, says WHO. Australia played a critical role in the development of the World Health Assembly resolution. While striving to eliminate cervical cancer within its borders by 2035, the country is also supporting the global community in achieving the strategy’s targets. Greg Hunt, Australia’s federal minister for health, said: “We now stand ready to work with the international community to take these commitments forward.” ‘We now stand ready to work with the international community to take these commitments forward.’ — Greg Hunt, Federal Minister of Health
AUSTRALIA
80 per cent of employees want to continue working from home An ACTU wants a charter of rights for employees working from home. More people want to work from home but want better protections according to a survey of 10,000 Australian workers conducted by the ACTU. The survey found that: • 80 per cent of workers want to continue to work from home • 40 per cent are working longer hours • 90 per cent are not being paid overtime or penalty rates for extra hours worked • 47 per cent said they were more productive at home. Working from home has imposed an average $530 in additional expenses on each worker and about a third reported an increased workload. The ACTU is proposing a working from home charter that ensures “the rights and benefits of those working at home not be less favourable than when they were prior to the move to home-based work, and that working from home not be grounds for discrimination”. The charter of rights proposes that employers will have to commit that all workers’ time and expenses should be compensated, and workers should have the “right to disconnect” to preserve work-life balance. ACTU secretary, Sally McManus, said the union movement “will be working to support our members … to ensure we lock in fair working from home arrangements”. “We also need to be aware that working from home has particular impacts on women and carers, and we don’t want to see existing gender inequality entrenched through new forms of work.” ‘We also need to be aware that working from home has particular impacts on women and carers.’
UNITED STATES
Florida voted for Trump – and an increase in the minimum wage More than 60 per cent of voters in the conservative state supported an increase in the state’s minimum wage to $15. The referendum was held simultaneously with the presidential election and will see the state minimum wage raised from $8.56 to $10 an hour beginning in September 2021, increasing by $1 annually through to 2026. The measure makes Florida the eighth state in the US with a $15 minimum wage. The federal minimum wage is $7.25 and has not increased since 2009. Support for a stronger minimum wage transcended party politics in Florida. Donald Trump rejected the policy of increasing the minimum wage in one of the presidential debates. Joe Biden strongly supported it. But in Florida, support for the increase surpassed the 60 per cent needed in a state where Trump got 51.2 per cent of the vote and Biden only got 47.9 per cent. Florida is the first state to achieve an improved minimum wage through a ballot initiative rather than congressional legislation. The distinction is important with Florida’s amendment being viewed as a nationwide test for voter support, and it passed with flying colours. “You know, we had a lot of naysayers out there, such as big companies and politicians. But we proved them wrong,” said Alex Harris, an organiser for the group Fight For $15. ‘We had a lot of naysayers out there, such as big companies and politicians. But we proved them wrong.’ — Fight For $15
UNITED KINGDOM
NHS suspends 1:1 ICU rule as COVID admissions soar England’s chief medical officer warns that COVID second wave could overwhelm the NHS. The NHS has abandoned the 1:1 rule in intensive care as the number of very sick COVID patients soars in England’s hospitals. Professor Chris Whitty, England’s chief medical officer, told the British Medical Journal that the combination of COVID and usual cold season surge in illnesses will bring “an extremely difficult winter for the NHS – one that I suspect, unfortunately, will be unlike any we’ve seen in recent memory”. The NHS-wide lack of critical care nurses was a key factor in the decision to increase the ratio in ICUs to 1:2, Dr Alison Pittard, dean of the faculty of Intensive Care told The Guardian. “The [revised] guidance is needed because we do not have enough critical care staff to support the increase in beds required to care for all the patients with COVID and those with other conditions needing admission,” she said. “The main issue is the longstanding failure to expand the workforce, and that is doctors, nurses and allied health professionals.” Susan Masters, the Royal College of Nursing’s director of nursing, policy and public affairs, said: “Reducing the ratio of nurses-to-patients must be a temporary measure and only when it is absolutely necessary. “This change means increasing the workload of intensive care nurses and there must be consideration of the physical and emotional toll this will take.” ‘The main issue is the longstanding failure to expand the workforce.’
AUSTRALIA
Nurses need psychological PPE during a pandemic Protecting the wellbeing of the health workforce is key to providing quality care during a pandemic, say experts. A study by researchers from the University of Lausanne, Switzerland published in the journal BMC Public Health (August 2020) shows that exposed health care professionals working with patients during an epidemic or pandemic are at heightened risk of mental health problems – both in the short and longer term. Clinicians are particularly vulnerable to psychological distress, insomnia, alcohol or drug misuse, and symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, anxiety, burnout and anger, they say. Their analysis was based on evidence from healthcare professionals working during the 2002–2004 SARS and the 2014 Ebola outbreaks. Dr Anita MY Goh and Professor Briony Dow, from the National Ageing Institute at the University of Melbourne, say these lessons need to be applied to the aged care workforce. “We need to keep aged care staff safe – safe from infection, but also safe from the psychological effects of caring for people in the midst of a highly communicable global pandemic. “Wellbeing for the aged care workforce is key to prevent burnout, fatigue, and for workers to provide quality care, particularly with the additional stress and pressures they face in providing care during this pandemic. “Just as we don, doff, and monitor our physical PPE, we need to check our and others’ ‘psychological PPE’,” they wrote in the Melbourne academic journal Pursuit. ‘Just as we don, doff, and monitor our physical PPE, we need to check our and others’ “psychological PPE”.’
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CROSSWORD SOLUTION
Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation New South Wales Branch Summary of Financial Information for the Year Ended 30 June 2020
The financial statements of the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation New South Wales Branch have been audited in accordance with the provisions of the Industrial Relations Act, 1991 and the following summary is provided for members in accordance with Section 517(2) of the Act, as applied by section 282(3) of the Industrial Relations Act, 1996.
A copy of the Financial Statements, including the independent Audit Report, will be supplied free of charge to members upon request. Certificates required to be given under the Act by the Committee of Management have been completed in accordance with the provisions of the Act and contain no qualifications.
SUMMARY STATEMENT OF PROFIT OR LOSS OR OTHER COMPREHENSIVE INCOME FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 JUNE 2020
Service fee – NSW Nurses and Midwives’ Association (NSWNMA) Interest income Other income Total income Less total expenditure Result for the year Remeasurement of retirement benefit obligations Total comprehensive income for the year
2020 ($)
23,845,455
SUMMARY BALANCE SHEET AS AT 30 JUNE 2020
Total equity Represented by: Current assets Non-current assets Total assets Current liabilities Non-current liabilities Total liabilities Net assets 393,686
2019 ($)
22,770,065
243,729
Summary Financial Statements
The summary financial statements do not contain all the disclosures required by Section 510 of the Industrial Relations Act, 1991 [NSW] or Australian Accounting Standards. Reading the summary financial statements and the auditor’s report thereon, therefore, is not a substitute for reading the audited financial report and the auditor’s report thereon.
We expressed an unmodified audit opinion on the audited financial report in our report dated 13 October 2020. Our Independent Auditor’s Report to the members on the Financial Report did not contain any particulars of any deficiency, failure or shortcoming as referred to in the Industrial Relations Act 1991 [NSW], as applied by Section 282(3) of the Industrial Relations Act, 1996.
Committee of Management’s Responsibility for the Summary Financial Statements
The Committee of Management is responsible for the preparation of the summary financial statements.
Auditor’s Responsibility
Our responsibility is to express an opinion on whether the summary financial statements are a fair summary of the audited financial report based on our procedures, which were conducted in accordance with Auditing Standard ASA 810 Engagements to Report on Summary Financial Statements.
INFORMATION TO BE PROVIDED TO MEMBERS OR REGISTRAR
In accordance with the requirements of the Industrial Relations Act, 1991 [NSW] the attention of members is drawn to the provisions of Sub-Sections (1) and (2) of Section 512 which read as follows: (1) A member of an organisation, or the
Industrial Registrar, may apply to the organisation for specified information prescribed by the regulations in relation to the organisation. (2) An organisation must, on the making of such an application, make the specified information available to the member or the
Industrial Registrar in the manner, and within the time, prescribed by the regulations.
REPORT OF THE INDEPENDENT AUDITOR ON THE SUMMARY FINANCIAL STATEMENTS TO THE MEMBERS OF THE AUSTRALIAN NURSING AND MIDWIFERY FEDERATION NEW SOUTH WALES BRANCH Opinion
The summary financial statements, which comprise the summary balance sheet as at 30 June 2020 and the summary statement of profit or loss and other comprehensive income for the year then ended are derived from the audited financial report of Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation New South Wales Branch for the year ended 30 June 2020. In our opinion, the accompanying summary financial statements are a fair summary of the audited financial report. Daley Audit
Stephen Milgate 13 October 2020, Wollongong Partner
Liability limited by a Scheme approved under Professional Standards Legislation
A copy of the Financial Report, including the Independent Audit Report, is available to members on the Member Central portal accessed via www.nswnma.asn.au. Members can obtain a hard copy by emailing the Branch Secretary, ANMF (NSW Branch) at gensec@nswnma.asn.au or calling 1300 367 962.
