Lamp September 2019

SAFE STAFFING

SAFE STAFFING

Campbelltown’s maternity crisis

Maitland nurses tired of talking

page 12

page 14

WORK HEALTH AND SAFETY

Work hurts page 26

REGULARS Your rights and entitlements at work Nurse Uncut – your stories What nurses and midwives said Nursing research online

THE MAGAZINE OF THE NSW NURSES AND MIDWIVES’ ASSOCIATION VOLUME 76 NO. 8 SEPTEMBER 2019

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COVER STORY Welcome to

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CONTENTS Contacts NSW Nurses and Midwives’ Association For all membership enquiries and assistance, including The Lamp subscriptions and change of address, contact our Sydney office.

Sydney Office 50 O’Dea Avenue, Waterloo NSW 2017 (all correspondence) T 8595 1234 (metro) 1300 367 962 (non-metro) F 9662 1414 E gensec@nswnma.asn.au W www.nswnma.asn.au

VOLUME 76 NO. 8 SEPTEMBER 2019

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NSWNMA Communications Manager Janaki Chellam-Rajendra T 1300 367 962 For all editorial enquiries, letters and diary dates T 8595 1234 E lamp@nswnma.asn.au 50 O’Dea Avenue, Waterloo NSW 2017

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COVER STORY

School climate strikers win union support Young people are calling on governments to do more with a global School Strike for Climate to be held on 20 September.

Australian unions including the NSWNMA, have voiced support for the action.

Printed by Ovato Print Pty Ltd 37-49 Browns Road, Clayton VIC 3168 Advertising Danielle Nicholson T 8595 2139 or 0429 269 750 F 9662 1414 E dnicholson@nswnma.asn.au Information & Records Management Centre To find archived articles from The Lamp, or to borrow from the NSWNMA nursing and health collection, contact: Jeannette Bromfield, Coordinator.

T 8595 2175 E gensec@nswnma.asn.au The Lamp ISSN: 0047-3936 General Disclaimer The Lamp is the official magazine of the NSWNMA. Views expressed in articles are contributors’ own and not necessarily those of the NSWNMA. Statements of fact are believed to be true, but no legal responsibility is accepted for them. All material appearing in The Lamp is covered by copyright and may not be reproduced without prior written permission. The NSWNMA takes no responsibility for the advertising appearing herein and it does not necessarily endorse any products advertised.

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12

SAFE STAFFING Staff act on Campbelltown’s maternity crisis

Campbelltown Hospital's NSWNMA branch wants urgent action to alleviate pressure on its understaffed and overworked maternity unit.

14

SAFE STAFFING

16 18

Tired, and tired of talking Exhausted from soaring demand and unsafe staffing, Maitland nurses and midwives have moved to action.

ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH Health’s battalions wage war on waste

The ABC’s “bin guy” Craig Reucassel fronted a stimulating brainstorm on cutting hospital waste at the NSWNMA’s professional day.

CAMPAIGNING IN TIMES OF ADVERSITY An “unlikely collaboration” defeats Goliath

Lock the Gate activists took on powerful global corporations but they believed in the justice of their struggle and won.

20 22

CAMPAIGNING IN TIMES OF ADVERSITY The power of corporate campaigning

Consumer pressure on financial institutions has put the future of the Adani coal mine in doubt.

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SAFE STAFFING

SAFE STAFFING

Campbelltown’s maternity crisis

Maitland nurses tired of talking

page 12

page 14

WORK HEALTH AND SAFETY

Work hurts page 26

REGULARS Your rights and entitlements at work Nurse Uncut – your stories What nurses and midwives said Nursing research online

p.35 p.36 p.37 p.39

THE MAGAZINE OF THE NSW NURSES AND MIDWIVES’ ASSOCIATION VOLUME 76 NO. 8 SEPTEMBER 2019

CAMPAIGNING IN TIMES OF ADVERSITY

A core union belief becomes an entitlement that saves lives When the ‘We won’t wait’ campaign started one Australian state had family violence leave. Now every state and territory has this life-saving entitlement.

26

WORKPLACE HEALTH AND SAFETY

67,948

REGULARS

Work hurts For an overwhelming number of Australian workers a career without workplace injuries is the exception not the norm.

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OUR COVER Deanna and Ambrose Hayes Image by Sharon Hickey THE LAMP SEPTEMBER 2019 | 3

There are some things you shouldn’t handle alone.

Contact the NSWNMA if you are: Asked to attend a disciplinary or fact finding interview with your employer Threatened with dismissal Instructed to provide a statement for any reason Contacted by the Health Care Complaints Commission or the Nursing and Midwifery Council of NSW Contacted by police or solicitors in relation to a Coronial Inquest

Call us on 8595 1234 (metro) or 1300 367 962 (non-metro) Email gensec@nswnma.asn.au www.nswnma.asn.au 4 | THE LAMP SEPTEMBER 2019

EDITORIAL

Brett

Holmes GENERAL SECRETARY

Our kids’ strike for climate deserves our support When school kids are brave enough to “tell it like it is” and their claims on climate change are overwhelmingly backed by science, maybe its time for their elders to listen and to offer their support.

In the feverish and dysfunctional debate over climate change that has taken place in Australia over the last decade it is easy to lose sight of what should be the decisive factor: the overwhelming scientific evidence that shows climate change poses an existential threat to humanity.

That evidence has steadily accumulated as more and more resources have been put into research and the tone of the scientific message has turned to alarm as the sheer magnitude of the emergency becomes clearer and clearer.

Without urgent and substantive change, calamity awaits.

The power and influence of highly-placed climate sceptics in the Morrison government and the media, particularly the Murdoch press, means this message has been effectively obfuscated in Australia.

But while these apologists for inaction on climate change can grandstand with their lumps of coal in parliament, or abuse their power on the airwaves to demonise children fighting for their future, the inconvenient truth remains: the planet continues to warm dangerously and that change is accelerating.

This is important for nurses and midwives because climate change ultimately manifests itself in deteriorating health. It is a core issue for health practitioners.

The director-general of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has put this clearly: “We cannot delay on climate change. We cannot sleepwalk through this health emergency any longer.”

Before the last federal election there were clear signs that the sands were shifting and that a

‘ In striking for substantive action on climate change our kids are also striking for health and I would urge all nurses and midwives to support them in their inspirational stand.’ clear majority of Australians were supportive of significant action on climate change.

The election result dampened this optimism with the status quo maintained at the government level.

But this is no reason to give up the fight. Elections are not the only pressure point for change.

Remarkably, leadership on this issue has come from an unlikely source – our kids.

On 20 September, school children around the world will again strike to save our planet from environmental catastrophe.

They have asked older generations to join them.

The Australian union movement, including the NSWNMA, has committed its support.

In striking for substantive action on climate change our kids are also striking for health and I would urge all nurses and midwives to support them by attending in person or taking some action during your breaks at work via social media in supporting their inspirational stand.

CONCERNS ABOUT STAFFING AREN’T BEING ADDRESSED Over the last month, throughout the state, our members have been telling us of severe shortages of nurses and midwives in our public hospitals.

At Campbelltown, Concord and

Maitland the frustration of nurses and midwives led to well-attended rallies where our members alerted their local communities to the risk of errors or incidents from inadequate staffing (see pages 12-15).

While winter is always a time when the capacity of our public hospitals is tested with a pronounced spike in demand it would be disingenuous to attribute the problems solely to this.

Our members have spent months raising their concerns about staffing levels in reasonable workloads committees. These concerns have not been adequately addressed.

They are feeling fatigued, are experiencing burnout and feel unsupported by management.

They are losing confidence in the current processes for addressing staffing shortages and genuinely fear for patients’ safety.

These problems have been obvious for a long time. The state government recognised this when it made an election promise to bring more nurses and midwives into the public health system. It feels like a promise to give with one hand and take with another.

The government and local managements should heed what nurses and midwives are now telling them: these resources are needed now. n

THE LAMP SEPTEMBER 2019 | 5

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Members should contact the Association when they are proceeding on maternity/parental leave.

The mighty dollar trumps clean water I'm from a small community, Kalang, in the Bellingen shire on the mid north coast.

Our community is facing an environmental crisis.

NSW Forestry Corporation (FC) is poised to commence logging on an industrial scale of the headwaters of the Kalang River. This area is of steep incline with extremely friable soil that when disturbed becomes prone to erosion and will need only one significant rain event to be washed into the waterways causing siltation, devastating the river's flow and ecosystems.

The water of the Kalang is crystal clear and clean enough to drink unfiltered. It is the life of our community. This is to be risked all for the sake of the mighty dollar. FC intends to log great swathes (16 large compartments) of native forest. Ironically FC makes no profit but incurs loss logging native forest to the tune of millions of dollars each year. Sheer lunacy, and coupled with the degrading of river water's quality when water in our dry continent is our most precious asset. I ask myself who gives the green light to this travesty, and sadly it's our elected representatives.

We in the community have been writing to the ministers concerned but our plight has thus far fallen on deaf ears.

The Kalang's forests are beautiful with amazing biodiversity and many threatened and endangered species already impacted by FC's preparatory works are in grave danger of being lost forever from our forests.

Please take the time to check out Bellingen environment centre and Kalang River and Forrest Alliance on Facebook and Google.

I wonder how many other communities are experiencing something like this?

LETTER OF THE MONTH A call for action on stillbirths Twenty years ago today my daughter Caroline was stillborn.

Her birth and death cleaved my life into before and after. The trauma, grief, sorrow and pain debilitated me for a time. Our family has never been the same.

Twenty years is about how long Australia has been keeping an accurate count of stillbirths. In that time the number has stayed exactly the same: six babies a day. In Australia, we lose approximately 2,200 babies every year to stillbirth. The rate of death from stillbirth is higher than the national road toll.

Stillbirth is the number one cause of death for infants.

For twenty years, Australia has paid almost no attention to this private tragedy that occurs on a significant scale.

It’s not that we didn’t care. I suspect we kept silent about the tragic deaths of so many babies because it was so overwhelmingly sad.

Other countries have taken a different approach. The Netherlands, the UK, and New Zealand have made reducing stillbirth a priority and made significant progress, saving thousands of babies’ lives.

Last year, the Australian Senate Select Inquiry on Stillbirth developed the first national set of recommendations to drive down the rate of stillbirth in this country. This multi-party committee of Liberals, Labor and Greens handed down a unanimous report, recommending clear steps in the key areas of education, research and bereavement support. To date, the Morrison Government has not yet responded.

The researchers I speak to in Australia are confident that small changes in clinical care and education could reduce the rate of stillbirth in Australia by 30 per cent in just a few years.

The only thing we need now is the national determination and leadership to do so. Labor will work with the Morrison Government on this effort, but it is now up to Minister Hunt to take the next step.

Responding to the Senate inquiry would be a very good place to start.

Senator Kristina Keneally

Deb Borodin RN THE LAMP SEPTEMBER 2019 | 7

COVER STORY

School climate strikers win union support The World Health Organization and United Nations scientists warn that without stronger action to curb greenhouse gas emissions, climate change will have ‘dire consequences’ for the health of humans and the planet.

Young people are calling on governments to do more with a global School Strike for Climate to be held on 20 September. Australian unions, including the NSWNMA, have voiced support for the action.

On this and the following pages, Sydney student Ambrose Hayes and his mother Deanna, a nurse and NSWNMA member, tell why they support the school strike.

Sydney student Ambrose Hayes, 14, is the son of nurse and NSWNMA member Deanna Hayes and an organiser of the school climate strike on 20 September.

Ambrose told The Lamp:

T

he first school strike in November got me reading and thinking deeply about climate change.

When I found out how big of a problem it was I decided I needed to do something about it.

Some people say extreme weather events like heatwaves, severe droughts and melting ice caps have been happening for thousands of years. But almost all climate scientists agree that human activity is causing these events to happen more often and more intensely.

School strikes have got a lot of support because youth want politicians to act on things that are vital to their future. Having a rally in school time has more of an impact than a weekend event. It gets more media coverage and people notice it more.

In the end, it is our future at stake and we should be able to decide if we go on strike or not.

My parents support what I’m doing as long as my school work doesn’t suffer.

Mum is very supportive of lots of environmental issues. She’s always tried to have less waste at home and at her work and I’ve absorbed some of her attitudes. I don’t think that’s a bad thing because I also did a lot of my own research about climate change.

My school doesn’t want us to walk off the school grounds to go on strike because we are under their duty of care. If we are going to strike, the school wants us to get a note from our parents excusing us from attendance that day, which is fair enough.

Students Strike for Climate has a Sydney core organising group of about 11 students and we meet via online video chat to share ideas about how to organise the strike. Most of the time we reach agreement by consensus and sometimes we have a vote. For example, we might vote to choose speakers for a rally if a lot of people put their names down to speak.

It can be hard to get everyone together at the same time. We all have homework to do and some people have part-time jobs.

We also have electorate teams who meet their local MPs and do strike promotion and we organise monthly clean-ups. Last month, we did the Cooks River.

8 | THE LAMP SEPTEMBER 2019

COVER STORY

‘ School strikes have got a lot of support because youth want politicians to act on things that are vital to their future.’

— school strike organiser Ambrose Hayes

I’m also involved in organising at the national level where we have to deal with different time zones. It’s even worse at the international level – some of us have meetings at 2am. Internationally, our discussions are mainly about deciding on a common date for action.

Also, updates on actions around the world and sharing ideas about making the campaign stronger.

Prime Minister Morrison said students need “more learning and less activism”. Well, I’ve learned a lot of new things and got a lot of opportunities from being involved in the strike movement.

I’ve conducted a lot of media interviews and spoken about Activism in the Age of Climate Change as a member of a Sydney Science Festival panel.

Steve Price on radio 2GB called me a smart but confused 14-year-old and kept interrupting me when I tried to answer his questions but I think I got my message across. I’ve also had a lot of support from adults, which has helped me a lot.

Climate change threatens health of millions Organisers of the School Strike for Climate have asked the union movement and other adult organisations to join them at marches and rallies on 20 September.

“While the school strike movement is, and always will be student led, the climate crisis affects us all,” the student organisers said in a statement.

Unions, including the NSWNMA, have responded with statements of support.

NSWNMA General Secretary, Brett Holmes, said climate change affects the social and environmental determinants of health – clean air, safe drinking water, sufficient food and secure shelter.

He said the World Health Organization warned that by 2050, climate change is expected to cause approximately 250,000 additional deaths per year, from malnutrition, malaria, diarrhoea and heat stress.

Reducing emissions of greenhouse gases through better transport, food and energyuse choices can result in improved health, particularly through reduced air pollution, the WHO says.

The last school climate strike in March was attended by 150,000 students around Australia and more than a million internationally.

The students want politicians to take urgent action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions that cause climate change by: • Rejecting new coal, oil and gas projects, including the Adani mine.

• Replacing polluting sources of energy with 100% renewables.

• Funding a “just transition” and job creation for all fossil fuel industry workers.

The climate crisis creates “positive opportunities to create meaningful employment for workers across society”, the student statement said.

THE LAMP SEPTEMBER 2019 | 9

COVER STORY

‘We adults have let the kids down over climate change’ The Lamp spoke to Deanna Hayes, an NSWNMA member and St George Private Hospital nurse, about her son Ambrose’s involvement in the School Strike for Climate.

K

ids shouldn’t have to go on strike and miss school to get more action on climate change but they obviously feel that this is a vital issue. The strike is a way for them to do something about it.

This student generation are much more environmentally and politically aware than I was at that age and they are going to be voting in a few more years.

We adults have let the kids down over climate change. We could have done an awful lot more by now. Action is still happening too slowly because carbon emissions are rising faster than expected.

For example, deforestation is a major contributor to climate change but the NSW Government has given the green light to more land clearing. The government could act on that very quickly if they chose to do so.

Reducing the amount of waste we generate in hospitals is one way of helping to reduce carbon emissions. Most of the recycling at my work in the operating theatres has been initiated by nurses and we have a staff-run ’green team’ that oversees all the recycling streams, to make sure waste is separated correctly.

I’m happy that Ambrose is involved in the climate strike because it’s a cause that’s very close to my own heart. My being focused on environmental issues for all of his life has obviously rubbed off on him.

When I see Ambrose having online meetings with students from different parts of Australia, I realise how much he has learned from being involved.

I think Ambrose has also learned a lot through exposure to the media. Steve Price on 2GB gave him a hard time but he held his own. Ambrose didn’t know all the facts but he knew enough and he didn’t let Price rattle him.

Social media comments about the interview were mostly supportive of Ambrose and not this adult who had tried to make him look ignorant and small, and ended up doing the opposite.

Our friends are supportive of Ambrose and impressed that he’s taking on such a role at his age. He’s always been a fairly serious young man who is happy talking to adults about things. My youngest son is only nine and doesn’t understand much about what his brother is doing but my 12-year-old daughter is concerned about these issues too. She wants to come to the next strike rally and I’ll go with her.

I went to the last student climate rally as a first aider. The student speakers were very passionate and knowledgeable. One girl from

10 | THE LAMP SEPTEMBER 2019

COVER STORY

‘ It's great that students want to broaden their support by inviting unions and other adult organisations to take part in the next rally.’ — Deanna Hayes

the Pacific islands spoke about how her family there is already being affected by rising sea levels due to climate change.

It’s great that students want to broaden their support by inviting unions and other adult organisations to take part in the next rally.

One newspaper article claimed the kids are pawns of environmental extremists. The students do need some adult help to do things like liaise with police and councils and hire a stage and equipment, but I know from what I see Ambrose doing that it is a student initiative and they do the majority of the organising work. ■

What scientists say about climate change Warnings from the world’s leading scientists underline why school students are upset about human-induced climate change.

In 2016, world governments adopted the Paris Agreement on climate change aimed at keeping a global temperature rise this century below two degrees Celsius while “pursuing efforts” to limit the increase to 1.5 degrees.

The consequences of global warming are likely to be “dire” even if these targets are met, the United Nations’ scientific advisory board warned last year.

The board, known as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), said even 1.5 degrees of warming is likely to be disastrous for the health and livelihood of many millions of people.

Consequences would include the displacement of millions of people by sea-level rise, a decline in global crop yields and the loss of most of the world’s coral reefs.

To have a reasonable chance of limiting warming to 1.5 degrees, the IPCC said, global carbon dioxide emissions would need to be halved by 2030 and reduced more or less to zero by 2050.

However, carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change rose in 2018 and are expected to continue to rise this year.

“It’s like a deafening, piercing smoke alarm going off in the kitchen,” commented Erik Solheim, the executive director of the UN Environment Program.

Get involved For more information about the Strike for Climate and how you can become involved contact: alice.egglestone@caha.org.au THE LAMP SEPTEMBER 2019 | 11

SAFE STAFFING

Staff act on Campbelltown’s maternity crisis Campbelltown Hospital’s NSWNMA branch wants urgent action to alleviate pressure on its understaffed and overworked maternity unit.

M

‘ People force themselves to do overtime because they don’t want to see their colleagues suffer from being left short staffed.’

idw ives a nd nurses have ra llied outside Campbelltown Hospital to call for urgent action to fill staff vacancies in the maternity services.

The NSWNM A’s Macarthur branch voted unanimously to organise the rally after hospital management failed to commit to action that would ease workload pressures and safety concerns.

— midwife Cathy Bikoff

The maternity clinic, birthing unit and postnatal and antenatal wards are all severely understaffed.

According to Birthrate Plus c a lc u l a t ion s , C a mp b e l lt ow n mater nit y ser v ice should have 1 19.8 5 F T E (f u l l-t ime equivalent) staff.

However, t he ser v ice is understaffed by approximately 45 FTE positions, data collected by the NSWNMA revealed.

In a letter to hospital management, the branch said “huge vacancies and lack of resources is putting women, babies and staff at risk. We have been understaffed and overworked for a substantial period.”

12 | THE LAMP SEPTEMBER 2019

The branch called for action to “immediately ensure the safety of the women and babies of Macarthur”, including: • E mploy midwives to fill all vacancies within six months • E mploy agency midwives to cover vacancies and staffing shortfalls while waiting for staff to be recruited • Employ ward clerks for the birthing unit and postnatal/antenatal wards • Increase staffing of the maternity services (early discharge) program

by two FTE staff and supply laptops • Increase midwifery group practice staffing to a minimum 14 FTE • I mplement a 1 2-hour roster in postnata l or across the whole service • Have only one non-midwifery staff member on every shift in post natal/ antenatal wards.

Branch member and midwife Cathy Bikoff said staff were exhausted by the pressure of having to work unwanted overtime and desperately needed solutions.

SAFE STAFFING

NSWNMA MACARTHUR BRANCH MEMBERS RALLY IN MARSDEN PARK TO RAISE AWARENESS OVER SERIOUS UNDERSTAFFING AND PATIENT SAFETY ISSUES.

STAFF WORKING DOUBLE SHIFTS

handles births at 32 weeks rather than 34 weeks as previously.

60 because it is short staffed by five FTE.

Management’s delay to agree to a 12-hour roster meant staff had to work double shifts totalling 17 hours, particularly in the postnatal and antenatal units.

“To make matters worse, the birthing unit hasn’t had an educator for 18 months and the wards haven’t had one for 12 months,” Cathy said.

“That means 20 or so people are missing out on early clinic visits and may be getting inadequate antenatal care because some ladies aren’t booking in until 24 weeks or 25 weeks.”

“Some of us are starting at 1:30pm and not leaving until 7am.

People force themselves to do overtime because they don’t want to see their colleagues suffer from being left short staffed,” she said.

Members at Campbelltown’s birthing unit believe it should be staffed at seven, seven and five, morning, evening and night.

Instead, the numbers are often five or six on morning and evening shifts and four at night.

Morning and evening shifts often comprise four midwives aided by two students or five midwives and one student.

Night shifts are either four midwives or three midwives and one student.

Meanwhile, patient acuity has increased because the service now

The postnatal ward should be staffed at six, six and five midwives but staffing is usually four midwives together with a student and an assistant in nursing, assistant in midwifery or enrolled nurse.

Evening shifts are often staffed by three midwives and an EN, or two midwives and two ENs. That requires each midwife to care for up to 15 mothers and their babies.

INADEQUATE ANTENATAL CARE Cathy said the ward was supposed to be staffed for 30 beds but occasionally had 34 beds occupied.

“Sometimes we have to close at 30 beds and the mothers and babies we can’t accommodate have to share a birthing room overnight.”

Short staffing is also affecting the maternity services program, which is aimed at enabling early discharge from hospital.

Under the program, women are supposed to go home within 24 hours of giving birth and be seen at home a day after leaving hospital.

However, with only three staff available, as many as six mothers may have their home visit delayed by a day.

The delay risks late detection of jaundice, an infection or illness that would require a baby to be readmitted to the nursery, Cathy said. n

Campbelltown’s maternity clinic is supposed to take 80 bookings a week but can only manage THE LAMP SEPTEMBER 2019 | 13

SAFE STAFFING

Tired, and tired of talking Exhausted from soaring demand and unsafe staffing, Maitland nurses and midwives have moved to action.

N

urses, midwives and community members gathered outside Maitland Hospital on August 14 to protest staff shortages that have seen surgical patients transferred to the maternity ward and dangerous staffing levels throughout the hospital, including in the acute and emergency departments.

Maitland Branch President Jane Burton said the Association spent months raising their concerns about patient and staff safety with the hospital’s workload committee, but they have now exhausted all award provisions to have their grievances addressed.

"It is really unsafe for the patients and it is really unsafe for the nurses.

Nurses are putting their registration at risk every day we go to work,” said Jane, who works as a surgical nurse.

Jane said that while the surgical ward is staffed for 36 beds, “we are often open to 40 and 44 beds, without any extra full time equivalent staff.”

Jane said surgical patients are being transferred to the maternity ward without surgical nurses looking after them, putting pressure on the midwives, and on the mothers and new babies.

“And it is leaving surgical patients at risk because they aren’t getting a surgical nurse to look after them.

“A lot of midwives don’t have surgical training, and while some of them are dual qualified, they may not have worked with surgical patients for a long time,” she said.

The hospital’s Acute and Cardiac Observation Unit has four beds, said 14 | THE LAMP SEPTEMBER 2019

‘ Working when you are fatigued is like working when you are drunk.’

— Jane Burton

Jane, but “unfortunately we only have one nurse that is allocated per shift”.

in the reasonable workloads process to canvass all of the issues and make every effort to resolve them promptly.

“In that ward you have patients that are acutely unwell, so often you have people having cardiac infusions. Acute and coronary beds should be staffed with one nurse to a maximum of three patients, but if there are patients with infusions you should have more staff rather than less.”

“Unfortunately, this hasn’t been the case at Maitland Hospital. Our members have lost confidence in the process and genuinely fear for patients’ safety.”

ED PRESENTATIONS UP 9.5%.

ZERO EXTRA STAFF

Jane says urgent action is needed to help the hospital cope.

Ja ne sa id t he hospit a l’s emer genc y depa r t ment s aw presentations increase by 9.5 per cent in just the first three months of 2019 without any increase in nursing staff.

“Maitland is the fastest growing city in NSW outside Sydney.

“That figure doesn’t even take into account the flu season.

“We only have two ambulance offload bays, and our ambulance presentations have gone up by 13.2 per cent,” she said.

Staff are being asked to do overtime, but fatigue is a huge issue throughout the hospital.

“Working when you are fatigued is like working when you are drunk.”

NSWNMA Assistant General Secretary, Judith Kiejda, said there is an obligation on all parties involved

The pressure on staff throughout the hospital is “a catalyst for error or, worse, an avoidable incident”, Judith said.

“In our surgical ward and in our medical ward we need our six nursing hours per patient per day that Brad Hazzard promised us in the lead up to the election.

“They are building us a new hospital, but we can’t wait three years for a new hospital, and we can’t wait three years for the next election before they deliver on those hours.

Our problem is right now.”

Jane says the union will continue its community campaign to help educate and inform the community.

“P ublic hospita ls are our communit ies’ hospita ls, a nd they have a right to know what is happening within those hospitals.” ■

SAFE STAFFING

200 rally in Tenterfield over staffing cuts Two hundred community members gathered in Bruxner Park in Tenterfield on August 9 to support nurses who are protesting unsafe staffing levels at Tenterfield Hospital’s redeveloped emergency department.

In far north NSW, Tenterfield services farming, forestry and mining industries where injuries are common, but the Hunter New England LHD has cut nursing levels in the new emergency department from three to two nurses rostered per shift.

After the NSWNMA raised concerns about patient safety, the LHD offered an additional rostered nurse for the 11am to 7.30pm daytime shift, but the Association says that does nothing to help cover cases that present in the early morning or after 7pm.

Assistant General Secretary Judith Kiejda, said: "The LHD has a duty of care to ensure the hospital is safely and appropriately staffed at all times.”

“Unless a modest increase in nursing staff occurs quickly, nurses will be forced to work in isolation, with no capacity for relief or assistance if two nurses are required for a medical procedure.

“Covertly cutting frontline nursing staff in a small country hospital is completely at odds with what the Berejiklian government promised constituents at the March state election.

“The HNELHD just announcing a $1.4 billion investment in hospital upgrades.

It can afford two extra nurses and 80 hours of care.”

Local MP Janelle Saffin backed the Association’s call for safe staff numbers.

“The Liberal-National Government gave a commitment to deliver 8300 more frontline staff with 5000 of them being nurses and midwives, to public hospitals in NSW. Well they can start in Tenterfield.”

SCENES FROM THE MAITLAND RALLY THE LAMP SEPTEMBER 2019 | 15

ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH

Health’s battalions wage war on waste The ABC’s “bin guy” Craig Reucassel fronted a stimulating brainstorm on cutting hospital waste at the NSWNMA’s professional day.

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risbane’s Princess Alexandra Hospital reduced its landfill waste by 600,000 kilograms a year after cutting out single-use plastics and introducing recycling initiatives, the ABC television presenter Craig Reucassel told delegates.

And Victoria’s public hospital sector annually produces the waste equivalent of 200,000 homes, he said.

Reucassel compared hospital waste to a recent visit he made to America's midwest, where he didn’t see one item of reusable or washable cutlery in a week.

“In some ways hospitals are the midwest of Australia,” he said.

Since fronting the popular ABC program War On Waste, Reucassel said people regularly approach him in the street and say, “Aren’t you the bin guy?”

And health workers are more likely to stop him than any other kind of worker.

“Nurses and doctors come up to me far more than any other professional area. They say: ‘You’ve got to do a war on waste in hospitals.’”

W hile t here are hu g e opportunities to improve hospital

16 | THE LAMP SEPTEMBER 2019

ca rbon footprints, Reuca ssel acknowledged reducing hospital waste is a complex problem.

Solutions can be blocked by hospital bureaucracy, and council and other waste disposal providers all have different collection rules.

“You can’t make solutions that work for everyone.”

But Reucassel said this shouldn’t stop individuals and groups of workers making positive changes at the local level. He recommended implementing changes one step at a time, and what he calls “Flearning” – learning from failure.

He offered four steps to making real change: recognising the problem; building a team and tactics; finding solutions; and implementing solutions and changing habits.

RECOGNISE THE PROBLEM Reucassel said: “Sometimes trying things on a smaller scale is the most important thing to do. A good place to start is by ‘figuring out what is really bugging me’.”

If the number of plastic water bottles being used each day is troubling you, begin with a campaign to replace them with tap water.

BUILD A TEAM AND TACTICS “Hea lt h ca re is a ver y political environment,” Reucassel acknowledged. One of the most common things he hears from health workers wanting to introduce an environmental initiative is that there is “one person in the administration” who stopped it.

His advice is to start slowly and, rather than “go to the people who are least likely to accept change first, start with the people who are interested in it”.

Some people will not need to be convinced, but other others will be harder work. “Start by building a coalition in your hospital,” he suggests.

FIND A SOLUTION Finding solutions that try to solve all waste issues at once – eliminating plastic, reducing food waste, and cutting down on both costs and carbon emissions – can make dealing with environmental problems overwhelming.

Reucassel recommends focusing on one issue at a time and thinking counter-intuitively and pragmatically. Some people wanted supermarkets such as Coles and Woolworths to replace plastic bags

ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH

‘ Rather than go to the people who are least likely to accept change first, start with the people who are interested in it.’

— Craig Reucassel

with paper bags, but while paper bags may be more biodegradable than plastic ones, producing them creates “more carbon emissions and uses a lot more water and a lot more material”.

It may not be a perfect solution, but by putting a price on plastic bags, Coles and Woollies have “massively reduced the amount of plastic they use”.

IMPLEMENT SOLUTIONS AND CHANGE HABITS “Implementing the change is the hard part, where most of the challenge will come,” he said.

Trials in Denmark have found that nurses in patient wards, with a lot more face-to-face patient contact, were much more likely to give up on recycling than a nurse in an operating theatre where they could plan recycling before a procedure.

“Change needs to be made easy,” said Reucassel, noting that humans can be fundamentally lazy. When the War On Waste visited one school playground, they found that when three bins were placed directly next to each other, the rubbish was well sorted. “But in another part of the

playground, where bins were five metres away from each other, it was pandemonium.”

TARGET PROCUREMENT AND TACKLE SMALL THINGS A big impact on hospital waste can be made by targeting procurement pract ices. At Brisbane’s Princess Alexandra, Reucassel noted that 700,000 plastic kidney dishes have been replaced with dishes made from biodegradable sugarcane fibre.

One of the biggest ways to reduce a hospital’s carbon footprint is by reducing food waste.

“Food waste going into landfill in many ways has a bigger impact than plastic going into landfill, because it creates methane, which is a massive greenhouse gas, 20 to 30 times more powerful than CO2,” Reucassel said.

“WHO says that 80 per cent of waste in health care is comparable to domestic waste, and a lot of that is not going to the right place.”

While it can be difficult to change habits and practices, nurses “have a lot of power” to make a really big impact, Reucassel said. ■

Tips to tackle hospital waste While our campaigns for ratios in the public health sector and aged care are ongoing, there have still been significant achievements over the last 12 months resulting from our campaigning, says Brett Holmes: • Enrol patients to support initiatives: “Patients are often frustrated by waste too”.

• One new graduate suggested saving out-of-date, or opened but unused, sterile stock and giving them to students and new grads to use to practice with.

• If your hospital won’t recycle bottles, organise staff to collect empty bottles in wards and take them to Return and Earn points to raise money for the staff Christmas party.

• If you are having trouble getting council or a waste contractor to collect waste, use local media to tell your story and apply pressure.

THE LAMP SEPTEMBER 2019 | 17

CAMPAIGNING IN TIMES OF ADVERSITY

An “unlikely collaboration” defeats Goliath Lock the Gate activists took on powerful global corporations, but they believed in the justice of their struggle and won.

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five-year campaign to stop fracking in the Northern Rivers area of NSW was successful because of the commitment of local communities and the willingness of diverse groups to work together in a common cause, Annie Kia, Lock the Gate’s community engagement coordinator, told our annual conference.

Lock the Gate is an “unlikely collaboration of farmers, First Nation people, environmentalists, townspeople, businesspeople and everyone in between”, she says.

It is an alliance that is concerned about the impact of coal seam gas, shale gas fracking and open cut coal mining on Australia’s best foodproducing areas.

“After a really long campaign we eventually won when the government bought back all of the gas licences that had covered the region from the Queensland border to south of Grafton,” Annie says.

She says at the heart of the campaign was “a process of grassroots democracy in which each district in the region formed survey teams, and they asked residents of every house if they wanted to be gas field-free, with massive majorities saying ‘yes’”.

“Communities then declared themselves gas field-free in each region, pledging to come to each other’s aid.

“We won because of collective action” and because “a government realised it could not force gas fields on| an unwilling people”, Annie said.

18 THE LAMP AUGUST 2019

‘ If we want to grow what we are doing we need to reach outside our bubble and have different conversations, or conversations with different kinds of people.’ — Annie Kia SOCIAL MOVEMENTS ARE BORN OF ADVERSITY

“If we believe in the justice of the struggle, courage follows.

Lock the Gate, like all social movements, was born of adversity, she says.

“When it comes to coal and gas the injustice is plainly evident such is the power of global companies to overwhelm local communities. These are David and Goliath struggles and the courage of communities never ceases to amaze me.”

“Social movements arise when the gap between what we know to be right and what is happening around us is so extreme that we react by bunching up and fighting for what we believe.

Annie says a social movement like Lock the Gate and the union

CAMPAIGNING IN TIMES OF ADVERSITY

A GROUP OF NURSES OPPOSED TO COAL SEAM GAS (CSG) MINING, JOINED A PROTEST CAMP INSIDE THE PILLIGA STATE FOREST NEAR NARRABRI IN 2016

movement are two different kinds of collective action. Both believe that “together we are strong” and each can learn from the other, she says.

“When I think about people organising in times of adversity, no matter what kind of movement, campaign or context some things stand out for me to be useful.

“We inf luence each other powerfully. Cascades of network influence cascade through our connections for good or ill.

“With so much worry about the impending threat of the gas fields we could have been overwhelmed by anxiety but by setting a tone of joyful defiance we created a powerful attraction.”

UNDERSTANDING NETWORKS IS THE KEY TO CAMPAIGNING “To win against the odds we need to reach outside the bubble of the people we normally relate to. This applies within a hospital or within a movement. We tend to sit inside bubbles and if we want to grow what we are doing we need to reach outside that bubble and

have different conversations or conversations with different kinds of people.”

SHARED VALUES BIND PEOPLE Annie says to keep such a diverse alliance united required “deeply held, shared values”.

What kept the diverse elements of the Lock the Gate movement together was “a narrative that has to do with our water, our farmlands, our communities that everyone can love and value”, she said.

Annie says what starts and drives the growth of a social movement like Lock the Gate is a form of “collective intelligence”.

“It is only present in face-to-face groups that have some diversity and interestingly, have the presence of women.

“Collective intelligence is not liberated on Facebook. A meeting in the pub is where we decided to pilot the idea of gas frackingfree communities and from that meeting there are now 462 gas-free or coal-free communities around

the country.

“This is how things start. People meet face-to-face and learn how to work together. Less Facebook.

More face.

“W hen we work together face-to-face we learn how to be effective. We ask ourselves what did we learn from that? How can we do things differently to make them more participatory?”

She had one final lesson from the campaign.

“As we build our union or social movement, hold the fire in your heart for why you are doing this.

Whatever we are doing, feel the fire of what drives you.” ■

Find out more about Lock the Gate Visit the website: www.lockthegate. org.au/ THE LAMP SEPTEMBER 2019 | 19

CAMPAIGNING IN TIMES OF ADVERSITY

The power of corporate campaigning Consumer pressure on financial institutions has put the future of the Adani coal mine in doubt.

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he campaign to stop the Adani coal mine has been led by the “people power” of hundreds of small groups around the country, including groups led by nurses, Stop Adani campaigner Isaac Astill told NSWNMA annual conference.

While Adani has now cleared the environmental and development approvals it needs to go ahead, the Stop Adani campaign has managed to force potential financial backers, such as the Commonwealth Bank and major Chinese banks, to withdraw their support from the mine.

“In early 2017, Adani really began to ramp up their efforts on their coal mine, and people were furious,” Astill said. The Stop Adani campaign wrote to the Commonwealth Bank, which had already loaned the Adani corporation hundreds of millions of dollars, asking them to rule out backing Adani’s new mine.

“Commbank replied and said no,” said Astill. “At the time Commbank was the biggest corporation in Australia. It meant we were going to need a lot of power to move the 20 | THE LAMP SEPTEMBER 2019

‘Two thirds of Australians say they are opposed to the coal mine.’ biggest corporation in Australia.

“The Stop Adani campaign put out calls for people to form local groups and to adopt local Commonwealth Bank branches that they would put pressure on.”

The campaign saw 160 local groups formed across the nation, with groups in most regional and major centres. The Stop Adani campaign is a decentralised one: the logo is available in open source, and organisers didn’t tell groups what actions to take. Instead they asked people to be as “creative as possible” while keeping their actions “nonviolent and respectful”.

Local groups held sit-ins at Commonwealth branches, with one group holding a “board games” day.

Other groups held sit-ins at head offices, embarrassing the bank in front of large clients. Customers lined up in banks to let tellers know

they were leaving the bank because of its refusal to rule out supporting Adani. Other customers took their credit cards and cut them up in front of their Commonwealth bank and posted photos.

A FAIR TRANSITION THAT CREATES NEW JOBS NEEDED “Doctors and nurses came out against the mine, holding protests because coal fuels climate change, which fuels dangerous impacts on health like heatwaves. Last summer there were reports of medical centres … overflowing from patients suffering from overheating, and air cons conked out because they couldn’t deal with the heat.”

As the media storm around the mine grew, the bank’s clients were unimpressed, shareholders were angry, customers were leaving and “more and more staff were taking

CAMPAIGNING IN TIMES OF ADVERSITY

‘ This groundswell of public opposition to the mine, along with the pressure this grassroots movement placed on the (Commonwealth) bank, eventually forced it to pledge not to provide financial support for the mine.’

a side and raising their concerns internally,” says Astill.

“Two thirds of Australians say they are opposed to the coal mine.”

This groundswell of public opposition to the mine, along with the pressure this grassroots movement placed on the bank, eventually forced it to pledge not to provide financial support for the mine.

“We managed to push what was the biggest corporation in Australia … to rule out ever investing in Adani’s coal mine.”

Banks in China have also bowed to pressure not to support the mine, Astill said. The Chinese embassy in Australia has now confirmed Chinese money won’t fund the mine.

The campaign is now pressuring other companies associated with Adani to pledge not to work with the corporation.

“One by one we have been pushing for companies to rule out working with Adani.”

The campaign is currently focusing its lobbying efforts on GHD, the engineering consultancy now working for Adani.

The Stop Adani campaign is conscious of the need to transition to a sustainable future in a way that doesn’t leave behind people in coalmining communities, Astill said.

“Both parties need to come up with a plan to move beyond coal in a way that leaves no one behind. We need to build towards broader climate demands and a fair transition.”

The fight to stop Australia’s biggest coal mine is far from over, says Astill. “ The coa l indust r y a lso truly does know their days are numbered… that if they can get Adani over the line, it will give the coal industry a new lease of life. And vice versa: if the Adani coal mine is defeated it really will spell the end of new coal mines in Australia.” ■

How you can help Stop Adani Go to the Stop Adani website and send GHD a letter: www.stopadani. com/ghd Join one of the local groups or events to Stop Adani: www.stopadani. com/what_you_can_do Pass union motions against the mine at your local branch Support the school strikers on 20 September in the Domain: turn out your members at a local level and come in your NSWNMA scrubs as a sign that nurses and midwives have got their back.

THE LAMP SEPTEMBER 2019 | 21

CAMPAIGNING IN TIMES OF ADVERSITY

A core union belief becomes an entitlement that saves lives When the ‘We won’t wait’ campaign started, one Australian state had family violence leave. Now every state and territory has this life-saving entitlement.

“

What are the principles of the trade union movement? They are unity and solidarity. We believe in safety and inclusion.

We believe in equality. We believe in justice. We believe in respect. We believe in human dignity,” NSW Australian Services Union (ASU) secretary, Natalie Lang put to NSWNMA Annual Conference.

“They aren’t values that you pick up once we clock on at work but we forget about when we clock off and go home.

“These values are fundamental to who we are as members of this great movement, the union movement.

They travel with us at work, at home, and in society.”

The “We won’t wait campaign” – to achieve 10 days paid family violence leave for all workers in Australia – was an embodiment of these principles and values, she says.

There are stark, horrifying statistics that highlight the urgency of action on family violence: • One in three women will experience sexual or family violence in their life.

22 | THE LAMP SEPTEMBER 2019

‘We know that when women remain in employment they have better prospects of being able to leave violence.’ — Natalie Lang • O ne woman a week is killed in Australia by a current or former partner.

• 800,000 workers are living with the pain and trauma of family violence.

• Family violence is the leading preventable cause of death and disability in women aged 18 to 44.

• Family violence costs our economy between 12 and 23 billion dollars every year.

The idea for a campaign for family violence leave by the union movement came from members of the ASU working in women’s services.

“It’s a workplace issue for them.

Our members were saying there is only so much they can do when they are in a safe room at the courthouse with the woman who is trying to get an AVO or domestic violence order to protect her safety and her children’s

safety, but her employer is on the phone telling her that she’s used up her sick leave and she needs to be back at work or she’s going to lose her job,” Natalie said.

“That’s where the ‘We Won’t Wait’ campaign came from. We won’t wait because women can’t wait. Wait until a safety order is put in place.

Wait. Wait. Wait. Nobody should be told to wait when they are dealing with their safety and dignity and the safety and dignity of their children and family.”

The union movement has since argued that 10 days’ paid violence leave will allow women to remain employed and maintain their financial security.

“We know that when women remain in employment they have better prospects of being able to leave violence,” says Natalie.

CAMPAIGNING IN TIMES OF ADVERSITY

NATALIE LANG

“We also know that violence is incredibly expensive and time consuming to leave. On average it takes 6 attempts to leave violence.

On average it takes 141 hours to undertake the necessities like finding safe accommodation, meeting with the bank, meeting with the school to make safe arrangements for children, making court and medical appointments.

“One hundred and forty one hours and $18,000. When you are already trying to leave violence and to live safely in the community you can’t be expected to lose your job and try to find the time and money to be able to do so.”

UNIONS WORKED TOGETHER TO WIN Nat a l ie says t he u n ion movement realised the only way to win paid family leave was if all unions worked together.

“We talked about a strategy to deliver it. We knew we needed to be able to influence not just the federal government but also every single government in Australia. So we

decided we would try to target the Council of Australian Governments.

EMBEDDED IN NATIONAL EMPLOYMENT STANDARDS

“That if we could, one by one, get every state and territory government to meet their contribution by ensuring paid family leave for their workforce and in their systems we’d have a better chance of convincing a federal Liberal government.”

When the ‘We Can’t Wait’ ca mpa ign sta r ted only one Australian state – Victoria - had paid family violence leave. Now every state and territory government, including NSW, has paid family violence leave for its workers.

Unions agreed to a concentrated 16-day period of campaign activities by all unions.

“We also have family violence leave in the National Employment Standards. Now, who would have thought that the current Libera l- Coa lition government would a mend t he Nationa l Employment Standards to include an extra entitlement?”

“We had local activities based on geography as well as based on unions. We campaigned in regional and local communities across the country.

“People took selfies with selfie signs, we had morning teas at workplaces, we had rallies, we had marches and we had lobbying delegations.

“There were nurses, teachers, women’s services workers and police officers. We had frontline workers who intersect in all the gamut of services that people with violence need to interact with.”

Natalie says the leave in the National Employment Standards is unpaid but “we won’t rest until that becomes 10 days’ paid leave. So this campaign absolutely continues”.

“Paid family leave is an entitlement that does and will save lives. It is also core on what we are as unionists.” ■

THE LAMP SEPTEMBER 2019 | 23

RIGHTS AT WORK

Banks ignored, unions punished Employers get rich from wage theft, banks make millions from unlawful fees, nursing homes are mired in scandal and the Morrison government cracks down on ... unions!

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he federal Liberal/National government wants greater power to interfere in the work of unions and make it harder for them to win pay rises and protect jobs.

The Ensuring Integrity (EI) Bill now before parliament would give the government, employers, or any other party with ‘sufficient interest’ the power to intervene in the running and work of unions.

The bill would make it easier to disqualify people from holding union office, deregister a union, change a union’s eligibility rules, restrict the use of funds or property of a union and more.

Labor and the Greens oppose the bill, meaning the government needs the support of four of the six crossbench Senators for it to become law.

NSWNMA General Secretary Brett Holmes describes the proposed laws as fundamentally unfair.

“They would not apply to business, not apply to banks and not apply to politicians, despite their serious unethical conduct,” he says.

He says the Australian union movement is already heavily regulated and the EI bill goes further than any other western democracy in interfering in unions.

“During the last election campaign the Morrison government insisted it had no plans to reduce workers’ rights.

24 | THE LAMP SEPTEMBER 2019

‘ If the proposed anti-union laws applied equally to corporations we would see banks, multinational pizza chains and the restaurants of celebrity chefs closed down and their top executives sacked.’ — Brett Holmes “Now, Morrison is doing the bidding of big business by dusting off previously failed legislation to weaken the ability of working people to organise.”

NO ACCOUNTABILITY FOR POLITICIANS’ POOR BEHAVIOUR Brett said numerous scandals in banking, aged care and other corporations had revealed wage theft, fraud, money stolen and elderly people left without enough food.

“However, no one in any of those scandals has been barred from holding office, nor has a single organisation been deregistered.

“If the proposed anti-union laws applied equally to corporations we would see banks, multinational pizza chains and the restaurants of celebrity chefs closed down for repeatedly breaking workplace laws and their top executives sacked.”

Members of Morrison’s own government had not been held to account despite their involvement in numerous scandals, such as

ministers going to work for lobbyists, MPs hiding their investments from the public and questionable uses of allowances.

“The Morrison government does nothing about this – it won’t even enforce the weak ministerial code of conduct that is already in place.”

The bill has also attracted criticism from overseas.

The genera l secreta r y of the International Trade Union Confederation, Sharan Burrow, dubbed t he leg islat ion “a n extraordinary act of vandalism really in terms of the democratic rights and freedoms of Australia”.

Burrow, a former Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) president, said the bill would do “far-reaching damage to our democratic structures”.

“Nobody can look at this with an objective eye and say it is anything but an act of some sort of ideological revenge.” ■

RIGHTS AT WORK

‘All the union movement is guilty of is standing up for safe workplaces, more secure jobs and fair pay.’

— ACTU Secretary Sally McManus

Bank crime gets a free pass ACTU Secretary Sally McManus has contrasted the federal government’s push to criminalise union activity with its hands-off approach to bank crime.

In an article in The Guardian newspaper, Sally said banks and other financial institutions had admitted to tens of thousands of breaches and the banking royal commission – which Scott Morrison opposed – had uncovered crimes and unethical conduct.

“People would be right to ask why isn’t the government cracking down on the banks?” she wrote.

“Why aren’t they holding press conferences denouncing their behaviours? Why is Scott Morrison having his photo taken with the CEO of a major bank instead of calling for the resignation of the big four banks’ CEOs? “Why aren’t new laws that stop the banks ripping off working people Morrison’s first priority?”

Instead, Morrison was seeking the power to “knock off memberelected union leaders and shut down their unions.”

“The banks have been forcing farmers off their land, laundering money for drug dealers, charging fees to dead people and forging signatures that have resulted in Australians losing their life savings and even their homes.

“All the union movement is guilty of is standing up for safe workplaces, more secure jobs and fair pay under a regime of oppressive laws that are out of step with the rest of the developed world.”

Nurses a potential target Labor industrial relations spokesman Tony Burke said the anti-union bill, if passed, would allow employer groups to apply for unions to be deregistered.

“Some of the examples that would make you liable for deregistration are extraordinary,’’ he told ABC radio.

“So, for example, if the nurses’ union decided that a group of nurses who wanted to campaign on better staff ratios, and in doing so, it wasn’t registered lawful industrial action.

“They were simply concerned about the issues of the patients, they had unprotected industrial action. The union could be deregistered for that.

The entire nurses’ union deregistered for an action like that, and that action could be brought by anyone deemed to have a sufficient interest.”

THE LAMP SEPTEMBER 2019 | 25

WORKPLACE HEALTH AND SAFETY

Work hurts For an overwhelming number of Australian workers a career without workplace injuries is the exception not the norm.

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major survey of 25,000 Australian workers examining their experiences of safety and injury at work shows a system that is failing to keep workers safe, says the ACTU. The study revealed that during their lifetimes, almost 80 per cent of respondents suffered physical or mental injuries as a result of their work.

“This survey shows Australian workers are dealing with systemic physical and mental health issues as a result of the conditions of their work,” said ACTU Assistant Secretary, Liam O’Brien.

“It shows a workforce that is being failed by a system, which does not levy significant penalties against employers who allow hazards to persist.”

The study also found that: • 25 per cent of respondents reported mental health problems, 18 per cent reported physical injuries and 34 per cent reported both issues at work.

• 16 per cent of the workforce knows someone who has died at work or as the result of a workplace illness.

26 | THE LAMP SEPTEMBER 2019

‘Seventy-one per cent of respondents don’t think the current regime imposes penalties that are significant enough to make employers take safety seriously.’

• 91 per cent think that employers who are found responsible for the death of a worker should face up to 20 years in prison.

exposure to trauma and other ongoing issues in many workplaces, can lead to physical injuries and mental health issues.

Workers say they are aware of serious threats to their physical and mental health, which are being tolerated or ignored by their employers.

“Being in a workplace where you or your co-workers risk being threatened with violence or attacked by clients or patients, or being in a workplace that demands persistently long hours of high-stress work with little or no support, or requires you to work unsociable hours, or where you are subjected to bullying or abuse or harassment by colleagues, is just as dangerous as a faulty machine or a wet floor.”

The report highlighted the d a m a g i n g c on s e quenc e s of psychosocial hazards.

“P s ycholo g ic a l work pl a c e hazards are under-regulated and consequently under-recognised but just as dangerous as physical ones,” it says.

“How work is structured and organised presents persistent psychological and physical hazards.

Occupational violence, workplace stress, hostile work environments,

Sixty-one per cent of workers who responded to the survey said they had experienced mental illness because of ongoing issues in the workplace not addressed by their employer.

WORKPLACE HEALTH AND SAFETY

Key findings

78%

of people have suffered a mental or physical injury at work

54%

are aware of existing hazards in their workplace that could cause serious injury or illness

79% Healthcare workers, including nurses, were singled out in the report as targets of physical abuse.

“The threat or reality of physical abuse from patients, clients, customers or other members of the public is a constant hazard for many healthcare workers, first responders and educators,” it said.

“Sixty seven per cent of respondents said they did not believe their employer knew how to deal with occupational violence in their workplace.”

Sanctions against employers for breaches of workplace safety are grossly inadequate, the report found.

“Under the current system in most states, when a company or senior manager is found to be liable for a workplace injury or death they receive a small fine, which they can claim against their insurance,” it said.

The ACTU has been campaigning to change this to ensure that the employers who are responsible for injuries and deaths at work face the consequences of their actions.

This campaign has broad support in the workplace.

Sevent y- one per cent of respondents did not think the current regime imposes penalties that are significant enough to make employers take safety seriously.

A majority did not think it should be possible for employers to claim fines against their insurance. Ninety one per cent think that employers who are found responsible for the death of a worker should face up to 20 years in prison, just like any other incident of manslaughter.

Workers see unions as critical in enforcing workplace health and safety standards.

Ninety-seven per cent said that unions should have a role in workplace health and safety standards (WHS), and should be able to take employers to court if they break health and safety laws.

Ninety per cent of respondents were opposed to restrictions on unions from entering workplaces to investigate safety breaches. ■

do not believe penalties are sufficient to force employers to take safety seriously

61%

have experienced poor mental health because their employer did not manage hazards in their workplace

Read the report You can read the report – Work shouldn’t hurt – a survey on the state of work health and safety in Australia at: https://www. actu.org.au/ media/1385647/ work-shouldnt-hurtreport-clean-final.pdf

THE LAMP SEPTEMBER 2019 | 27

NEWS IN BRIEF

AUSTRALIA

Private health insurance faces “death spiral” Private health insurance (PHI) makes Australia’s health system unfair and muddled says report.

The study by Grattan Institute analysts Dr Stephen Duckett and Kristina Nemet warns that the PHI sector faces a death spiral if young, healthy people continue to drop their cover.

An “unhappy mix” of partially public and partially privatised healthcare in Australia had led to a system “riddled with inconsistencies and perverse incentives”, the paper said.

Prof Duckett said Australians under 65 were reducing their coverage. Among young people, about 3-5 per cent were dropping out each year.

“Which means the risk pool, the money that everybody pools, is getting worse in the sense that younger people are paying more now and getting less,” he told the ABC. Taxpayer subsidies total around $9 billion a year, including $6 billion for the PHI rebate and $3 billion for inpatient private medical services.

The report argues that a new framework was needed but the government must decide whether the purpose of the private system was to complement or substitute for the public one, before considering if further subsidies were the best solution to save the health insurance industry.

Duckett and Nemet said it was hard to compare the efficiency of the two sectors given previous studies have contesting findings.

But they concluded that, overall, it was unlikely taxpayer subsidies of PHI reduced the total spending on health.

‘ It was unlikely taxpayer subsidies of private health insurance reduced the total spending on health.’

AUSTRALIA

Prisons outspend aged care on food Cost-cutting, funding that doesn’t reward good food, and residents not having a voice contribute to poor quality nutrition in our aged care homes says a nutrition expert.

Cherie Hugo, a Teaching Fellow in Nutrition and Dietetics, writing in the online journal The Conversation, says her research found that the average food spend in Australian aged care homes was A$6.08 per resident per day.

“This is the raw food cost for meals and drinks over breakfast, morning tea, lunch, afternoon tea, dinner and supper,” she wrote.

This $6.08 is almost one-third of the average for older coupled adults living in the community ($17.25), and less than the average in Australian prisons ($8.25 per prisoner per day).

Hugo says “one in two aged care residents are malnourished and this figure has remained the same for the last 20 years”.

Meanwhile, celebrity chef Maggie Beer told the Aged Care Royal Commission hearings in Cairns that the $6 daily food budget for each resident was absolutely inadequate.

“It just breaks your heart because it doesn't have to be like that.

It should never be like that,” she said.

Beer said she wants people in aged care homes to be fed food full of flavour, goodness and pleasure.

“We have a responsibility to give a good way of life for those in aged care and in the community.”

‘ We have a responsibility to give a good way of life for those in aged care and in the community.’

— Maggie Beer 28 | THE LAMP SEPTEMBER 2019

NEWS IN BRIEF

UNITED STATES

Big Pharma deliberately flooded the US with narcotic painkillers A federal judge in Ohio has released secret data from the Drug Enforcement Agency that shows major pharmaceutical companies flooded the country with over 75 billion opioid pills over just six years.

The judge was hearing a giant case called a multi-district litigation against opioid makers and distributors, including blue-chip companies like Walmart.

“The DEA data makes clear how drug manufacturers and pharmaceutical companies kept on ramping up deliveries even as alarm bells rang at surging overdose deaths and amid warnings from the Drug Enforcement Agency,” reported the Guardian.

Data released by the Ohio court revealed that one company, Miami-Luken, delivered 5.7 million opioid pills between 2005 and 2011 to the small town of Kermit, in the Appalachian mountains of West Virginia, which has a population of just 380 people.

The court also released internal emails from another major opioid producer, Mallinckrodt.

One message was sent by Mallincrodt’s national account manager, Victor Borelli, to Steve Cochrane, a sales executive at a drug distributor, KeySource Medical, about a shipment of oxycodone tablets.

Cochrane replied: “Keep ’em comin’! Flyin’ out of there. It’s like people are addicted to these things or something. Oh, wait, people are …”

Borelli wrote back: “Just like Doritos, keep eating. We’ll make more.”

In 2012, sales of narcotic painkillers in the United States surpassed $8 billion a year. The US opioid crisis has claimed more than 400,000 lives.

‘ Keep ’em comin’! Flyin’ out of there. It’s like people are addicted to these things or something. Oh, wait, people are…’

UNITED STATES

Metabolic factors contribute to anorexia A study finds that anorexia may not be a solely psychiatric condition.

New research has found that the eating disorder anorexia nervosa is not purely a psychiatric condition but is also driven by metabolic factors.

Anorexia nervosa affects between 1 per cent and 4 per cent of women and about 0.3 per cent of men.

Scientists made the discovery after comparing the DNA of nearly 17,000 people with anorexia and more than 55,000 healthy controls. The study is published in the journal Nature Genetics (July 2019).

The study revealed eight genes that linked anorexia to anxiety, depression and obsessive–compulsive disorder, all of which was expected. But it also revealed DNA involved in burning fat, being physically active and having resistance to type-2 diabetes.

Family environments have long been considered a factor in anorexia but the study suggests this has been poorly understood.

“The families of people with anorexia do tend to have higher levels of perfectionism in them, but we think people are getting cause and effect wrong. It’s not the perfectionism that’s causing the anorexia, it’s the tendency towards having anorexia that is causing the increased perfectionism,” said Gerome Breen, a geneticist at King’s College London who co-led the study with US researchers at the University of North Carolina.

“What we think is happening is that the family environment and the genetics interact.”

‘ It’s not the perfectionism that’s causing the anorexia, it’s the tendency towards having anorexia that is causing the increased perfectionism.’

THE LAMP SEPTEMBER 2019 | 29

NEWS IN BRIEF

GREAT BRITAIN

Scientific consensus on climate change rises to 99 per cent New historical data shows level of global warming in recent decades is unprecedented.

AUSTRALIA

MasterThieves’ strategy: steal wages The Calombaris case is not an isolated incident, but shows underpayment is a business model, says unions.

Unions say the punishment of celebrity chef George Calombaris for underpaying staff to the tune of $7.8 million is manifestly inadequate.

His Made Establishment company was fined $200,000 by the Fair Work Ombudsman after a four-year investigation that uncovered a failure to pay award rates, penalty rates, casual loadings, overtime and other allowances.

United Voice national secretary Jo-anne Schofield said the fine was not sufficient for the seriousness of the crime.

“If someone deliberately took $1,000 out of someone else’s bank account, there would be a high likelihood of a criminal conviction for theft. But when you’re a multimillionaire restaurateur/celebrity chef you can take $7.83m in wages from your workers and get away with a ‘contrition payment’.

“And you get to keep your TV show, your huge profile and mansion and keep raking in cash off the back of hardworking chefs, waitstaff and bartenders.

“All the while you’ve also been campaigning to slash the penalty rates for all hospitality workers.”

ACTU President Michelle O’Neil said the Morrison government should change its priorities away from attacking unions and the workers they represent and “address wage theft” and “the integrity of employers”.

“This isn’t an isolated indecent or an oversight by a handful of employers. Wage theft is systemic across entire industries,” she said.

‘ You get to keep your TV show, your huge profile and mansion and keep raking in cash off the back of hardworking chefs.’

30 | THE LAMP SEPTEMBER 2019

Three studies published in Nature and Nature Geoscience use extensive historical data to show there has never been a period in the last 2000 years when temperature changes have been as fast and extensive as in recent decades.

They found that previous historical peaks and troughs in temperatures were localised and none of these shifts took place in more than half the globe at any one time. They were primarily driven by volcanic eruptions.

The temperature rises over two decades or longer since the late 20th century have been the most rapid in the past two millennia, notes one of the studies.

The authors say this highlights how unusual warming has become in recent years as a result of industrial emissions.

Scientists say the studies are an important breakthrough in proving how human responsibility has changed the climate in ways not seen in the past.

“This paper should finally stop climate change deniers claiming that the recent observed coherent global warming is part of a natural climate cycle,” said Mark Maslin, professor of climatology at University College London.

A 2013 study in Environmental Research Letters found 97 per cent of climate scientists agreed that human factors were responsible for the recent levels of global warning. This has now increased to 99 per cent.

‘ This paper should finally stop climate change deniers claiming that the recent observed coherent global warming is part of a natural climate cycle.’

NEWS IN BRIEF

WORLD

Temperature records broken all over Europe Europe has been gripped by successive heat waves that have seen temperature records tumble in country after country.

Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands recorded their highest ever temperatures during July in the second of two extreme heatwaves in as many months.

City records were also broken in Bordeaux and Paris in France and Amsterdam and Brussels.

A previous heat wave in June saw the highest ever June temperatures recorded in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Austria, Andorra, Luxembourg, Poland and Germany.

Clare Nullis, a World Meteorological Organization spokeswoman, said the heatwaves bore the “hallmark of climate change”. The extreme events were “becoming more frequent, they’re starting earlier, and they’re becoming more intense”, she said. “It’s not a problem that’s going to go away.”

The Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research said Europe’s five hottest summers since 1500 had all occurred in the 21st century – in 2002, 2003, 2010, 2016 and 2018.

Monthly records were now falling five times as often as they would in a stable climate, the institute said, adding that this was “a consequence of global warming caused by the increasing greenhouse gases from burning coal, oil and gas”.

Scientists say the 2018 heatwave led to increased mortality rates, a dramatic decline in crop yields, the shutdown of nuclear power plants and wildfires inside the Arctic Circle.

‘ It’s not a problem that’s going to go away.’

— World Meteorological Organization.

AUSTRALIA

Sleeping apps can cause anxiety and insomnia A leading sleep expert says a growing preoccupation with sleep is backfiring.

A leading neurologist says smartphone sleep-tracking apps are making people so anxious and obsessed about their sleep that they are developing insomnia, reports The Guardian.

“We’ve seen a lot of people who have developed significant insomnia as a result of either sleep trackers or reading certain things about how devastating sleep deprivation is for you,” said Dr Guy Leschziner, a sleep disorder specialist and consultant at Guy’s Hospital in London.

Leschziner says a high proportion of patients seeking treatment for insomnia turn up at his clinic with data about their sleep patterns from apps.

“My view of sleep trackers is fairly cynical. If you wake up feeling tired and you’ve had an unrefreshing night’s sleep, then you know you’ve got a problem,” he said.

“If you wake up every day and feel refreshed, are awake throughout the day and are ready to sleep at the same time every night then you’re probably getting enough sleep for you and you don’t need an app to tell you that.”

Leschziner said measuring sleep was part of a broader tendency to “metricise our lives” using technology.

With sleep, this trend is particularly problematic, he said.

“When you get into that obsessive state about sleep it makes sleep even more difficult.”

‘ Measuring sleep was part of a broader tendency to “metricise our lives” using technology.’

THE LAMP SEPTEMBER 2019 | 31

PROFESSIONAL EDUCATION

SYDNEY METRO

Waterloo

Know where you stand with Law, Ethics and Professional Standards in nursing and midwifery, Wed 13 Nov, $95 / $190, 6 CPD Hours

Child & Family Health Seminar, Thu 19 Sept, $60 / $120, 6 CPD Hours

Your Annual CPD Obligations, Thu 21 Nov, $50 / $100, 4 CPD Hours, RN, MW, EN

NSW REGIONAL

September to November 2019 Education

CENTRAL COAST Gosford

Mental Health and Drug & Alcohol Nurses’ Seminar, Fri 6 Sept, $60 / $120, 6 CPD Hours

Diabetes for Clinical Staff, Mon 23 Sept, $95 / $190, 5 CPD Hours Aged Care Seminar, Fri 25 Oct, $60 / $120, 6 CPD Hours Clinical Communication and Documentation, Thu 7 Nov, $95 / $190, 6 CPD Hours

Blacktown

Know where you stand with Law, Ethics and Professional Standards in nursing and midwifery, Wed 9 Oct, $95 / $190, 6 CPD Hours

Campbelltown

Dementia Management Training, Fri 13 Sept, $95 / $190, 7 CPD Hours Emotional Intelligence Training, Thu 17 Oct, $95 / $190, 6 CPD Hours

Gymea

Clinical Communication and Documentation, Thu 10 Oct, $95 / $190, 6 CPD Hours Palliative Care Workshop – NEW, Wed 6 Nov, $95 / $190, 6 CPD Hours

Hornsby

Dementia Management Training, Thu 28 Nov, $95 / $190, 7 CPD Hours

Know where you stand with Law, Ethics and Professional Standards in nursing and midwifery, Thu 29 Sept, $95 / $190, 6 CPD Hours Your Annual CPD Obligations, Fri 27 Sept, $50 / $100, 4 CPD Hours, RN, MW, EN

HUNTER NEW ENGLAND Maitland

Bullying: Let’s put an end to it, Wed 2 Oct, $50 / $100, 4 CPD Hours

Newcastle

Palliative Care Workshop – NEW, Thu 12 Sept, $95 / $190, 6 CPD Hours

ILLAWARRA SHOALHAVEN Wollongong

Foot Care: A Nurses Role, Thu 5 Sept, $95 / $190, 6 CPD Hours Wound Care: Pathophysiology, Skin Tears and Pressure Injury Prevention, Fri 18 Oct, $95 / $190, 6 CPD Hours

MID NORTH COAST Coffs Harbour

Clinical Communication and Documentation, Thu 12 Sept, $95 / $190, 6 CPD Hours

Port Macquarie

Dementia Management Training, Wed 16 Oct, $95 / $190, 7 CPD Hours

MURRUMBIDGEE Wagga Wagga

Aged Care Nurses’ Seminar, Thu 14 Nov $60 / $120, 6 CPD Hours

Young

Know where you stand with Law, Ethics and Professional Standards in nursing and midwifery, Wed 27 Nov, $95 / $190, 6 CPD Hours Your Annual CPD Obligations, Thu 28 Nov, $50 / $100, 4 CPD Hours, RN, MW, EN

NEPEAN BLUE MOUNTAINS Springwood Wound Care: Understanding Wound Care Products, Thu 14 Nov, $95 / $190, 6 CPD Hours

NORTHERN NSW Grafton

Medications: How we do it better, Wed 11 Sept, $95 / $190, 6 CPD Hours

Lismore

Alcohol and Other Drugs: The Current Situation– NEW An update for all nurses and midwives, Thu 3 Oct, $95 / $190, 6 CPD Hours

Tweed Heads

Wound Care: Arterial Insufficiency– NEW, Fri 20 Sept, $95 / $190, 6 CPD Hours Wound Care: Pressure Injuries– NEW, Fri 4 Oct, $95 / $190, 6 CPD Hours

WESTERN NSW Orange

Clinical Communication and Documentation, Wed 23 Oct, $95 / $190, 6 CPD Hours Your Annual CPD Obligations, Thu 24 Oct, $50 / $100, RN, MW, EN

For full details of courses including course content, venue & times, please go to www.nswnma.asn.au

CPD

REGISTER ONLINE bit.ly/educationNSWNMA

Attendance at NSWNMA education sessions may count towards your Continuing Professional Development (CPD) hours. The number of hours noted beside each course is the maximum amount of claimable CPD hours. Unless otherwise noted, our courses are suitable for all Nurses, Midwives and Assistants in Nursing/Midwifery.

32 | THE LAMP SEPTEMBER 2019

PROFESSIONAL EDUCATION

2019

Aged Care Seminar WATERLOO Friday 25 October NSWNMA 50 O’Dea Avenue, Waterloo 9am to 4pm

CPD

6

$

All Members $60 Non-members $120 Lunch & refreshments provided

For RNs, ENs and AINs in residential, community and hospital aged care settings, across private and public sectors, or anyone with an interest, professional or personal, in the aged care sector in NSW. Hear from a range of speakers, network with colleagues and earn some valuable CPD hours.

PROGRAM:

• Oral and Dental Care in Aged Care, Assoc. Prof. Janet Wallace, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Newcastle • The Aged Care Quality Standards - Key Implications for Practice, Helen Samphier, Community Services Trainer and Consultant • Palliative Care, Kathryn Turek, Aged Care Consultant • New Charter of Aged Care Rights, Pat Joyce, Senior Rights Service

EDUCATION@ORANGE

Clinical Communication & Documentation Wed 23 October 9am to 4.30pm All

$

CPD

6

Members $95 Non-members $190 Lunch & refreshments provided

This workshop explores the importance of the legal and ethical frameworks around communication and documentation that govern nursing and midwifery practice.

PROGRAM:

• Understanding your obligations with professional standards in regards to documentation • The patient’s records and what is documentation to provide a full story • Unpack clinical handover and the exchange of information and what the responsibilities and accountabilities are for nurses and midwives • Learn how ISBAR helps with providing comprehensive health communication • Report writing.

• Orange City Bowling Club, 61-89 Warrendine St •

Your Annual CPD Obligations

CPD

4

½-DAY SEMINAR Thurs 24 October 9am to 1pm RN, Midwife, ENs

$

Members $50 Non-members $100 Refreshments provided

In this seminar, you will learn the ins and outs of your annual CPD obligations. If you’re still talking about “points”, aren’t sure why you would be required to develop a learning plan, or why you need to link your CPD activities to your context of practice, then this short course is an absolute must for you.

PROGRAM:

• How to develop a learning plan each year • How you identify your learning needs and objectives, linking them back to your current or future context of practice • How to record your CPD activities • Gain an understanding of reflective practice • What to do if you get audited.

For full details of courses including course content, venue & times, please go to www.nswnma.asn.au CPD

REGISTER ONLINE bit.ly/educationNSWNMA

Attendance at NSWNMA education sessions may count towards your Continuing Professional Development (CPD) hours. The number of hours noted beside each course is the maximum amount of claimable CPD hours. Unless otherwise noted, our courses are suitable for all Nurses, Midwives and Assistants in Nursing/Midwifery.

THE LAMP SEPTEMBER 2019 | 33

2019 DIABETES

UPDATE DAY

Don’t miss this one-day conference Learn while you earn CPD hours 9am to 4pm | 28 September Hilton Sydney, 488 George Street General admission $150 tickets Diabetes Qualified members $125 tickets *Entry to the event and program is valued at over $500 and is brought to you at this price thanks to an NDSS subsidy.

The National Diabetes Services Scheme is an initiative of the Australian Government administered with the assistance of Diabetes Australia.

Presented by

diabetesupdateday.com.au or call 1300 136 588

DIABETES UPDATE EVENING for nurses

Your NDSS agent in NSW & ACT is

Learn while you earn CPD points Wednesday 18 September 2019 Tweed Heads Wednesday 23 October 2019 Tamworth Thursday 14 November 2019 Ulladulla

Ticke ts $20

More dates and locations available on our website.

Diabetes NSW & ACT is offering a diabetes evening workshop (including a light dinner) for nurses working within a hospital, medical practice, community health or aged care setting.

The training will provide participants with an increased understanding of diabetes and the services available to their patients. This session is suitable for Enrolled Nurses and Registered Nurses.

CPD points for this seminar will be available with the Australian College of Nursing (ACN) and Australian Primary Health Care Nurses Association (APNA).

For more information or to register visit diabetesnsw.com.au/events or call 1300 136 588.

The National Diabetes Services Scheme (NDSS) is an initiative of the Australian Government administered by Diabetes Australia. The NDSS agent in New South Wales and the ACT is Diabetes NSW & ACT.

YOUR RIGHTS

Ask

Judith Breaking News Northern Beaches Hospital inquiry

The Association has made a submission to the Legislative Council inquiry into the operation and management of the Northern Beaches Hospital. The Association surveyed members and utilised this information to provide a thorough outline of issues, problems and suggested solutions.

One of the so-called claimed benefits of privatisation is that it supposedly shifts (financial and operational) risk to a third-party operator, but current experiences yet again demonstrate that it is ultimately the patients and staff who carry the burden of that risk. Submissions can be viewed via the NSW Parliament website (https://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au).

Review of the Service Check Register As noted last month, the Ministry of Health has commenced a review of the current policy on the Service Check Register (PD2013_036).

The Association provided a comprehensive initial submission to this process, highlighting how the SCR in recent times has all too often become a punitive tool, far too easily and inappropriately applied, and not reserved for those most serious matters. We look forward to continued consultation and discussion to get this right.

Family violence leave I work at a private hospital run by Healthscope. Can I get any special leave to attend court about family violence directed towards me?

Clause 29(ii) of the Healthscope Group – NSWNMA/ANMF – NSW Nurses and Midwives’ – Enterprise Agreement 2015–2019 sets out that an employee experiencing family and domestic violence will have access to up to five (5) days per year of paid leave. This can be used to attend legal proceedings, counselling, appointments with a

When it comes to your rights and entitlements at work, NSWNMA Assistant General Secretary Judith Kiejda has the answers.

medical or legal practitioner and relocation and safety activities directly associated with alleviating the effects of this form of violence.

This entitlement does not accumulate from year to year.

ADO dispute I am a registered nurse working in a public hospital. Where is the ADO dispute up to about ADO accruals for those working mixed shifts?

This remaining aspect of the ADO dispute, concerned with those employees working mixed shift lengths who do not have their ADOs appropriately calculated within StaffLink, is nearing conclusion.

HealthShare and eHealth are overseeing the changes required in StaffLink and following testing, it is hoped that the new functionality will be available later this year.

In the interim, those working mixed shifts should continue to have an ADO allocated per-roster period, regardless of any stated negative balance, consistent with the recommendation of the IRC of NSW, until the new functionality comes on line, and audits previous ADO calculations and ensures they are suitably calculated prospectively.

Those employees working mixed shifts should not be subject to any attempt to recover alleged ADO debits in the interim, and certainly not until the new StaffLink functionality comes on line.

Cashing out annual leave I work in a nursing home run by Estia. If I need to, can I get some annual leave paid out?

Clause 50 of the Estia Health NSW Enterprise Agreement 2016 states that cashing out of annual leave by an employee is permitted with the agreement of the employer, provided you retain at least a minimum of four weeks’ accrued annual leave.

Pregnant, and seeking a more suitable position I work in a public hospital. I am

pregnant and getting concerned about being able to do my usual duties for much longer. Is it possible I can work somewhere else to keep me at work?

Yes. Clause 34 A (x) of the Public Health System Nurses’ and Midwives’ (State) Award sets out that due to an illness or risk associated with your pregnancy, the employer is obliged – as far as is practicable – to provide employment in some other position that you are able to perform. The alternative position must be as close as possible in status and salary as your substantive position.

Pay rate in Bupa

I am employed as an RN in a Bupa nursing home. Can I check what the rate of pay should be for an RN on the thereafter rate?

As per Table 1 in the Bupa Aged Care Australia, NSWNMA, ANMF (NSW Branch) and HSU NSW Branch, New South Wales Enterprise Agreement 2018, a permanent RN on Level 7 (the top rate) would receive, after the 3.1 per cent pay increase in July, $40.41 per hour.

Quick shifts

I work in a hospital run by Ramsay. How many quick shifts can I be rostered to do?

Under Clause 6.2.7 of the Ramsay Health Care Australia Pty Ltd & NSW Nurses & Midwives’ Association and ANMF NSW Branch Enterprise Agreement 2018–2020, you can only be rostered to do two quick shifts (an evening shift followed by a morning shift) in any sevenday period.

Time off in lieu

I work in a public hospital and have worked some overtime that I would like to save up so I can have some time off at a later time. How long do I have to use it?

Clause 25(iv) of the Public Health System Nurses’ and Midwives’ (State) Award sets out that time in lieu of overtime worked must be taken within three months of it being accrued. If it is not possible to be taken within that timeframe, it will be paid as overtime, based on the rates of pay applicable at the time of payment.

THE LAMP SEPTEMBER 2019 | 35

SOCIAL MEDIA

Do you have a story to tell? An opinion to share?

Nurse Uncut is a blog written by everyday nurses and midwives.

We welcome your ideas at nurseuncut@nswnma.asn.au He has been fined over $60,000 for his crimes. https://www.nurseuncut.com. au/fake-nursing-director-finedover-60000/

New on our Support Nurses YouTube channel Our ailing aged care system shows you can’t skimp on nursing care NSWNMA AGED CARE CAMPAIGN HIGHLIGHTS A recap of all the activities NSWNMA members have been involved in since the campaign for Aged Care Ratios started in May last year. http://bit.ly/ AgedCareHighlights 24-HOUR NURSE: A MOTHER’S DAY STORY In this video originally posted

by HelloCare, Nicky Hondros, a palliative care nurse, shares her and her mum’s heartfelt story and provides a little glimpse into what it’s like caring for someone living with dementia. http://bit.ly/24HourNurse Connect with us on Facebook Nurse Uncut www.facebook. com/NurseUncutAustralia New South Wales Nurses and Midwives’ Association www.facebook.com/nswnma Ratios put patient safety first www.facebook.com/ safepatientcare Aged Care Nurses www.facebook.com/ agedcarenurses Look for your local branch on our Facebook page www.facebook.com/nswnma Follow us on Twitter @nswnma / @nurseuncut Share on Instagram by tagging @nswnma and don’t forget to use the hashtag #nswnma!

36 | THE LAMP SEPTEMBER 2019

April Gurung and Samantha Edwards from the University of the Sunshine Coast argue that short-changing Aged Care resident from nursing care isn’t the way to save a quick buck for operators. https://www.nurseuncut. com.au/our-ailing-aged-caresystem-shows-you-cant-skimp -on-nursing-care/

Perceptions of research capacity within NSW Local Health Districts Researcher Nicole Raschke wants your opinion of the support for research in your local health districts. NSW LHD employees, clinicians and managers are invited to participate in the study. https://www.nurseuncut.com.au/ research-perceptions-of-researchcapacity-within-nsw-local-healthdistricts/

Australian Veterans’ Children Assistance Trust (AVCAT) Scholarships Applications for the AVCAT Scholarships are now open. Children of Australian ex-serving veterans may be eligible for this grant. Applications close 21 October 2019. https://www. nurseuncut.com.au/australianveterans-children-assistance-trustscholarships/

Replacing registered nurses isn’t the answer to rising health costs

Fake nursing director fined over $60,000

Listen to our podcast

A man who pretended to be a nurse and worked as an Aged Care Director of Nursing has been convicted of four counts of “holding out” to be a nurse.

Professor Christine Duffield argues that replacing RNs with lesser-qualified staff isn’t the way to save from rising costs in our sector. https://www.nurseuncut. com.au/replacing-registerednurses-isnt-the-answer-torising-health-costs/

Psychosocial Hazards at work within work health and safety frameworks – Dr Carlo Caponecchia http://bit.ly/psychosocialhazards

SOCIAL MEDIA

your

Say

The best of patient savants We asked what the funniest things you’ve heard patients say were. You came up with some crackers!

I had a child of a patient ask me if I had any babies of my own (work in maternity). When I said no, he asked why I don’t just take one of the babies from the ward.

I explained that baby’s mother would be very upset if I just took her baby away and kept it.

He then said “but if you take the baby and put it in your tummy then it’ll be your baby”.

I asked a patient if they had any allergies.

The response was “autopsies”.

We had a young guy coming in for major surgery and the anaesthetist asked him if he has had anaesthetic before. He said quite chirpily, “no, but I've had ketamine a couple times and it felt like I was sinking into the floor”.

He was a bit bummed when he was told he

What nurses and midwives said and liked on Facebook www.facebook.com/nswnma

wouldn't be having any ketamine that day.

Patient wrote on the “why are you here today” form, “I have tonsil lighters”.

I work in CCU. A patient awoke to hear Salvation Army playing outside, prompting him to ask “am I in heaven?”

I had a patient ask me when he has a nasogastric tube in, “so do you just chop the food up and push it down the tube?”

the gallery

multi-disciplinary recycling committee with a majority focus on nursing membership from a wide range of facilities?

It is disgusting how much disposable equipment we now have.

In our birth unit all our delivery packs are now disposable. Then there’s the fact that we are now using disposable water bottles which have written on them that they are not to be refilled.

Our patients are given a bottle of water with each meal.

There is so much waste – but so little recycling.

Time to talk about hospital waste We shared about the devastating levels of waste in healthcare.

We have started to make a change in our emergency department, using biodegradable products, recycling paper and plastics, and consciously trying to make an effort to waste fewer things.

Wouldn’t it be great if the Chief Nurse read some of these comments and facilitated a statewide

Recycling is a good thing, but some hospitals don’t seem to do it. I was disappointed to find that meals are coming out with more and more disposable plastic.

Plastic disposable plates, cutlery and cups. That is before any packaging that comes with the cook-chill unidentifiable blah that is on the disposable plate.

We need LHDs and government to take things such as company recycling programs into account when they make decisions on products.

Unfortunately, until budgets have incentives built into them for recycling and waste reduction, and while we have a government that denies climate change, there’s unlikely to be too much change on this front.

/1

/2

/3

/4

/5 1/ Nurses from Tenterfield Hospital are joined by 200 members of their local community, showing support for safer staffing 2/ J ohn Hunter Hospital nurses coming together to demand changes in medical imaging 3/ T he NSWNMA and ANMF NSW councillors at Annual Conference 2019 4/ N SWNMA members and community meet with Federal Labor MP Mike Kelly about our campaign for Aged Care Ratios 5/ N SWNMA members and staff marching for action on climate change

THE LAMP SEPTEMBER 2019 | 37

LIONS NURSES’ SCHOLARSHIP Looking for funding to further your studies in 2020?

THE LIONS NURSES’ SCHOLARSHIPS OPEN ON 1 AUGUST AND CLOSE ON 31 OCTOBER EACH YEAR The trustees of the Lions Nurses’ Scholarship Foundation invite applications for scholarships.

Nurses eligible for these scholarships must be resident and employed within the State of NSW or ACT. You must currently be registered with the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia

and working within the nursing profession in NSW or the ACT, and must have a minimum of three years’ experience in the nursing profession – the last twelve months of which must have been spent in NSW or the ACT. Details of eligibility and the scholarships available (which include study projects either within Australia or overseas), and

application forms are available from: www.nswnma.asn.au/education Administration Liaison Lions Nurses’ Scholarship Foundation 50 O’Dea Avenue Waterloo NSW 2017 or contact Matt West on 1300 367 962 or education@nswnma.asn.au

COMPLETED APPLICATIONS MUST BE IN THE HANDS OF THE SECRETARY NO LATER THAN 31 OCTOBER

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Granola for kids

38 | THE LAMP SEPTEMBER 2019

NURSING RESEARCH AND PROFESSIONAL ISSUES Spring in New South Wales sees rye grass pollens carried by warm westerlies as early as mid-September (cold weather can delay it). This month we look at the latest information regarding allergy, hayfever and the impact of climate change on allergic diseases in Australia.

Spring has sprung: how changes in weather affect our health Merlin Thomas, Adjunct Professor of Preventive Medicine, Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute Seasonal fluctuations in disease have been recognised for millennia. Until recent times, these phenomena were ascribed to changes in the weather. It’s easy to understand why. This time of the year the weather is predictably unpredictable. Summer is mostly hot. Winter is mostly cold.

But spring can be either, on successive days or even in the space of a few hours.

At least half of all adults claim to experience changes in their health with the changing weather, including more frequent headaches, joint pain, tiredness, and even catching more colds.

Whether these are a direct effect of the weather or an indirect one - related to the profound effects of seasonal weather on mood, behaviour, diet, physical activity, mobility, participation, perception of illness, pain and many other factors - is unknown. The weather outside can certainly significantly influence how we feel. Not by as much as most people think and not the same way in everyone. But enough to make a difference. https://theconversation. com/spring-has-sprung-howchanges-in-weather-affect-ourhealth-48991

Climate change and allergy in Australia: an innovative, high-income country, at potential risk Paul J Beggs, Department of Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Macquarie University The impacts of climate change on allergens and allergic diseases are intriguing and multifaceted.

Internationally, they have for many years been considered

among the many potential impacts of climate change on human health. The acceleration of research in this area has been astounding. We now have a large and sophisticated body of research from which to gauge potential future impacts and impacts that have already happened and with which we currently live. Allergy is a significant public health issue in Australia. The prevalence of allergic diseases and allergic sensitisation is high, with the prevalence of asthma being among the highest in the world.

The impacts of climate change on allergens and allergic diseases are important and potentially serious in Australia. Australia is highly vulnerable to such impacts because of its very high prevalence of allergic diseases such as asthma and allergic rhinitis, and allergic sensitisation to environmental allergens such as certain pollens and fungal spores. This article aims to review published research on the impacts of climate change on allergens and allergic diseases from an Australian perspective. https://doi.org/10.17061/ phrp2841828

What is allergy?

ASCIA Information for patients, consumers and carers ASCIA (Australasian Society of Clinical Immunology and Allergy Limited) was established in 1990 as the peak professional body of clinical immunology and allergy in Australia and New Zealand. The mission of ASCIA is to improve the health and quality of life of people with immune system disorders.

These include allergic diseases, immunodeficiencies and other immune diseases.

Allergies are increasing in Australia and New Zealand and affect around one in five people.

There are many causes of allergy, and symptoms vary from mild to potentially life threatening.

Allergy is one of the major factors

associated with the cause and persistence of asthma. https://www.allergy.org.au/ images/pcc/ASCIA_PCC_What_ is_allergy_2019.pdf

Allergy Clinic Catalyst, ABC IView With Australia in the grip of an allergy epidemic, Catalyst sets up a pop-up clinic to understand why so many of us are suffering from these conditions and reveal the latest science about what we can do to treat and prevent them. https://iview.abc.net.au/show/ catalyst

Pollen is getting worse, but you can make things better with these tips from an allergist

Kara Wada, Clinical Assistant Professor, Allergy/Immunology, The Ohio State University Blooming spring flowers signal the beginning of spring, but for millions of people, they also signal the onset of the misery: allergy and asthma season. Itchy, watery eyes; sneezing, runny nose; cough and wheezing are triggered by an overreaction of the body to pollen.

Every spring, trees and grasses release billions of buoyant pollen granules into the air, using the wind to disperse across the countryside in an effort to reproduce. It’s all about survival; plants that release more pollen have the survival advantage.

If you suffer through the season, know that you are not alone.

Throughout history, pollen has taken the fun out of spring for many. In modern times, however, medical science has identified practices and treatments that help. https://theconversation.com/ pollen-is-getting-worse-butyou-can-make-things-betterwith-these-tips-from-anallergist-114722

THE LAMP SEPTEMBER 2019 | 39

INSURANCE BENEFITS

For NSWNMA Members

Insurance protection when you need it most The NSWNMA is committed to protecting the interests of nurses and midwives by purchasing a range of insurances to cover members.

Journey Accident Insurance provides cover for members who are injured as a result of an accident while travelling between their home and their regular place of employment.

Professional Indemnity Insurance provides legal representation and protection for members when required.

Make sure your membership remains financial at all times in order to access the insurance and other benefits provided by the NSWNMA.

Unsure if you are financial?

It’s easy!

Ring and check today on 8595 1234 (metro) or 1300 367 962 (rural) Change your payment information online at www.nswnma.asn.au

www.nswnma.asn.au 40 |

IMPORTANT NOTE From 1 December 2018 the insurance benefits have changed as follows: • Journey Accident Insurance: the waiting period for benefits is now 14 days THE LAMP SEPTEMBER 2019 • Professional Indemnity Insurance: the limit per claim is now $5 million

CROSSWORD

test your

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ACROSS 1. A broad-spectrum antibiotic, used as the hydrochloride salt 10. A benign growth of cartilage arising in the metaphysis of a bone 11. Extreme and unreasoning anxiety and fear 12. Intestinal obstruction 13. To reactivate, restore to life, revive,

or resuscitate 15. Micturate 17. Transplant, prosthesis 18. Symbol for stimulatory receptor molecule (1.1) 19. A rash, which may be a complication of the treatment for leprosy (1.1.1) 20. Sepsis resulting from infection accompanied by a watery discharge 21. Nose

23. With little or no preparation or forethought 25. To overwhelm or bring under control 26. Shrink back in fear, cower 27. Medicine 28. To drain off fluid by paracentesis 29. Nothing, zero 30. Incision into the white matter of the frontal lobe of the brain

31. The quality of being exceptional and not commonly encountered DOWN 1. Light produced by chemical action usually at, or below, room temperature 2. Greedy; desirous 3. Embedded parts of an organ 4. Give support, approve 5. A speech disorder of imperfect pronunciation of the [r] sound 6. A rare type of brain tumour that occurs most commonly in children 7. A headache 8. An electrically charged atom, group of atoms, or molecule 9. Inflammation of the brain and spinal cord 14. Stimuli that originate from outside the body 16. A disorder marked by progressive enlargement of peripheral parts of the body 18. Copied, recreated, replicated, duplicated 22. Nanocurie (1.1) 24. Tridymus 28. Endocrine glands situated in the neck region

THE LAMP SEPTEMBER 2019 | 41

Challenge to find you a better deal

Great discounts and deals for members on a huge range of products and services.

Electrical & Whitegoods Auto Travel & Leisure

Legal, Financial Professional services

Energy

Shopping

Take advantage of Union Shopper’s collective buying power & be part of the savings!

House & Home

1300 368 117 unionshopper.com.au

Join the health fund that’s all about you.

Nurses & Midwives Health is dedicated to caring for the carers. And as a member of NSWNMA, you’re eligible to join!

When you’re a member, you’re part of our family. So that’s why your family members are also welcome to join us.

For your free, side-by-side comparison, and our latest offers, visit nmhealth.com.au or call 1300 344 000 Eligibility criteria and conditions apply. Nurses & Midwives Health Pty Ltd ABN 70 611 479 237.

A Registered Private Health Insurer. NMH-NSWNMA-09/19

42 | THE LAMP SEPTEMBER 2019

REVIEWS

book club

All books can be ordered through the publisher or your local bookshop.

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A scandalous secret. A deadly fire. An agonising choice.

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Joy Rhodes Penguin Books Australia: amazon.com.au RRP $32.99. ISBN 9780143793724

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SPE C

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The Burnt country

INTE IAL

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Australia 1948. As a young woman running Amiens, a sizeable sheep station in New South Wales, Kate Dowd knows she’s expected to fail. And her grazier neighbour is doing his best to ensure she does, attacking her method of burning off to repel a bushfire. But fire risk is just one of her problems. Kate cannot lose Amiens, or give in to her estranged husband, Jack’s demands to sell: the farm is her livelihood and the only protection she can offer her halfsister Pearl, as the Aborigines Welfare Board threatens to take her away.

Soon Kate is putting out fires on all fronts to save her farm, keep her family together and protect the man she loves. Then a catastrophic real fire threatens everything.

Understanding Patient Safety – Third Edition Robert Wachter and Kiran Gupta

McGraw Hill Education: Amazon.com.au RRP $66.82 ISBN 9781259860249

In Understanding Patient Safety, readers will find key insights designed to help them understand and prevent a broad range of errors, including those related to medications, surgery, diagnosis, infections, and nursing care. The crucial contextual issues – including errors at the person-machine interface, the role of culture, patient engagement in their own safety, and workforce and trainee considerations, are also thoroughly covered. Finally, the book provides a practical overview of how to organise an effective safety program, in both hospitals and clinics. The third edition has been revised and updated to reflect important developments in patient safety, including major updates on diagnostic errors.

Dare To Lead – Brave Work. Tough Conversations.

Whole Hearts.

Brené Brown

Ebury Publishing: booktopia.com.au RRP $22.50.

ISBN 9780349010762

Leadership is not about titles, status and power over people. Leaders are people who hold themselves accountable for recognising the potential in people and ideas, and developing that potential. This is a book for everyone who is ready to choose courage over comfort, make a difference and lead.

When we dare to lead, we don’t pretend to have the right answers; we stay curious and ask the right questions. We don’t see power as finite and hoard it; we know that power becomes infinite when we share it and work to align authority and accountability. We don't avoid difficult conversations and situations; we lean into the vulnerability that's necessary to do good work.

Dear Dad Samuel Johnson Hachette Australia: booktopia.com.au RRP $22.99 ISBN 9780733643149

If you could tell your dad anything, what would it be?

Featuring Steve Waugh, Kathy Lette, Trent Dalton, John Paul Young, Danny Green, Kurt Fearnley, Samuel Johnson, John Williamson, Susie Youssef, Michala Banas, Glenn Shorrock, Normie Rowe, Matilda Brown, Shane Jacobson, Brooke Davis, Christie Whelan Browne, Shannon Noll, Russell Morris, Michelle Law, Ben Gillies, Hilde Hinton, Mark Brandi, Sophie Green, Toni Tapp Coutts and more.

A heartfelt, honest and very human book of letters that will make you smile and make you cry. It is the perfect gift for the dad or dad figure in your life.

And a poignant reminder to say how you feel before it is too late.

THE LAMP SEPTEMBER 2019 | 43

o l l He ing Spr

Stay cozy with NSWNMA spring favourites which are not only stylish and comfortable, but also affordable and sold at cost to members.

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1 Navy Aus Vests $40. Sizes: XS-3XL. Australian made and owned. Poly/cotton zip front and side zip pockets 2 Navy Hoodies and 3 Red Hoodies $45. Sizes:10-16 and S-3XL. 80% cotton/20% poly brushed fleece, kangaroo pocket with full lining hood 4 NSWNMA Water Bottle $10. Metallic water bottles with infuser. Stainless Steel inside. For keeping hot and cold beverages.

ORDER FORM

Name Address Postcode

1 Navy Aus Vests $40. Quantity:

Size:

XS

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2XL

2 Navy Hoodies $45. Quantity:

Size:

10

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XXL

4 NSWNMA Water Bottle $10. Quantity:

Postage and handling $5 per item.

44 | THE LAMP SEPTEMBER 2019

MOB

XXXL

Method of Payment Cheque MasterCard

Visa

Money Order

Name of card holder

10

Total cost of order $

W

Email

3 Red Hoodies $45. Quantity:

Size:

3XL

Phone H

XXXL

Card number Expiry date

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Signature

TO ORDER » WWW.NSWNMA.ASN.AU

EMAIL gensec@nswnma.asn.au FAX (02) 9662 1414 POST NSWNMA, 50 O’Dea Ave. Waterloo NSW 2017

LIFE MEMBERS

REVIEWS

New Life Members

at the movies

If you would like to be a movie reviewer, email lamp@nswnma.asn.au

Sue Brazil “We thank Sue for her ongoing commitment to advancing the interests of nurses and midwives, particularly those of rural nurses, her dedication and diligence towards patient safety, for sharing her wealth of knowledge with others to enable innovative ways of learning for nurses and midwives.”

Frank Ross “Frank was awarded life membership for his dedication and commitment to the nursing

Peg Hibbert “Peg’s collaborative and firm approach and respectful manner in her dealings as a branch official, earned her the respect of her colleagues and management and ensured her views were heard and better workplace rostering, nursing staff rights, responsibilities and entitlements implemented.”

MO

“Lucille played a prominent and vital part in every Association and ANMF aged care campaign. Lucille was awarded the Order of Australia for services in NSW and to local government in 2014.”

V

MEM AL

AY

Lucille McKenna

profession, particularly paediatric nursing and his research and work to improve the quality of life of ill children; mentorship during his nursing career of student nurses and his activism over the past few decades as a branch official and support of trade union principles.”

R BE

“No words can really do justice to his persistence, guidance and wise council in bringing the NSWNMA to the forefront of the union movement, both in NSW and at a national level.”

IE

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Tony O’Grady

RUR

The following members were awarded Life Membership over the last year by NSWNMA Council:

GIV E

A

Lynne Ridge “Lynne was involved with and worked on many of the Association’s biggest industrial and trade union campaigns both in NSW and at a national level.

We sincerely thank Lynne for her contribution to the union, the union movement and for her creativity and cleverness.”

Cheat Cheat is a gripping, psychological thriller, at the heart of which is the dangerous relationship between university professor Leah and her student Rose. What begins as a seemingly open and shut case of academic deception, quickly spirals out of control, ending in fatal consequences and triggering a devastating sequence of events that threaten to engulf them both.

FROM LEFT: TONY O’GRADY, LUCILLE MCKENNA, SUE BRAZIL, FRANK ROSS AND PEG HIBBERT.

Email The Lamp by the end of September to be in the draw to win one of five copies of Cheat thanks to Acorn Media. Email your name, membership number, address and telephone number to lamp@nswnma.asn.au for a chance to win!

THE LAMP SEPTEMBER 2019 | 45

DIARY DATES

make a date

Diary Dates for conferences, seminars, meetings and reunions is a free service for members. lamp@nswnma.asn.au

NEW SOUTH WALES PGNA – The Psychogeriatric Nurses Association of Australia 2019 Conference Raise your voice Friday 13 September 2019 University of Wollongong tickets: pgna.org.au/conference info@pgna.org.au 45th International Mental Health Nursing Conference: Integrated Care: People, Practice, Policy 8–10 October 2019 Sydney, NSW www.acmhn2019.com/ Audiometry Nurses’ Association of Australia: 37th Annual Conference and AGM 30 October – 1 November 2019 Taree NSW ($320 members, $360 non-member) www.anaa.asn.au vennetalewis36@gmail.com Australian Women’s Health Nurse Association Symposium – A Meeting of Minds: Advancing Women’s Health 14–15 November 2019 Waterloo, Sydney anne.smart@health.nsw.gov.au annette.heather@health.nsw.gov.au www.womenshealthnurses.asn.au International Dementia Conference 11–12 June, 2020 Sydney Australia www.dementiaconference.com/

EVENTS: INTERSTATE Greening the Healthcare Sector Forum 2019 23–24 September, 2019 St Albans, Vic bit.ly/greeningstlabans

46 | THE LAMP SEPTEMBER 2019

Please send event details in the format used here: event name, date and location, contact details – by the 5th of each preceding month.

Send your event details to: lamp@nswnma.asn.au Fax 02 9662 1414 Post 50 O’Dea Ave, Waterloo NSW 2017. All listings are edited for the purposes of style and space.

Priority is given to non-profit professional events.

The Australian and New Zealand Society of Occupational Medicine (ANZSOM) Annual Scientific Meeting 2019 Sunday 27 October – Wednesday 30 October 2019 The Playford Hotel, Adelaide www.anzsom.org.au/asm-2019 Movement Disorder Chapter Conference 2019 14 November 2019 Adelaide, SA bit.ly/movementdisorder2019 Annual Scientific Meeting of the Australasian Neuroscience Society 2–5 December 2019 Adelaide Convention Centre, Adelaide, SA www.ans.org.au/ans-2019-conference conferences@ans.org.au

INTERNATIONAL International Council of Nurses (ICN) 21st International Conference on Nursing 25–26 September 2019 London, United Kingdom www.icn.ch Australasian Neuroscience Nurses’ Association 17–18 October 2019 Intercontinental Hotel, Wellington New Zealand www.anna.asn.au 2019 World Mental Health Congress 5–8 November 2019 Buenos Aires, Argentina wfmh.global/world-congress-2019 World Endometriosis Society WCE 2020 8–11 May 2020 Shanghai, China endometriosis.ca/world-congress/wce2020/#9

International Council of Nurses (ICN) Congress 2021 Abu Dhabi, UAE www.icn.ch/

EVENTS: REUNIONS 50-Year Anniversary Sydney Hospital Graduate Nurses 1969–1972 Reunion Lunch Sunday, 29 September 2019 Kathleen Wall (Allen) 0420305906 pkwall33@ tpg.com.au Susan Crawford 0400723020 denis.p1@bigpond.com Hastings District Hospital (Port Macquarie) 25-Year Reunion Saturday, 9 November 2019 Karen Slater 0408984864 k.c.slater@bigpond.com RPAH March 1980 40-Year Reunion Saturday, 14 March 2020 Venue: TBA Denise Borwick (McComb) denise.borwick@gmail.com or Michael Talty mtalty22@bigpond.com

CROSSWORD SOLUTION

Scholarship

Activism • Campaign • Advocacy Roz Norman was an outstanding

activist, branch official and Councillor of the NSWNMA and ANMF. In honour of her outstanding contributions, the Roz Norman Scholarship was created to further humanitarian, social or community causes.

The scholarship covers fees for an approved course promoting activism and the development of campaigning skills or public advocacy, including ongoing financial support for reasonable costs associated with campaigning for a period of one year, up to a maximum of $5,000.

NSWNMA Branch Officials or highly active members who can demonstrate leadership qualities are encouraged to apply.

Successful recipients are required to report back to Committee of Delegates (COD) at the end of the scholarship period.

Applications open 1 July, closing 30 September 2019

To apply go to bit.ly/RozNormanScholarship For further enquiries, contact NSWNMA • email: gensec@nswnma.asn.au • METRO: (02) 8595 1234 • RURAL: 1300 367 962

needed it. did it. loved it.

Recruit a new member and go into the draw to win a 5 night Optimal Wellness Program for two at the Golden Door Wellness Retreat & Spa, Hunter Valley valued at over $6,000

THE 2019 – 2020

NSWNMA Member Recruitment scheme prize PRIZE DRAWN 30 JUNE 2020

The perfect place to reset your mind and body and gain a wealth of knowledge to create a healthier, happier and more motivated you. You and a friend will experience: • • • • • •

5 nights’ accommodation in a private villa Personal welcome consultation on arrival All nutritious meals and snacks Diverse selection of group fitness activities, relaxation and mind-body classes Daily program of health education seminars and workshops Use of all the facilities including a heated indoor pool, outdoor pool, tennis courts, gymnasium, indoor activity studios and outdoor relaxation areas • Two luxurious spa treatments including one Classic Facial and one Swedish massage • One wellness consultation with your choice of: wellness coaching, meditation, yoga or standard personal training session • Access to all the spa facilities including steam room, spa bath and relaxation lounges.

Guided by a team of health professionals, this program will give you a complete understanding of the art of skilful living and homegrown wellness – a results driven concept the Golden Door team is highly trained in. Optimise your goals to reach new heights in all aspects of your life.

Every member you sign up over the year gives you an entry in the draw!

RECRUITERS NOTE: Join online at www.nswnma.asn.au If you refer a member to join online, make sure you ask them to put your name and workplace on the online application form, so you will be entered in the draw.

Conditions apply. Prize must be redeemed by 30 June 2021 and is subject to room availability. Block out dates include all Australian and NZ school holidays and Christmas / New Year period. The Optimal Wellness Program commences Sunday through Friday each week. The prize will be drawn on 30 June 2020.

Authorised by unclaimed B. Holmes, General Secretary, Nurses and Midwives’ 50 O’Dea Ave,date.

Waterloo NSWPermit 2017 If a redraw is required for an prize it mustNew beSouth heldWales up to 3 months fromAssociation, the original draw NSW no: LTPM/19/04224.