The Lamp February 2012

lamp The

magazine of the NSW Nurses’ Association

volume 69 no.1 February 2012

VICTORIANS Print Post Approved: PP241437/00033

DEFEND

RATIOS

2011 winners, left to right: Zena Coffey, Paul Esplin and Amanda Klahr

Do you know a remarkable nurse?

Recognise the outstanding efforts of a remarkable nurse by nominating them in one of three categories:

ns c 29 Feb ruary 2 lose 012

Nurse of the Year Innovation in Nursing Graduate Nurse of the Year

$30,000

NOMIN ATE N O Nomin W! atio

S TICKEATLE ON S

NOW

in prizes to be won!*

Winners announced at a gala awards ceremony on Thursday 10 May 2012 at Melbourne’s Crown Entertainment Complex.

*Generously provided by:

Proudly presented by:

hestanursingawards.com hestanursingawards.com Issued ssued by H.E.S.T H.E.S.T. T. Australia Limited ABN 66 006 818 695 AFSL No. 235249 Trustee Trust rustee of HEST HESTA A Super FFund und ABN 64 971 749 321.

CONTENTS

The

Contacts NSW NURSES’ ASSOCIATION For all membership enquiries and assistance, including 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@nswnurses.asn.au W www.nswnurses.asn.au HUNTER OFFICE 8-14 Telford Street, Newcastle East NSW 2300 ILLAWARRA OFFICE L1, 63 Market Street Wollongong NSW 2500

lamp Volume 69 No.1 February 2012

COVER STORY

12 | Victorian nurses fight to protect ratios A battle royale is evolving in Victoria as nurses defend their hard-fought for ratios from a well-organised attack by the Liberal government of Ted Baillieu.

Tracey Meacham

REGULARS

5 6 8 37 39 41 42 45 47 48 49

Editorial Your letters News in brief Obituary Ask Judith Nurse uncut Nursing research online Books At the movies Diary dates Crossword

ACTU

34 | Voices from working Australia With more than 40,000 participants, the ACTU’s Working Australia Census was one of the biggest surveys of workers in Australia’s history.

RATIOS AT RNSH

PRIVATE HOSPITALS

20 | Better care, less stress

28 | New deal for 1100 SAHL nurses

Safe staffing was top of the agenda when the NSWNA negotiated a new agreement with one of Sydney’s biggest private hospitals.

NURSE UNCUT

41 | How to grow your super savings

AGED CARE

30 | Aged care nurses prepare to renew model aged care agreement The first for-profit aged care model agreement negotiated in 2010 brought tangible benefits for nurses employed by more than 50 companies.

NSWNA Communications Manager Janaki Chellam-Rajendra T 8595 1258 For all Lamp editorial enquiries, letters and diary dates: EDITORIAL ENQUIRIES T 8595 1234 E lamp@nswnurses.asn.au M 50 O’Dea Avenue, Waterloo NSW 2017 PRODUCED BY Hester Communications T 9568 3148 PRESS RELEASES Send your press releases to: T 9662 1414 E gensec@nswnurses.asn.au EDITORIAL COMMITTEE • Brett Holmes, NSWNA General Secretary • Judith Kiejda, NSWNA Assistant General Secretary • Coral Levett, NSWNA President • Roz Norman, Tamworth Base Hospital • Elsie May Henson, Barraba Multi Purpose Service • Peg Hibbert, Hornsby & Ku-Ring-Gai Hospital • Michelle Cashman, Long Jetty Continuing Care • Richard Noort, Justice Health ADVERTISING Patricia Purcell T 8595 2139 or 0416 259 845 or 9662 1414 E ppurcell@nswnurses.asn.au RECORDS AND INFORMATION CENTRE – LIBRARY To find old articles in The Lamp, or to borrow from the NSWNA library’s nursing and health collection, contact: Jeannette Bromfield, RIC Coordinator T 8595 2175 E gensec@nswnurses.asn.au

The Lamp ISSN: 0047-3936 General disclaimer The Lamp is the official magazine of the NSWNA. Views expressed in articles are contributors’ own and not necessarily those of the NSWNA. 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 NSWNA takes no responsibility for the advertising appearing herein and it does not necessarily endorse any products advertised.

Privacy Privacy statement: The NSWNA collects personal information from members in order to perform our role of representing their industrial and professional interests. We place great emphasis on maintaining and enhancing the privacy and security of your personal information. Personal information is protected under law and can only be released to someone else where the law requires or where you give permission. If you have concerns about your personal information please contact the NSWNA office. If you are still not satisfied that your privacy is being maintained you can contact the Privacy Commission.

Subscriptions for 2012 Free to all Association members. Professional members can subscribe to the magazine at a reduced rate of $50.

Individuals $78, Institutions $130, Overseas $140.

THE LAMP FEBRUARY 2012 | 3

2012 INTERNATIONAL NURSES’ DAY | 12 MAY 2012

Nurses & Midwives Photographic Competition

‘Nurses & Midwives at Work’ Photographs can speak a thousand words, and what better way than this medium to show and express the interesting and varied work you do as a nurse, midwife or student of nursing or midwifery? We’ll be celebrating International Nurses’ Day, 2012 with an exhibition of the best entries, celebrating the wonderful work nurses and midwives do.

Our sponsor is First State Super which has provided the prizes – $2000 first prize and two $500 runner up prizes. Also, the photographs chosen for exhibition on International Nurses’ Day 2012 will be displayed again at the Association’s Annual Conference in August, so delegates can vote for their favourite photograph. The photographer whose photograph is voted as the most popular will receive $500.

Make sure you get your photograph to us by 16 March!

We are looking forward to receiving your photographs. Make sure you get your entries in to the Association by 16 March 2012.

ion For more informat WNA regarding the NS ives Nurses and Midw phic at Work Photogra Competition see .asn.au www.nswnurses

Proudly sponsored by

Authorised by B. Holmes, General Secretary, NSWNA

NSWNAPhotoComp.indd 1

23/01/12 1:08 PM

EDITORIAL

BY BRETT HOLMES GENERAL SECRETARY

History repeats in Victoria Victorian nurses are embroiled in a tough dispute, pitted against a well-organised and determined Liberal government, over ratios and pay. This may be an important cautionary tale for nurses in New South Wales.

Victorian nurses had to fight each time to retain and extend what they had won.

AS THE LAMP WENT TO PRINT TALKS between Victorian nurses and the Baillieu Government were about to recommence, following a brief lull over Christmas and after several bruising months at the end of 2011.

Some interesting observations can be made about the process so far, with possible lessons to be learnt from the experience of our Victorian colleagues in dealing with their new state government.

Ratios were implemented in Victoria 12 years ago after a catastrophic period for the Victorian health system under the previous Liberal government, led by Jeff Kennett.

Kennett slashed 2000 nursing positions from the public health system. On his watch, 16% of the health workforce lost their jobs. He cut permanent employment in the public sector and the health system became dependent on agency nurses.

It was out of this mess that the impetus for ratios came.

VICTORIAN NURSES HAVE ALWAYS HAD TO DEFEND RATIOS

Ratios became a reality when the newly elected Bracks Government agreed to fund the new positions that were required to fill them.

It was never a certainty that ratios would remain in subsequent enterprise bargaining campaigns run in 2004 and 2007, however.

Victorian nurses had to fight each time – with a Labor government – to retain and extend what they had won.

Ted Baillieu promised to maintain ratios before the last Victorian state election. In hindsight, that looks like the first duplicitous act towards his state’s nurses. More were to come.

A Cabinet-in-Confidence paper, leaked to The Age in November, revealed a very sophisticated and well-planned strategy to roll back ratios and limit wage increases. This strategy, which involved provoking nurses into industrial action, was being implemented as the Department of Health was theatrically and dishonestly denying that it was stonewalling negotiations.

Despite the 12-year hiatus, there seems to be continuity between the actions of the Baillieu Government and the government of his Liberal predecessor Jeff Kennett.

FAIR WORK ACT NEEDS FIXING

A lesson that is obvious from the Victorian dispute is that the Fair Work Act has weaknesses that need to be addressed by the Gillard Government.

The Fair Work Act has many admirable features. It rolled back the nasty excesses of Work Choices and introduced important protections for individual workers.

But during large scale, intractable disputes such as at Cochlear, more recently at Qantas and now with the Victorian nurses, a loophole has become apparent, large enough for unscrupulous employers to drive a bus through.

While there is a requirement for employers to begin and conduct enterprise bargaining, there is no legal imperative for them to conclude an agreement.

For workers involved in health there is also a section of the act that allows for protected industrial action to be suspended or terminated if it ‘endangers the life, personal safety or health or the welfare of the population or a part of it’.

The Victorian nurses’ dispute shows how this part of the Fair Work Act can be manipulated and abused by employers.

LET’S BE ON GUARD

We will not jump to the conclusion that the NSW government will follow the Victorian strategy, yet prudence suggests that we need to be vigilant.

After the last NSW state election, the O’Farrell Government agreed to abide by the Memorandum of Understanding negotiated between the NSWNA and the previous Labor government.

We welcomed that announcement and acknowledge that, so far, they have stood by their word.

It is now less than 18 months till the current agreement expires. Our hope is that the O’Farrell Government recognises the enormous benefits ratios bring to our health system and to the people who count – the citizens of NSW. If anything, ratios should be extended into other areas where they are needed and a good government will plan to do so.

THE LAMP FEBRUARY 2012 | 5

LETTERS LETTERS

LETTER OF THE MONTH

Nursing is a battle Not many careers are simultaneously soul destroying and life affirming.

As a Childrens Cancer Nurse, my first two weeks were spent crying my way home from work and being dumbfounded so as to how something so cruel could happen to ones so pure. My tears, however, dried up after those first two weeks and I haven't cried since. Not once, not even when multiple patients die on the same day.

I'm coping better than I thought I would, though who knows how much damage the daily terrors of paediatric oncology is inflicting on my subconscious. My partner tells me that almost every night I awake with a startle or a flinch when he caresses my sleeping hand.

At work, the fear and terror of families is palpable; if you pause a moment to feel its presence. It presents itself in faces, gestures, sleepless

EENs upgrading to RNs I would love to see an article exploring the role of the Endorsed Enrolled Nurse and why it is so difficult for them to upgrade their registration to Registered Nurse.

I am an Endorsed Enrolled Nurse (EEN) who completed my certificate in Enrolled Nursing (EN) in 2001. I went on to update my registration with the medication endorsement in 2010 and have been working since 2001 as an EN and EEN respectively in specialist practices and in hospital clinical settings since embarking on my career 10 years ago.

However, since applying to universities throughout NSW, I have repeatedly had the door slammed in my face for any ‘accelerated’ program, as my credentials are considered past their used by date. I have been advised that I would need to complete the entire three-year degree that would allow me to become a Registered Nurse.

While I understand that some of the course requirements have changed, I believe that we need to take a very good look at the course requirements for EENs looking to upgrade their registration. To spend an entire year, or in some cases two years, on units that have next to no relevance for a practicing nurse, not to mention clinical placements where I am being taught how to take a blood

pressure, is a little insulting to someone who manages the care of up to 10 patients alone in a busy medical ward in a Sydney hospital.

There has to be a more practical way for universities to ensure that EENs are learning to become Registered Nurses, with units of study that are relevant to enhancing their theoretical knowledge, and practicals that enhance their performance on the ward.

To be told that my 10 years of experience as a nurse counts for nothing when I apply to become a Registered Nurse, has been one of the most deflating experiences of my career.

When hospitals and other health care facilities are screaming for nurses, and when I am constantly reading about health care facilities that are shutting beds because of a shortage of nurses, I find it incredulous that educational facilities are making it so difficult and impractical for EENs to upgrade their registration.

I would love to see this addressed but am not sure where to begin.

Yours faithfully, A 1st year nursing student with 10 years’ clinical practice experience as a nurse

6 | THE LAMP FEBRUARY 2012

nights and unknown medical terminology. Every element of my workplace is laced with parents' greatest fear realised.

Rationalisation and logical analysis play no part in this nonsensical world. I cannot understand why these children have been given this fate, no matter how much time I have spent pondering it. Indeed one could go quite mad trying to figure it out. Therefore, I have found distraction and

professional distance great enablers in allowing me to carry out my work. Great comfort can be derived when staff choose to busy themselves with tasks-at-hand, turning their minds to the banal and blessedly boring.

And it seems I'm not alone.

Yesterday, as I was pinning a spindly child to his bed and forcing a tube down his nose; a chaotic scene involving wild protests, tears and limbs being flung in all directions, I

More ‘Needless Hurdles’ I am a Registered Nurse who has been out of the workforce for the past six years after having four children. I naively thought I would go back to work once my youngest child started kindergarten. I was totally unprepared for what AHPRA had in-store for nurses (and other health professionals) like myself, when I tried to renew my registration last year.

I have been advised by AHPRA that I need to complete an Assessment of Competency Course through the College of Nursing within the next 12 months.

The fact that there is only one course available – full-time for eight weeks and with up-front payment of $10 000 – makes the whole process of re-registration bordering on discrimination against nurses who have left the workforce to have families.

There must be many other nurses who, like myself, wish to return to work either part-time or casually after several years of full-time parenting, and may not be able to commit to a full-time course; with the demands of

family and study after hours this course seems very daunting and unachievable.

Not-to-mention the cost, which is indeed half-clinical – are the students paying the clinical providers to enable them to complete their clinical practice while they are working in their hospital/facility? I would love to know whose pockets that money is lining.

The time then taken to reimburse such course fees, if only returning to work on a casual basis, will also be lengthy.

The whole purpose of me returning to work (apart from loving it) is to help us get out of debt, not deeper into it!

One must also take into account the added cost of childcare/before and after school hours. And don’t forget the added pressure on families of maintaining the usual routines of meals, housework, homework, extra-curricular activities etc.

Where would one fit in the extra hours of study required for the course?

I have four children under the age of 10. My eldest daughter has special needs, meaning drastic changes to family routines are likely to negatively affect her, making the ability to complete a full-time course even more challenging.

I am a firm believer that a career in nursing is a calling. I felt compelled by the age of 15 to become a nurse. I completed Enrolled Nursing after my HSC,

LETTERS

happened to glance across at the cleaner.

I saw that she was furiously scrubbing a spot on the floor.

Averting her eyes to the plight of this child, she seemed very preoccupied with this stubborn spot on the floor! As she turned to face the opposite wall, I noticed her wiping a few tears from her eyes.

You quickly learn the art of professional distance. When discussing my favourite little child, a more experienced nurse flatly told me "don't have a favourite, they might die". Her bluntness struck me. Though as time went on,

I learned she wasn't saying this out of cruelty. She was saying it out of the need to self preserve. A smart tactical move in the ward-asbattlefield; necessary for not only the survival, but the longevity of the nurse.

I have always wanted to be a mother, though after working with families of children with cancer I have some serious doubts. How few could muster the motherly strength to trek through treatment? To be presented with a large black vortex and be asked to step inside? Yet all of them do. Who knows what I would be like in this situation; the

thought scares me off having children almost entirely.

What astounds me are those nurses who are mothers of young kids, and yet can care for a dying patient the same age as their child. My experience has been to spoil my young niece with exorbitant amounts of clothes and toys, surely as an indirect reaction to what I see every day, or perhaps in the rejoicing of a life untainted.

Like all things in life there is balance; the horrid aspects of the job are somewhat balanced by the best parts of humanity. Everyday

and went on to work my way through university as a part-time and agency EN. After marrying, I became a CNS in anaesthetics at St George Hospital and worked until having my third child.

I am passionate about nursing.

I love working in a dynamic team environment and I have many more working years ahead of me. I feel frustrated by the thought that I may not be able to re-join the nursing workforce if I have to study full-time, as this will cause great sufferance to my family, and ultimately, myself. At the moment I feel that the new system that is being enforced by AHPRA is unfair and is letting nurses, and the future of nursing for people with young families, down, at a time when the demand for nurses is so great.

Are any efforts being made to cater for nurses, like myself, who may only be able to study part-time? And are there any

subsidies/grants/scholarships available to help with the cost of the Assessment of Competence course? What is the Nurses’ Association doing to support nurses in my position?

Nerida Chedra, RN

these new requirements could amount to discrimination against nurses and midwives with caring responsibilities.We have also made representations to NaMO and the Minister with regard the lack of affordable and accessible re-entry options for nurses wishing to return to work. As a result of this agitation NaMO announced a small number of $6000 scholarships to nurses wishing to undertake the College of Nursing course but we are advised that few nurses were able to take advantage of these due to issues such as childcare and costs of travel and accommodation for nurses outside metropolitan Sydney.

Be assured that the Association is extremely concerned about this situation and we continue to advocate strongly for these skilled nurses and midwives who are so desperately needed within the system.We are aware that some nurses have contacted local media outlets to raise awareness of this situation and pressure NSW Health to act and we support these efforts.

Editor’s response The Association is deeply concerned about your situation and many other nurses and midwives who find themselves similarly disadvantaged.

We are aware that, despite extensive coverage in the Lamp and other NSWNA fora, there are many nurses and midwives who are only becoming aware of the new requirements as they seek to renew their registration.That fact that the new requirements have been applied retrospectively is particularly galling given that many of these nurses and midwives have taken extended breaks for family responsibilities believing that there would be few if any barriers to returning to work.

The Association has raised concerns with NMBA about the fact that

LETTER OF THE MONTH The letter judged the best each month will be awarded a $50 Coles Myer voucher courtesy of Moore Equipment. ‘Clever carts to help clever nurses.’ For details on the range of clax carts please call (02) 9519 5540 or visit www.moore equipmentcom.au Every letter published receives a $20 Coles Group & Myer Gift card.

SAY SOMETHING

Send your letters to: Editorial Enquiries email lamp@nswnurses.asn.au fax 9662 1414 mail 50 O’Dea Avenue, Waterloo NSW 2017.

Please include a high resolution photo along with your name, address, phone and membership number.

Letters may be edited for clarity and space.

astounding moments happen; tender moments that make all the emotional baggage of the job worthwhile. Seeing a sickly little patients' eyes come to life when someone blows bubbles above their bedspace, the delivery of "I love you" in a small voice, a parents quick "thankyou" at 3am you're leaving the room.

The trump card however, is that inevitable moment when a new patient replaces her silent and fearful stare with a flicker of recognition and a smile when you walk into her room. There is surely nothing better than that.

Amanda Mason-Jones

Thank you I would like to thank the union for supporting me in this cause (see article ‘Needless Hurdles’ The Lamp November 2011).

I am a professional member and since the issue of recency of practice standards has gone public, I have received correspondence from many nurses who have gone to a lot of trouble to track me down.

They are in the same position as me and are thanking me for going public, wishing me well or just wanting to talk to someone else going through this devastating loss of identity. I do not intend to take this lying down and I am fighting for more than just myself.

I have also just been successful in gaining a NSW Health scholarship to attend the assessment of competence course at the College of Nursing.

Thank you again!

Janelle Atkinson, RN THE LAMP FEBRUARY 2012 | 7

NEWS IN BRIEF

60

Britain

%

OECD slams attack on NHS

of patients WAITED FOUR WEEKS TO SEE A SPECIALIST IN

2005 28% 2010

DOWN TO IN

‘We calculate that each reform costs two years of improvements in quality.’

Britain has one of the world’s best health systems and proposed reforms by the conservative Cameron Government will undermine its quality, according to a landmark report into international health.

The British Parliament is considering a radical new health bill that would see a far greater role for the private sector in the National Health Service (NHS). The wisdom of such reform is questioned in a report by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), which gave a glowing endorsement of the NHS. Deaths by heart attack have been cut by two-thirds since 1980; the public rarely has to pay to meet health needs; and citizens have comparable life expectancies to their neighbours in Europe. The UK also scores well on global diseases: less than 5% of adults had diabetes in 2010, contrasting with 10% in the United States.

The report warns, however, that each major reform sets back the health system.

‘The UK is one of the best performers in the world. But outcomes are not what you expect because there is a big reform every five years. We calculate that each reform costs two years of improvements in quality. No country reforms its health service as frequently as the UK,’ Mark Pearson, an economist and head of health at the OECD told The Guardian newspaper.

The OECD acknowledged improvements in the NHS, including dramatically cut waiting times, under the previous Labour government. In 2005, 60% of patients waited four weeks to see a specialist; by 2010 that figure was 28%.

The report flagged future problems due to the cutbacks in care services and noted the large proportion of over-50s looking after family. In the UK, 15% of over-50s reported themselves ‘carers’ almost double the figure in some Nordic countries.

Pearson warned that having no ‘institutional set-up’ to deal with social care would extract a high economic price. ‘Caring for family reduces a worker’s pay, their hours of work, affects their health. It’s a cost.’

United States

US health: expensive and inferior A recent OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) report into international health has found that Americans pay far more for healthcare each year than people in any other OECD country, yet still die earlier than their peers in the industrialised world.

The cost of healthcare in the United States is 62% higher than in Switzerland, which has a similar per capita income and also relies substantially on private health insurance. The OECD said American life expectancy of 78.2 years ranked the country 28th among member nations. The US ranked fourth from the bottom for premature mortality, a statistic focusing on deaths among younger people, reflecting dangers posed by violence, accidents and environmental hazards. Only Hungary, Mexico and Russia had a worse record.

Other negative characteristics of the US health system highlighted by the OECD included: • an ‘underdeveloped’ primary care system with a marked shortage of family doctors and high rates of avoidable hospital admissions for people with asthma, lung disease, diabetes, hypertension and other common illnesses.

• pharmaceutical costs about 60% higher than in a range of European countries.

Americans have fewer doctors and hospital beds, make fewer doctor visits, go to the hospital less often and stay for shorter lengths of time than about three-quarters of people in other OECD countries.

The OECD said one reason prices are higher in the United States is that the healthcare system lacks an effective government mechanism to keep prices down. In 2010, the Obama administration tried to change the trajectory of US health with its bitterly contested healthcare reform law, which sought to control costs by altering incentives for doctors and other providers. The legislation now faces a constitutional challenge in the American Supreme Court and Republican presidential candidates have called for its repeal.

8 | THE LAMP FEBRUARY 2012

COMPETITION@NSWNA

1,800,000

Britain

Aged care in ‘absolute crisis’

The British government’s relentless attack on public services has created an ‘absolute crisis’ in care for older people, according to the charity Age UK.

PENSIONERS LIVE BENEATH THE POVERTY LINE

The charity’s director, Michelle Mitchell, told The Guardian newspaper that increasing numbers of older people with high care needs were ‘getting absolutely no support at all, or poor quality and limited support’ as a result of budget cuts. Her comments were backed up by research showing that the number of older people who need significant care support, but receive no assistance, will reach almost 900,000 in 2012, rising to one million by 2015.

‘Care is in crisis and it is getting worse.

We have evidence to show that local authorities have cut care for older people by 4.5% this year, and this at a time when social care is chronically underfunded anyway.’

The squeeze on care services comes as older people are being forced to ‘eke out’ an existence on the edge of poverty due to rising fuel and food prices, Mitchell said. Age UK says 1.8 million pensioners live beneath the poverty line, one million of them in ‘severe poverty’.

‘One of the biggest worries, whether you are in poverty or whether you are managing on a very, very low income, is that the cost of living is increasing rapidly. This is a story about breadline Britain and the eking out of an existence for millions of pensioners.’

Australia

Paid to sleep A research study on night work in the nursing sector is being conducted by three of Australia’s leading sleep medicine research facilities in Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide.

The researchers are looking for night duty workers (from the same ward, area or department) who work a minimum of 3 consecutive night shifts per week to undertake one more ‘simulated’ night duty in their Glebe sleep unit.

Teams of two are ideal. There is payment for participation. The research is a requirement of the Nurses Night Duty Wage Case.

The Sleep and Circadian group of the Woolcock Institute of Medical Research, University of Sydney, situated in Glebe Point Road, Glebe will undertake the research in NSW. For further information on the study and to determine if you are eligible to participate, please contact the Woolcock Institute, Sleep and Circadian Group, Clinical Research Operations, at volunteers@woolcock.org.au or 02 9114 0450 or 02 9114 0488.

Win Sydney’s short break escape – Grand Pacific Drive DISCOVER GRAND PACIFIC DRIVE ...

The Lamp is offering a 4 night coastal getaway package for two lucky adults including a beach escape with some enticing activities!

Located just 1 hour south of Sydney, your entrance to Wollongong will be an experience you won’t forget. The 140km Grand Pacific Drive encompasses some of the most spectacular scenery and coastline in NSW. From Royal National Park (world’s second oldest) to Wollongong and beyond, the route takes you via spectacular driving scenery through rainforests, over the iconic Sea Cliff Bridge and nearby coastal villages. The drive then heads into the bustling beachside city of Wollongong and beautiful coastal towns of Shellharbour, Kiama, and ending in the Shoalhaven region.

Grand Pacific Drive package includes: 4 night mid-week stay in a deluxe two-bedroom cabin at Corrimal Beach Tourist Park Two entry tickets to Jamberoo Action Park Two entry tickets to Illawarra Fly Treetop Walk Two adult tickets on EXTREME Beach & Bay cruise with Dolphin Watch Cruises Two adult tickets with Just Cruisin’ Motorcycle Tours (one-hour tour).

To enter the competition, simply write your name, address and membership number on the back of an envelope and send it to: Grand Pacific Drive Competition 50 O’Dea Avenue, Waterloo, NSW 2017.

Competition closes 29 February 2012. Note: one entry per member.

Terms and conditions: valid until 30 June 2012, Monday to Thursday stay only.

Not valid with any other offer. Not available peak period, weekends or public holidays. Terms and conditions apply. Subject to availability.

NEWS IN BRIEF

United States

Bung hips to cost billions

$1 billion PAID BY SULZER ORTHOPEDICS TO

6800

PATIENTS

The failure of thousands of all-metal artificial hips is expected to cost American taxpayers and insurers billions of dollars in coming years, according to the New York Times (NYT).

The metal-on-metal hips, in which a device’s ball and joint are made of metal, are failing at high rates within a few years, instead of lasting 15 years or more as artificial joints normally do, says the NYT. The wear of metal parts against each other is generating debris that is damaging tissue and, in some cases, crippling patients.

In the litigious US system the failing hips have led to more than 5000 lawsuits and complaints against makers of all-metal replacement hips. All-metal implants account for nearly one-third of hip replacements performed each year in the United States.

Some 500,000 patients have received an allmetal replacement hip, according to one estimate.

Last year the DePuy division of Johnson & Johnson recalled one all-metal model that had been implanted in 40,000 patients in the United States. Some 3500 patients filed a lawsuit involving that device.

Ten years ago Sulzer Orthopedics paid a staggering $1 billion to settle claims by 6800 patients who received artificial hips and knees that were contaminated with industrial oil during the manufacturing process. The failure of all-metal hips is expected to make this payout look like small beer, with the financial burden contributing to the soaring cost of American healthcare.

Australia

NBN boost to veterans’ health The Federal Government has launched an $8 million trial of technology to support chronic care management of critically ill veterans living at home, using the National Broadband Network.

Veterans Affairs Minister Warren Snowdon said the initiative would take advantage of reliable, high-speed, high-capacity broadband to improve the way health services are delivered to veterans.

‘Vital statistics will be monitored from home and veterans will also have access to high definition video consultations with their GP or nurse coordinator when required,’ he said.

‘This will ensure the veterans’ health can be observed, irregularities can be identified and appropriate GP intervention provided in a timely manner.’

The trial will take place in Toowoomba in Queensland, Coffs Harbour and Armidale in New South Wales, Mandurah and Geraldton in Western Australia, and Kingston Beach in Tasmania, and is expected to benefit around 300 veterans.

Australia

Aboriginal health bodies advise e-health caution The National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation (NACCHO) says data obtained from e-health records could provide an incomplete picture of Aboriginal health, with adverse implications for funding.

The organisation says de-identified data will provide useful statistics around populations and diseases, but warns that the opt-in for e-health records will provide ‘an incomplete picture’ of the health of indigenous people.

‘There are concerns that new funding models for government initiatives may be created from these figures, and that will cause the sector to be underfunded for its work,’ a NACCHO spokesperson said.

The Aboriginal Medical Services Alliance Northern Territory agrees. ‘The PCEHR (Personally Controlled Electronic Health Record) must be recognised as a tool for better health outcomes for all Australians, and not a method to determine resource allocation.’

The two organisations also fear that de-identified data poses a risk to people living in small communities, where it ‘is not unforeseeable that a person and their medical information can be identified by just their location and age range’.

10 | THE LAMP FEBRUARY 2012

NEWS IN BRIEF

Australia

Speak up for OHS The ACTU has launched a new national awareness campaign called Speak Up, to inform workers of their rights, and employers of their obligations, under harmonised health and safety laws.

ACTU Assistant Secretary Michael Borowick says it is important workers understand that they have enhanced rights to elect their own health and safety representatives under the harmonised occupational health and safety (OHS) system that began on 1 January, 2012.

‘Workers need to know that when they are confronted by a health or safety issue in their workplace, they don’t have to deal with it alone,’ he said. ‘They have an ironclad right, under law, to elect their own health and safety representatives. These reps act as watchdogs within the workplace, making employers comply with the law well before regulators have to become involved.

‘They have the right to stop work and demand improvements when there are health or safety concerns.

‘Employers who interfere with the work of health and safety reps, or refuse to allow them to properly represent their workmates, are breaking the law.’

The ACTU has launched a new website www.safeatwork.org.au as part of the campaign. The website will be a hub of information for workers and OHS reps, about common health and safety issues, rights and obligations, tips for safer workplaces, legislation, and news. Workers will also be able to post questions about health and safety and get advice from union experts.

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THE LAMP FEBRUARY 2012 | 11

COVER STORY

Victorian nurses in fight to protect ratios A battle royale is evolving in Victoria as nurses defend their hard-fought-for ratios from a well-organised attack by the Liberal government of Ted Baillieu.

A petition of 40,000 signatures was presented to Minister David Davis, following a march on his office on 16 December.

12 | THE LAMP FEBRUARY 2012

A MAJOR CONFRONTATION LOOMS in the Victorian health system as the state’s nurses mobilise against the Baillieu Government’s push to abolish nurse/midwife ratios, replace nurses with health assistants and replace eight-hour shifts with split shifts and fourhour shifts.

After nearly 400 hours of fruitless negotiations in enterprise bargaining, as 2011 drew to a close the ANF (Vic) moved to industrial action and community rallies.

The government’s strategy has followed the script outlined in a secret plot signed off by health minister David Davis, in a Cabinetin-Confidence document dated May last year, that was leaked to The Age newspaper in November.

According to The Age the Baillieu Government developed a secret plan to goad the state’s nurses into industrial action so it could force them into arbitration, cut nurse numbers and replace them at hospital bedsides with low-skilled ‘health assistants’.

The Victorian cabinet paper detailed a plan to: • cut the annual nursing budget by $104 million; • make nurse-to-patient ratios more ‘flexible’; • replace RNs with low-paid, low-skilled ‘health assistants’; • introduce shorter shifts and split shifts.

The government estimated these cuts would deliver 4% in savings. In return it would agree to a 3.5% pay rise. By comparison,Victorian police late last year received a 4.7% per annum pay rise.

NURSES WON’T TRADE PATIENTS FOR PAY ANF (Vic) secretary Lisa Fitzpatrick says her members will never trade off patient safety for a pay rise.

‘Working with unlimited health assistants, as part of the existing nurse/patient ratios in acute care with seriously ill patients, is unacceptable. Nurses and midwives have serious

What you can do to support Victorian nurses Register your support and participate in online actions through their Respect Our Work campaign website: respectourwork.com.au Engage in the campaign and spread the word through the campaign’s Facebook page: www.facebook.com/Re spectOurWork?sk=wall Donate to the Victorian nurses’ hardship fund.

Many nurses and midwives have had their pay docked for participating in industrial action. The hardship fund has been set up to help nurses and midwives, who are found to be in need, to put food on their dinner tables and to meet urgent bills. anfvic.wufoo.com/ forms/2011-vic-nursesmidwives-hardshipfund-donations/

More than 10,000 ANF members, their families, friends and community supporters marched on Parliament House.

Community rallies were held outside Victorian metropolitan and regional hospitals during the last two weeks of December.

concerns that the Baillieu Government fails to recognise that its push to replace nurses with health assistants, and cut their hours, ignores the strong evidence that shows lower qualified nursing numbers are linked to poorer patient outcomes,’ she said.

‘If patient care is compromised – or something goes seriously wrong – it will be the nurse or midwife, who has no control over staffing-level decisions, who must accept the legal responsibility and the legal consequences.

It will be the nurse or midwife called before the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency and the courts.’

PROVOCATION IS GOVERNMENT STRATEGY A key government tactic in the secret plot revealed by The Age was to force the ANF into ‘forced arbitration’ rather than ‘consent arbitration’ in Fair Work Australia.

Due to limitations on Fair Work Australia’s power under the Australian Constitution, forced arbitration can not include ratios. The dispute over ratios can only be resolved by genuine negotiation, or by reaching agreement on a process allowing a Fair Work Australia member to decide through less formal ‘consent’ arbitration.

Lisa Fitzpatrick says both the Baillieu Government and the Victorian Hospitals Industrial Association have lacked good faith during talks and have dragged out the negotiations.

‘Government negotiators staged a ‘breakdown’ in negotiations to bait nurses and midwives into taking further industrial action that would pull the ‘forced arbitration’ trigger.

Industrial action would also trigger Federal Court proceedings against nurses and midwives and the ANF.’ NURSES WALK A FINE LINE Despite the legal dangers presented by industrial action, Victorian nurses have been successful in maintaining pressure on the government.

Results of a secret ballot of 30,000 members (the largest protected action ballot in Australian history), conducted by the Australian Electoral Committee, were released on 4 November and showed 98% support for industrial action, including closing beds.

Protected industrial action began on 12 November. A mass meeting at Melbourne’s Festival Hall on 21 November moved to continue closing beds, implement bans on paperwork and for nurses to wear their campaign t-shirts at work.

Three days later, more than 10,000 ANF members, their families, friends and community supporters marched on Victoria’s Parliament House.

The ANF (Vic) had to change tack after Fair Work Australia suspended protected industrial action for 90 days, after the government argued that industrial action endangered or threatened to endanger the health, welfare or safety of the community.

The ANF complied with the order and moved from industrial action to a series of community rallies across Victoria.

More than 30 community rallies were held outside Victorian metropolitan and regional hospitals during the last two weeks of December. A petition of 40,000 signatures was presented to Minister David Davis, following a march on his office on 16 December. The same day, a statewide ANF members’ meeting moved to give individual consideration to resigning en masse from the Victorian public health system, in light of the risks to registration, duty of care and deterioration of employment conditions.

As The Lamp went to print, conciliation talks between ANF, theVictorian Hospitals Industrial Association and Baillieu Government were to resume in Fair Work Australia (FWA), with the assistance of a FWA commissioner.

THE LAMP FEBRUARY 2012 | 13

COVER STORY

More nurses make the difference Tracey Meacham was driven out of the Victorian public health system by Jeff Kennett’s scorched earth policy, came back when ratios were introduced and is now perplexed by the Baillieu Government’s attempt to roll them back.

TRACEY MEACHAM HAS SOME BAD memories of working as a nurse in Victoria under Jeff Kennett.

‘It was very stressful, full of pressure and hard work and conditions were unsafe.We just didn’t have enough nurses,’ she says.

At the time, Tracey was working at the Peter MacCullum Cancer Institute as an oncology nurse.

The pressures and the risks finally drove her out of the profession.

‘It wasn’t a decision I made easily. It was difficult. I thought I’d chosen the wrong career. I had colleagues leaving and making other career choices. They too found it too hard and too stressful,’ she says. ‘There weren’t enough of us to give good patient care. I had fears for patient safety. I also had fears for my national registration. It was on the line if safety wasn’t right.’

Tracey says she was aware that if something went wrong she would be held personally responsible.

‘You’d be drawn over the coals. You’d end up taking the blame. So, you found yourself powerless, that you were pushed into a corner and the only choice you had was to resign.’ …continued page 17

14 | THE LAMP FEBRUARY 2012

THE GESTATION & BIRTH OF VICTORIAN RATIOS A TIMELINE

1992

Tracey: ‘I noticed that ratios made a difference.

I found it safer and I felt supported.’

Life in Victoria’s hospitals became very tough after the election of the Kennett Liberal Government. Within two years of being elected, Kennett had slashed permanent employment in the public sector. About 16% of those in the health workforce lost jobs. Incredibly, the government argued that there was an over supply of nurses and eliminated 2000 nursing positions.

This slash and burn of nurses’ positions occurred during a period of steeply increasing demand in public hospitals.

1992–99 By the end of the 1990s, when Kennett had allowed hospitals to staff as they wished, with flexibility, there were more than 1300 vacant permanent nursing and midwifery positions and 400 hospital beds closed every day.

1999 The election of the Bracks Labor Government created the political opening for the introduction and implementation of nurse-to-patient ratios.

2000 Victorian nurses include nurse-to-patient ratios as a centerpiece of their enterprise bargaining campaign.

The ANF argues that the use of agency nurses is driving committed permanent nursing staff to leave the health sector and that this will undermine the professional integrity of nursing and the supply of nurses overall. When the ANF puts it case to the Australian Industrial Relations Commission (AIRC), testimony from nurses, about their workloads, is so compelling that even employers begin to acknowledge the need to address the issue of workload and its influence on nurse professionalism and patient safety. The ANF convincingly argued that a system-wide problem of work intensification called for a system-wide solution. On 31 August 2000, the AIRC ruled that nurse-to-patient ratios represented the most effective response to both the workload and staffing crises facing the Victorian health sector. The Bracks Government agreed to fund nursing positions to comply with the outcome of the arbitration proceedings, allocating $198 million to fund ratio positions. In 2001 another $300 million was set aside.

2004–07 With the Victorian Labor government still in power, ratios were renewed in Enterprise Bargaining Agreements (EBAs) negotiated in 2004 and 2007, but only following sustained pressure from nurses.

Tracey says she and many others are prepared to resign en masse if that is the only way to bring the government to its senses.

THE LAMP FEBRUARY 2012 | 15

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…from page 14

It became too much for Tracey and after 10 years as a nurse, she left.

‘I went off and had a family, worked in a sandwich bar and in family day care looking after kids. But I missed nursing.You don’t go into nursing. It chooses you. I really missed it.’

Six years and a change of government later, an advertising campaign that extolled the virtues of improved working conditions, with ratios, rekindled Tracey’s desire for the profession.

‘It was splashed all over the papers ‘Come back to nursing. Ratios have been introduced.’They offered refresher courses for six weeks. It was fantastic.The government was using ratios to get people back. And we did come back.

‘When I walked back in the door I thought ‘this is the place for me.’ I noticed that ratios made a difference. I found it safer and I felt supported.’

Tracey says she is stunned that the government now wants to take it all away.

‘It’s crazy. I can’t believe here we are today fighting for ratios. 10 years ago it got us all back. Now we are defending them again. It makes me very sad.

‘There’s no other workforce that has to fight so hard for community safety. It doesn’t seem fair.’

Tracey says she and many others are prepared to resign en masse if that is the only way to bring the government to its senses.

‘It’s a huge decision. It’s very out of character for me to do this but I feel very passionate. I look at nurses before me and wonder what is the legacy I will leave behind? I have to fight. Resigning is about taking a stand. If we lose ratios we’ll never get them back.’

Tracey says NSW nurses should be appreciative and protective of what they have won.

‘You can’t take ratios for granted. Celebrate and talk about them.They keep management honest. It means they have to keep staff levels up and safe. Ratios need to be talked about and be part of the language.’

‘It’s crazy.

I can’t believe here we are today fighting for ratios.’

SO

FAR

may 2011 The cabinet of the Victorian Liberal government signs off on a secret plot to provoke the state’s nurses into industrial action so it can force them into arbitration, cut nurse numbers and replace them at hospital bedsides with low-skilled ‘health assistants’.

july 2011 ANF serves a ‘log of claims’ on each of the public health services that make up the Victorian public health sector.

This log took the form of the current EBA, with amendments to reflect improved ratios, new ratios and various improvements in wages and conditions.

IN THE

CURRENT

C A M PA I G N

october 2011

16 november 2011

The Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) undertakes the largest protected action ballot in Australian history.

More than 30,000 ANF members received a ballot paper and more than 98% of nurses and midwives approve the proposed industrial action, allowing protected action including bed closures.

Fair Work Australia hands down a decision ‘suspending’ protected industrial action for 90 days from 17 November, rather than terminating as sought by the government.

9 november 2011

24 november 2011 More than 10,000 ANF members, family, friends and the community rally in Bourke Street Mall and march to Parliament House.

The Age newspaper publishes a story regarding lock out plans of the Baillieu Government.

12 november 2011 Protected industrial action commences, including bed closures and bans on paperwork.

16 december 2011 Statewide ANF members’ meeting decides to give individual consideration to resigning en masse from Victorian public health system, in light of risks to registration, duty of care and deterioration of employment conditions.

16 december 2011 december 2011 More than 30 rallies held outside Victorian metropolitan and regional hospitals.

ANF members deliver petition containing more than 40,000 signatures to Minister David Davis following a march to his office from Dallas Brooks Centre.

THE LAMP FEBRUARY 2012 | 17

COVER STORY

Fair Work Act needs more work Although it has delivered many benefits for workers, employers have found a major weakness in the Fair Work Act and, as Victorian ANF Industrial Officer Leigh Hubbard explains, are setting out to exploit it.

CERTAINLY, THE FAIR WORK ACT introduced in 2009 is much better for protecting vulnerable individuals and for initiating and conducting the enterprise bargaining process.

Among other things the new Act: • reintroduced unfair dismissal in workplaces of less than 100 employees; • abolished individual contracts (Australian Workplace Agreements); • introduced a more stringent test for new agreements against existing Award and Agreement standards; • established new bargaining rules that require both sides to bargain in good faith and ensure that an employer can’t put dodgy agreements to a vote without time for proper consideration by employees.

But when it comes to intractable and large-scale disputes, the Fair Work Act is found wanting.The good faith bargaining provisions of the Act are welcome, but the intractable dispute they were designed to overcome – at the Cochlear bionic ear plant – remains unresolved. Unlike New Zealand, where once bargaining commences an agreement has to be reached, the legislation places no pressure on Australian employers to do more than sit politely at the table (surface bargaining).

EMPLOYERS CRY WOLF In situations where unions organise their members and hold a ballot to take protected industrial action, a key problem is within section 424 of the Act. In economically significant or health/community related industries, it is incredibly hard to avoid having protected industrial action either suspended or terminated by Fair Work Australia. This can occur when Fair Work Australia determines either that the action ‘has threatened, is threatening or would threaten’ to ‘cause significant 18 | THE LAMP FEBRUARY 2012

damage’ to the Australian economy or part of it (as in the Qantas dispute) or it will ‘endanger the life, personal safety or health, or the welfare of the population or of a part of it’ (as with Victorian nurses).

Where protected industrial action is terminated there is a 21-day period of conciliation (that can be extended to 42 days if there is progress), after which time there must be arbitration (an industrial action related workplace determination under s266 of the FWA) as soon as practicable.

ANF Industrial Officer Leigh Hubbard

When it comes to intractable and large-scale disputes, the Fair Work Act is found wanting.

THE QANTAS HYPOCRISY In the example of Qantas, the employer engineered the termination of protected action, and the move to arbitration, by grounding its fleet and locking out its workforce. Think of the irony. A company makes an application to take away workers rights to protected industrial action, by initiating its own industrial action, which it then claims is significantly harming the Australian economy!

In the Qantas example, the legislation left the Fair Work Australia full bench with little choice but to terminate the industrial action.

Remember, the only action Qantas pilots had taken was to wear red ties and make in-flight announcements. It is no wonder there are now calls for the legislation to be amended to stop such an abuse by employers.

In the case of the Victorian nurses, the second limb of section 424 came into play; that of endangering health and welfare. A cabinet document leaked in early November revealed that the Baillieu Government strategy was to have the ANF protected action terminated and then seek arbitration of the dispute.

Just as in the case of Qantas, the government knew that, on matters of workplace flexibility and ‘managerial prerogative’, members of Fair Work Australia (FWA) have been historically

reluctant to impose conditions or restraints.

So, whether it is limits on contracting work overseas, in the case of Qantas, or skill mix clauses or nurse-patient ratios, as in the case of Victorian nurses, management knows it is highly unlikely that FWA will act decisively to limit management discretion in these areas.

An added barrier for Victorian nurses is that, due to constitutional law and the limits on the referral of Victoria’s state industrial relations powers to the federal system, in relation to public sector employees, it is possible that Fair Work Australia has no jurisdiction to arbitrate matters related to staffing or skill mix.

At the very least, there could be six months arguing these jurisdictional issues in the High Court. The Victorian Government, with an agenda of removing nurse-patient ratios and introducing short and split shifts, has counted all along that Fair Work Australia would be either unwilling or unable to include such matters in arbitration.

FAIR WORK TAKES CONSERVATIVE POSITION Fair Work Australia takes a very conservative view when deciding whether to suspend or terminate protected industrial action under section 424. In the Victorian nurses case, the FWA full bench, when presented with very thin evidence of delays to elective surgery, or of a few people staying longer than normal in ED, opted for a safety–first approach. This was despite the ANF Victorian branch taking great care when closing beds and cancelling elective surgery (their advice to members was ‘if in doubt, open your reserved emergency beds’). FWA decided to suspend the protected industrial action for 90 days rather than

terminate it. One suspects that the full bench, being acutely aware of the Cabinet strategy of engineering an arbitrated outcome, did not want to be seen as a pawn of the state government. This was a shock to management and has lead to the current stalemate.

So, the right to take protected industrial action is hollow for many groups of workers.

But what happens next?

The ANF Victorian Branch took unprotected action for several days but quickly faced employer applications for an injunction to stop the industrial action in the Federal Court.

Once an injunction is granted, any breach will lead to contempt of court proceedings and the risk of heavy fines. In addition, the Fair Work Ombudsman indicated that it was ready to prosecute the union for multiple breaches of the Fair Work Act.There was also a risk of common law damages actions; last year Qantas won damages of several million dollars against the Transport Workers’ Union, for unprotected industrial action that only lasted a few weeks.

The stakes are high and the options available to unions and their members are few.

Victorian nurses are determined that they will not be forced into an arbitration that might deliver wage increases, but cannot protect staffing and professional standards. In more recent times the ANF Victorian Branch has turned to community campaigning and a discussion with members about the prospect of mass resignations – on the basis that such resignations are not ‘industrial action’. As The Lamp went to print, more than 90 workplace meetings were being held to determine the attitude of members to that proposal.

Victorian nurses are determined that they will not be forced into an arbitration that might deliver wage increases, but cannot protect staffing and professional standards.

THE LAMP FEBRUARY 2012 | 19

RATIOS IN NSW

Better care The orthopaedics and rheumatology ward at Royal North Shore Hospital was among the first to implement ratios in NSW and despite teething issues they are delivering positive benefits for patients and staff.

Melissa Davis RN2, Rose Hills, NUM and Bernhard Accola, EEN. 20 | THE LAMP FEBRUARY 2012

less stress

Rose: ‘I was able to assist my colleagues to lessen their workload and ensure the running of the ward without the added stress of my own patient load.’ THE LAMP FEBRUARY 2012 | 21

RATIOS IN NSW

Rose: ‘I was able to spend more time with the student nurses under my supervision and go through policies and procedures more thoroughly.’

FOR STAFF IN WARD 9A AT ROYAL North Shore Hospital, Sydney, the introduction of the new nurse-to-patient ratios, won last year, has brought increased capacity for improved care and enhanced staff education.

The nursing unit manager of the orthopaedics and rheumatology ward, Rose Hills, said ratios required her to find the equivalent of five full-time nurses and ‘that is quite daunting, but has been worth it’.

It was also a challenge, to change management of existing staff, with the initial elation followed by an adjustment period then another rise in mood.

‘The recruitment process is slow in hospitals. A big bonus for the ward is we have got a lot of permanent staff and didn’t have to use a lot of casuals,’ she said. The ward now has more than 39 staff for its 25 patients covering the 24/7 of shifts.

The ward has also hired assistants in nursing.

‘When the funding for the new ratios started in July, my ward was one of the first to transition to ratios. We thought it best 22 | THE LAMP FEBRUARY 2012

to recruit in preparation for ratios, so we had our own staff rather than relying on casuals. We had quite a lot of staff meetings, to decide how to make Ward 9A a much better working environment and to determine how to utilize the extra staff to maximize the benefits.’

‘The problem before ratios was that on the evening and night shifts, the nurse in charge also had to take on patient load, as well as on the morning shift on Sundays,’ Rose said.

‘I’d come in on Monday morning and the staff would be stressed, as they felt they were unable to complete their work in a satisfactory fashion’.

‘The weekends were the tipping point.

Senior staff were on, but they would be very stressed, due to being in charge, having a patient load and having very challenging patients. Staff would be unloading concerns on Mondays about the weekend, felt they were not able to adequately look after their patients.They were just barely getting by.

‘Because it’s a surgical ward, a lot of patients return from surgery on afternoon shift, so the evening shift is very busy and that flows on to the night shift,’ she said.

Before the new ratios, the ward had six nurses on the morning and afternoon shifts and three on the night shift. On Saturday morning seven staff, five on the afternoon

Stella: ‘One patient said he felt very handsome.The nurse had time to shave him and comb his hair.’

Stella Guo, CNS

Ruth: ‘In the evenings there is less waiting time for checks due to the incharge being more available.

Ruth McKinnon, EN/RN1.

shift and three at night. On Sundays there were six, five and three respectively. Morning shift starts at 7am, the afternoons at 1.30pm and, at night, with 10 hours instead of eight, three shifts start at 9.30pm and one at 11pm.

‘After recruitment, by early October, we had enough to start the new ratios,’ Rose said.

‘The ratios are calculated on the basis of six hours per patient per day, averaged over a week. Now we have a NUM and seven staff on the morning shift, seven on the afternoon and four on the night. At weekends we have seven, six and four.’ …continued page 25 THE LAMP FEBRUARY 2012 | 23

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RATIOS IN NSW

Jomar Christostomo, AiN and Bernhard Accola, EEN. …from page 23

‘We’ve gone through a big change with highs and a bit of a low,’ Rose said.’We’ve had to look at how to work in a new environment. This experience has equipped us to change and it’s been made achievable by the new ratios. The increase in staff to accommodate patients means a safer, happier, less stressful workplace.’

Generally, Rose said, the staff are more satisfied with their work.’It is a much safer working environment and we are more likely to retain staff.We have only a 0.6 vacancy in our ward. We’ve got a lot of very good staff. Incidents and complaints have reduced. Before ratios the ward ran well but the frustration level was high.’

‘Since implementation everyone is happier, more positive and have noticed a positive change in the ward, such as things they could now do, that under the old staffing levels was not possible. For example, on the afternoon shift, the nurse in charge no longer has a patient load, so can help and support staff.

‘For the two permanent night shift staff, it has made an enormous difference. Previously they felt unable to complete their tasks satisfactorily. The ward is more organised now. They are able to attend to tasks in a more timely manner.’

Rose said other benefits aside from those relating directly to patient care were that there is more time for in-service, staff education, staff are now getting their breaks and there is more time to check equipment.

‘It’s a big change. Before, people were flat out. Now staff have more time and there is an increase in attendance at in-services.’

‘There was a short period where staff

did not fully understand the nuances of the system. A few were under the impression that it was, 1:4 so it meant only four patients each. I think we had to go through that, and have people read the award.’ What the award actually allows is for the NUM to allocate patients depending on acuity and the experience of the staff on shift.

‘We slowly introduced team nursing in the process, and it is working really well, and team nursing has become embedded in our ward. 95 per cent are nursing in this way and finding it very beneficial.

‘I think with change, there is a high, then a bit of a low and then back up again.’

Bernhard: ‘I have had the time to go through the ward and sort out the calf compressor machines and tubing and make sure the machines are available for use.

Melissa: ‘There is less time waiting for medical checks.’

Rose and Melissa Davis, RN2 THE LAMP FEBRUARY 2012 | 25

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Friday 26 Octo NSWNA Waterl NSWNA, Memberss $30 N Member Non Members $50

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Friday 1 June 2012, NSWNA, Wa aterloo Member Memberss $30 Non Member Memberss $50

,$'( !$.-' .. ,$'( !$.-' .. " ' . ./. %

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!$% . % $ .%!(. ' .

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ednesday 20 June 2012 All at NSWNA, Waaterloo

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Friday 20 April 2012, Penrith Thursday 24 May 2012, Bathurst

Friday 20 July 2012, Armidale

ggga Wagg a ga Members $75 Non Members $170 70

wives TTarget aargget e group group all nurses and mid midwives

Wednesday 4 April 2012

Wednesday 18 April 2012 Wednesday 9 May 2012

Wednesday 4 July 2012

Wednesday 5 September 2012

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* * " #%$ .+" %& . " #%$ .+" %& . % #"' . ./. %

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Thursday 22 March 2012, Porrtt Macquarie

Thursday 3 May 2012, Shellharbour Thursday 14 June 2012, Griffith

Thursday 30 August 2012, Penrith

Thursday 13 September 2012, Ballina

a orrtth Thursday 4 October 2012, Tamw Members Members $85 Non Member Memberss $170

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l a n o i t i d d a r o F s e i r i u q n e r o s course NSWNA contact Metro: 34 8595 12 or Rural: 7 962 6 3 0 0 3 1 . . . * . "'. $#! . "' .

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Macquarie Friday 3 August 2012, Shellharbour

Friday 17 August 2012, Griffith

Friday 21 September 2012, Albur y

Member Memberss $40 Non Member Memberss $85

PRIVATE HOSPITALS

New agreement for 1100 SAHL nurses Safe staffing was top of the agenda when the NSWNA negotiated a new agreement with one of Sydney’s biggest private hospitals.

ABOUT 1100 NURSES EMPLOYED

by Sydney Adventist Hospital Limited are benefiting from a new agreement negotiated by the NSW Nurses’ Association.

The agreement covers Sydney Adventist Hospital in Wahroonga (352 beds), Dalcross Adventist Hospital in Killara (more than 50 beds) and the San Day Surgery in Hornsby.

It delivers a 3.9% increase in wages and allowances paid from 27 September 2011 and a further 3.75% increase from 1 July 2012.

It introduces a localised process to resolve safe staffing issues – something Sydney Adventist Hospital nurses have wanted for several years.

Other benefits include an increase in paid parental leave to 14 weeks for those with a minimum four years service, a redefined Assistant Director of Nursing Classification with increased pay rate and introduction of Nurse Practitioners.

Nurses voted overwhelmingly in support of the agreement negotiated by a team of nurse representatives from most work areas and classifications plus NSWNA officers.

‘The nurse representatives on the negotiating team all worked tremendously hard plus we had terrific bargainers from the union,’ said NSWNA Branch Secretary and clinical nurse specialist Julia Taylor.

‘We had a really broad representation of nurses on the negotiating committee,’ said Julia.

‘That gave us a clearer outlook on what was happening and what people were thinking in different parts of the hospital, and we were able to keep everyone informed.’

Union membership at Sydney Adventist 28 | THE LAMP FEBRUARY 2012

Julia: ‘Now we have to make the workload clause work for us.’

Hospital Limited jumped by 30% during the two-month campaign for the new agreement.

Julia said the negotiating team made a special effort to go into areas with low union membership to encourage people to join.

‘We had lots of meetings and discussions with nurses and they showed a lot more interest in the negotiations this time.’

She said members were happy they finally achieved a clause in the agreement setting out a procedure to deal with workload issues at a local level.

The safe staffing clause provides a clear escalation process with a time frame to resolve problems. It specifies factors to be taken into account, including occupancy levels, nurse hours per patient day, patient acuity and the skill mix among nurses.

A survey on safe staffing, conducted by the NSWNA, had 200 written responses.

82% of the 200 reported having to work through a meal break in the previous three months, with 40% saying it happened ‘too many times to count’, ‘all the time’ or more than half the time.

The survey helped mobilise support for the campaign and put safe staffing at the top of the union’s agenda.

‘The union reported the findings to management, which helped convince them to deal with the issue,’ Julia said. ‘Now we have to make the safe staffing clause work for us.’

The NSWNA and the Sydney Adventist Hospital will train nurses to help raise understanding around safe staffing issues and negotiate improvements.

‘We have to make sure that nurses have someone to talk to in their work area who can help them solve their problems.’

Pay rise at St Vincent’s Private The NSWNA has won pay increases and new and improved allowances for nurses at St Vincent’s Private Hospital, Darlinghurst.

A UNION-NEGOTIATED ENTERPRISE agreement at St Vincent’s Private Hospital recognises the value of post-graduate qualifications for nurses with the introduction of a new allowance.

The allowance adds $30 per week to the base rate of pay of nurses who are required to have relevant post-graduate qualifications. Those required to have a master’s degree get an additional $30. Management had resisted this allowance in negotiations for earlier enterprise agreements.

Incorporating the post-graduate allowance into the base pay rate delivers an increase in all payments, such as annual leave loading, shift penalties and superannuation.

St Vincent’s Private in the Sydney suburb of Darlinghurst employs about 620 nurses. Under the agreement all receive a 3.9% pay increase fully backdated to the first full pay period in January 2011, followed by a 3.5% increase from the first full pay period in January 2012 and 3% from the first full pay period in January 2013.

Union members unanimously endorsed the agreement negotiated by a combined team of ward representatives and NSWNA officers.

NSWNA Branch President at the 250-bed hospital, Paul Pager, said members were generally pleased with the agreement, especially the size of the pay increase, the fact that it is fully backdated and the recognition of post-graduate qualifications.

‘We had good turnouts at most membership meetings to discuss the negotiations and a very good turnout at the final meeting,’ said Paul, an acting nurse educator.

‘Management tried to get us to relinquish some allowances in return for the pay rises, but through negotiation and the combined effort of all the nurses involved, management eventually agreed to the increases without any trade offs.’

Under the agreement all receive a 3.9% pay increase fully backdated to the first full pay period in January 2011, followed by a 3.5% increase from the first full pay period in January 2012 and 3% from the first full pay period in January 2013.

Paul Pager: ‘We had good turnouts at most membership meetings to discuss the negotiations.’

THE LAMP FEBRUARY 2012 | 29

AGED CARE

Aged care nurses prepare to renew model agreement The first for-profit aged care model agreement negotiated in 2010 brought tangible benefits for nurses employed by more than 50 companies.

This year we are looking to improve and extend it to up to 80 employers covering 160 facilities.

PREPARATIONS ARE UNDER WAY for the renewal of the model agreement in the for-profit sector of aged care.

To kick off the campaign the NSWNA conducted comprehensive research of aged care members through focus groups and surveys at the end of 2011.

A number of regional meetings will be held throughout February where members will be consulted as part of the process of building a claim for better pay and conditions in the for-profit aged care sector.

These meetings will finalise the NSWNA claims. Over 1000 aged care members participated in our research and there will be a report on what members told us about what they want in the new model agreement.

The meetings will be held at Revesby and Gosford on Wednesday 15 February, Blacktown and Newcastle on Thursday 16 February and Dee Why and Taree on Tuesday 21 February (see box).

NSWNA General Secretary Brett Holmes says the pay and conditions campaign gives aged care workers across the for-profit sector an opportunity to stand together and improve their workplaces.

‘Participation by members in this campaign is the key to getting a good outcome.

It is critical that we have as many staff as possible in the union in each facility across the sector and that we are prepared to take a stand to get what we deserve: a decent pay rise and good conditions of work,’ he said.

Brett says there are around 50 employers who have had the model Enterprise Agreement in place since 2010.

‘We expect them to do the right thing and offer the new model agreement to their nurses to vote when it is successfully negotiated.’

30 | THE LAMP FEBRUARY 2012

TIMELINE October-January 2011: NSWNA conducts comprehensive research Late January 2012: meeting of the log of claims committee February: consultation with members at public meetings March: training for interested members. NSWNA serves log of claims on ACCA. Substantive talks begin with employers 30 June: current template agreement expires

COME TO A MEETING NEAR YOU A number of meetings will be held throughout NSW during February to finalise the log of claims: Wednesday 15 February 2012 Revesby Waratah Room Revesby Workers Club Gosford Gosford Golf Club Thursday 16 February 2012 Blacktown Blacktown Workers Club Wattle Room Newcastle Impressions Room Newcastle Wests Mayfield Tuesday 21 February 2012 Dee Why Dee Why RSL Taree Manning Valley Visitor Information Centre

ALL MEETINGS START AT 6PM

‘We hope these employers do the right thing by their staff and meet us at the bargaining table.’

Brett Holmes

‘There are another 30 for-profit sector employers who have not yet offered an Enterprise Agreement. Their staff only have the Nurses award as a safety net but it does not provide for any pay increases.’

‘Bargaining is the only way to get improvements in pay and we hope these employers do the right thing by their staff and meet us at the bargaining table.’

A log of claims committee was elected at the NSWNA November Committee of Delegates. The log of claims committee consists of Ursula Bujnowicz (Mudgee Nursing Home), Norma Bukalan (Columbia Aged Care Services, Marrickville), Linda Hardman (Wollongong Nursing Home), Jocelyn Hofman (Anita Villa Aged Care), Desiree Pearson (Bathurst Nursing Home) and Shirley Ross-Shuley (The Ritz Nursing Home).

The committee consists of elected members working in aged care who work with NSWNA researchers and negotiators to prepare a draft claim.

They are joined by Coral Levett (President, NSWNA) and NSWNA Councillors Louise Howell and Lucille McKenna. Brett Holmes (General Secretary, NSWNA), Judith Kiejda (Assistant General Secretary), and senior NSWNA industrial officers are also on the committee.

EMPLOYERS IN THE FOR-PROFIT AGED CARE SECTOR There are around 80 different employers in the for-profit aged care sector who are potentially part of the campaign for this agreement. They own a total of around 160 facilities. About 50 of these employers have had a model Enterprise Agreement in place since 2010. There are 30 for-profit sector employers who have not yet offered an Enterprise Agreement.

What we won in the 2010 model agreement In 2010 NSWNA negotiated the first ever ‘model’ Enterprise Agreement covering for-profit nursing homes in NSW. The model agreement was negotiated between the NSWNA and the employer body Aged Care Association of Australia (ACAA). Individual employers across the whole for-profit aged care sector could then adopt the agreement.

The 2010 model agreement initially covered 78 residential aged care facilities owned by 26 employers. Pressure by NSWNA members saw this number subsequently swell to around 50 employers.

The first agreement delivered pay increases above the inflation rate; protected conditions nurses received before the introduction of a national award and added some new rights.

It included a 4% pay rise in the first year and 3% the following year plus other benefits (see below).

The main features of the agreement were: • 4% wage increase in July 2010

• 3% wage increase in July 2011 • Wage-related allowances to increase in the same pattern as wages • Expense-related allowances to increase by the inflation rate • Improvements to the nursing classification structure by recognising Certificate III qualifications and a new Endorsed Enrolled Nurse classification.

• Annual review of part-time hours to make sure that the hours nurses are contracted to work matched their real hours of work • Casuals could ask for their jobs to be made permanent • An agreed process to manage workload problems • Improved higher duties allowance More comprehensive details of the 2010 model agreement are available on the NSWNA website.

Employers with facilities CURRENTLY COVERED by NSWNA/ACAA model agreement – due for renewal 1/7/12 Advantaged Care (Bondi Waters) • Albanese Aged Care • Apex Software • Ark Health Care • Armenian Rest Home Association • Aspic Holdings • Baldwin Care Group • Berala on the Park HR • Buckland Convalescent Hospital • Castellorizian Benevolent Fund • Clendon Care • Columbia Nursing Homes • Convalescent Constructions • Cook Care Group • Doherty & Associates (RNs only) • East West Health Care • Gladstone House Nursing Home • Halenvy • Hall & Prior • Holy Family Services • Huntingdon Nursing Home • Hutchinson Healthcare Group • Linburn Nursing Home • MacLean Valley Nursing Home • Milstern Health Care • Moran Health Care Sylvania • Oreison • Pacific Heights Nursing Home • Palms Aged Living Management Services • Pathways Aged Care • Provectus Care • Roseneath Aged Care Centre • RSL LifeCare • Salmar Holdings • Samir • S’Antonio Da Padova Protettore Di Poggioreale Sydney Nursing Home • Sir William Hudson Memorial Centre • St Ezekiel Moreno • Stamen Contractors • SummitCare (except Sugarloaf Gardens) • Terrigal Grosvenor Lodge • Thompson Health Care • Trinity Aged Care • Utopia Aged Care • Willows Private Nursing Home • Employers with facilities NOT YET COVERED by an agreement. Coverage is currently Nurses’ Award safety net only.

Advantaged Care (Georges Manor) • Aged Care Services Australia Group • AVEO Retirement Villages • Bisaxa • Chandos Nursing Home • Clermont Nursing Home • Cranbrook Care Group (Lansdowne Gardens) • Dalcross Management • Denever • Domacwa Holdings • Farad Nominees • Hardzak Holdings • Homewood Care • Hunter Valley Care • I & E Klein Investments • IBIS (No 2) (Bexley) • IBIS (No 2) (Big Sister Hostel) • Innovative Care • Korlim • L & D Management Services • M.N.H. • Manchester Unity Australia • Marlowe Homes • Montana Nursing Home • Moran Health Care (Australia) (Little Bay) • New Horizons Enterprises & V Maksymow • Profke Holdings • Rasko Holdings • S & M Nirmalananda • Sirrah • TBG Senior Living Services • Tulich Familty Communities • Cranbrook Care Group (Minchinbury Manor) (currently non-ACAA Agreement) • Temahl (AUST) (currently non-ACAA Agreement) • THE LAMP FEBRUARY 2012 | 31

AGED CARE

Central Coast QACAG members were busy during the holiday period when they held a stall at Deepwater Plaza at Woy Woy. After making a Christmas Wish for better staffing and wage equity for aged care, 307 signed ‘Aged Care Can’t Wait’ postcards were sent off to the Prime Minister. L-R Denise Huntley, RN and QACAG member, Santa Claus, (affiliation unknown) Debbie Lang, RN and QACAG member, Stella Topaz, NSWNA Officer, Sue Perdriau, QACAG member.

Relationships with residents are the key to quality care More time to spend with residents is the wished-for priority of many aged care nurses, according to research conducted by the NSWNA. NEW RESEARCH BY THE NSWNA has found a lack of staff and higher incidents of dementia among residents is increasing the pressure on aged care nurses.

The study was conducted at the end of 2011 as the NSWNA began preparations for the renewal of the model agreement in the for-profit aged care sector.

A common theme among all the participants was that a love of aged care drives aged care nurses. None regretted their decision to move into nursing. In fact some wished they had come into it earlier.

‘I never wanted to be a nurse as a child 32 | THE LAMP FEBRUARY 2012

and I only joined the profession in my mid-40s. I really regret not doing it earlier,’ said one participant.

What aged care nurses love most about the sector was the interaction with the older people.

‘I find older persons have the most amazing stories and a wealth of knowledge to impart and you do truly become like part of the family although it can be difficult to not get emotionally involved.’

DEMENTIA POSES PROBLEMS A particular challenge in aged care is the

complexity of residents, often associated with dementia. But if there is time to devote to help it can be a most rewarding part of the job.

‘For a confused resident all it might take to calm and reassure them is to know that I know their son or daughter by name, or I know their dog is being cared for by their granddaughter, and can talk about when they have had visitors or an outing. Knowing what TV shows or music they like and putting them on, can make a huge difference. There is a great satisfaction in knowing you settled a

Tony Windsor asked to support aged care funding Prominent Federal Independent MP Tony Windsor will be the focus of activities in the Because We Care campaign in February and March.

The ANF has have identified one key Federal MP in each state who will be urged to support funding in the 2012 federal budget of $494 million to close the wages gap between nurses in aged care and the public health systems.

Tony Windsor has been broadly supportive of the campaign’s aims.

Aged care members in the New England electorate will be will be conducting street stalls and letterbox drops, talking to local media and collecting signatures on a petition. These actions will culminate in an ‘Aged Care Can’t Wait’ public meeting in Tamworth on 7 March.

Tamworth aged care nurse Jan Howard will be speaking at the meeting about the day-to-day reality of working in aged care.

‘We will not only be looking to get the support of Tony Windsor but also the support of the local community including health workers, community groups and organisations, and local businesses,’ she said.

To become involved or find out more contact Stella Topaz, Professional Officer NSWNA on 02 8595 1234 or stopaz@nswnurses.asn.au

WHAT WE ARE ASKING TONY WINDSOR TO DO

GET INVOLVED

• Push to make Budget 2012 the aged care budget • Ensure quality of care by guaranteeing a minimum number of nurses to residents on every shift • Ensure that Budget 2012 commits the funds to close the wages gap and guarantee nurses remain in aged care.

Nurses in Tamworth will be holding a community meeting on Wednesday 7 March at 7.00pm in the Tamworth Community Centre.

Speakers will include: Tony Windsor MP Member for New England Yvonne Chaperon Assistant Federal Secretary ANF Jan Howard Aged care nurse Ros Norman Local nurse Maryanne Krug Relative of a resident in a nursing home.

resident who was distressed, by such a small intervention.’

Participants in the survey commented about excessive workloads due to staff shortages, lack of nurse-to-patient ratios, poor staffing and inappropriate skill mix.

The workload is heavy and seems to be increasing due to the poor level of staffing which leads to the lower level of care.

‘Dementia must be the fastest growing issue in aged care and its management. It is a big part of workloads issues and managing groups of residents.’

MORE MEMBERS LEADS TO BETTER OUTCOMES Looking forward to the bargaining campaign some participants warned against complacency and of the need for more people to join the union if there were to be good outcomes.

‘The majority (of staff) are not in the union which makes it more difficult for collective bargaining and (they) are OK to just sit back and what happens, happens.’

Many of the participants saw the connection between a strong union presence in the workplace and winning better pay and conditions.

www.becausewecare.org.au ‘If union membership is low and staff won’t bother being involved the results show in working conditions and actual pay received. It is hard to make any progress with future agreements when the AiNs and some RNs don’t join the union and try to change our future pay and conditions.’

A more comprehensive presentation of the research including attitudes to the pay and conditions campaign will be presented at the regional meetings to be held in mid-February.

THE LAMP FEBRUARY 2012 | 33

ACTU CENSUS

Voices from working Australia

With more than 40,000 participants, the ACTU’s Working Australia Census was one of the biggest surveys of workers in Australia’s history. Its findings are a fascinating snapshot of contemporary working life.

ACTU PRESIDENT GED KEARNEY says the results of the Working Australia Census highlight the real issues, concerns and aspirations of the majority of Australian people.

‘For them, what matters are not esoteric economic arguments or political gamesmanship, but tangible things like good wages and conditions, dignity and respect at work, time with their family and friends, and the daily struggle of making ends meet,’ says Ged, a former nurse and ANF Secretary.

She said census respondents were overwhelmingly union members who were committed to their jobs and their communities.

‘Union members are good people. They are community people. Half of them are volunteers outside of work, compared with a third of the general population.They are dedicated to their jobs and are hard working.’

Nearly half (48.3%) of respondents had done voluntary work in the previous 12 months, compared to the Australian Bureau of Statistics figure of 34% for the overall population. A third of Working Australian Census respondents said they remained in their current job because they felt it allowed them to positively contribute to the community.

SQUEEZED BY WORK The findings show that many people are working additional hours to cope with high workloads and a lack of resources: 34 | THE LAMP FEBRUARY 2012

• 61% work more hours than they are paid for; • 73% are regularly contacted outside of work hours, about their job; • 58% have paid for work-related expenses and not been compensated.

Ged sees this as a ‘productivity squeeze’, meaning that workers achieve productivity through unpaid work and greater pressure.

‘For workers, productivity isn’t an abstract expression. All too often it means unpaid hours, phone calls out of work hours and doing more for less. Flexibility is actually a code for giving employers the ability to cut hours, or even sack you, when it suits them.’

The survey reveals that the demands of work are translating into less-than-flattering attitudes towards senior management: • More than a third (33.8%) of respondents said that senior managers in their organisation did not take a genuine interest in improving conditions at work.

• A third (32.7%) also disagreed with the statement ‘senior management is competent and has a plan for the future’.

THE FEMINISATION OF UNIONS Ged said the Working Australia Census picked up a substantial shift in the profile of the typical union member.

‘The blue-collar base of the union movement remains strong, but there is a shift in over-

all membership towards female workers in jobs like teaching, nursing, the community sector and the public service,’ she says. ‘Twenty years ago about one in three union members was a woman. Now, our gender split is close to 5050, and in 2010, for the first time, union density among women was higher than for men.’

THREE STRUGGLING GROUPS The Working Australia Census identified three groups that are struggling to balance the pressure of work, family and finances: • The sandwich generation – a group of women who have carer responsibilities for children and parents, while also working full time. The single biggest thing they said would improve their work life was to have the flexibility to balance work and family.

• The forgotten blokes – men aged 45 to 64 who said they were currently not working, but were looking for work and having difficulty finding it. More than half (52.2%) said they couldn’t find work because employers thought they were too old.

• The insecure youth – workers under the age of 25, employed and living out of home and facing labour market and financial stress. 27.7% said they were finding it difficult, or very difficult, to get by on their current household income.

Nurses conflicted between home and work in duty of care Sandwiched between the needs of the generations, in an ageing society, nurses are caught between multiplying pressures that can cost them their jobs.

FOR SOME WORKERS, HAVING BOTH children and ageing parents is a mixed blessing that comes at the cost of permanent employment.

The burden of care tends to fall more heavily on women, especially professionals such as nurses, whose working lives are already stressful due to their obligations to patients, and who have rules to meet.

One finding of the ACTU’s Working Australia Census, a survey of 41,600 people, provided confirmation of the existence of a group the ACTU terms ‘the sandwich generation’, usually women working full-time or permanent part-time. They can also be called the ‘three-jobs generation’ in the sense they have unpaid care responsibilities for their parents or parents-in-law, their children and a paid job.

Until nearly a year ago, Lee McKinney (pictured) worked full-time as a nurse in the intensive care unit at St George Hospital, Sydney. Now she works as a relief casual, averaging about two afternoon shifts a week, in clinical emergency response.

Lee is a mother of three children, aged 11, 10 and 5, and a part-time carer for her father, who is in his early 70s. Until recently, Lee’s parents were healthy with no chronic problems. However, her father, who lives in his own home with his wife, now travels regularly to hospital for cancer treatment. While Lee’s father is relatively young, the conflict Lee faces is of a kind likely to grow in our ageing society.

For Lee, her sense of professionalism ruled out taking high levels of absences to care for her children and her father. She felt she would let down colleagues in her nursing unit if she tried to maintain full-time employment without keeping up the usual shifts. She decided, reluctantly, to step aside from permanent employment at the hospital. It was her call, and a tough one.

‘It’s too difficult on a permanent roster, with three children of your own,’ says Lee. ‘My husband and I had to make a decision.

Until the kids had settled down, that [casual] would have to be the basis of work.’

She found support from the hospital and her unit.‘I had a fantastic boss in the intensive care unit where I worked. If ever there was an issue, I could go to her or give her a call and explain what was going on.

‘It wasn’t like I was pushed out. The hospital tried to accommodate my situation.

It was my philosophy, [about] how dedicated I should be.’

With teamwork central to the intensive care unit’s operation, Lee thought it was unfair to leave the unit with an agency replacement, if one could be found, when she was unable to work.Where teamwork is involved, because of the inter-reliance of staff, it is problematic for the members of a nursing unit to work with someone not experienced in the unit’s

work, or familiar with hospital policies and procedures.

Lee believes more staffing and flexibility would ease pressures on employers and nurses.

‘Patients are much sicker than before. The acuity is rising,’ she says.‘More staff would help.

A better patient ratio wouldn’t wear people down so much. If a hospital is well staffed, it has a very safe and supportive environment.’

Lee is one of a generation of nurses that has been coping with both older and younger care.

‘Our parents are going into their 70s and having health problems,’ she says. ‘My father has been sick for about 10 months. He developed cancer and it rapidly spread. I and my two sisters have done everything we can to make him comfortable at home.’ That care includes taking him to and from hospital.

‘I run the in-laws around to a point, too,’ Lee says.

‘A better patient ratio wouldn’t wear people down so much.’

THE LAMP FEBRUARY 2012 | 35

Sydney Hospital & Sydney Eye Hospital is proud to introduce a 16 week

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OBITUARY

Sandra Elizabeth Weeks THE SINGING NIGHT NURSE 27 February 1952 — 8 June 2010 [e\

anything from almost nothing: weaving any odd bit of grass, potting with local mud, spinning wool, knitting, crochet, sewing, cross stitch, tatting, gardening, cooking, preserving fruit, vegies and jam, and of course making her amazing chilli relish.We all remember saving bottles for her famous bottle wall.

Sandi was born in Exeter, England and came to Australia with her family in the early 60s.

She commenced training at Parramatta District Hospital in 1972, graduating as a Registered Nurse in 1975 and being awarded the Parramatta Ladies’ Auxiliary Memorial Prize for ‘proficiency in the operating theatre’, reflecting her extremely proficient personality.

Sandi worked at Baulkham Hills Private Hospital theatre from 1976-1977. After this she and her young family moved to the North Coast where she worked at Crowley Retirement Village, Ballina Hospital and St Vincents Lismore.

Finally, in 1987, she found the ‘Royal’, Campbell Hospital, Coraki, where she worked full time until 2006. She then packed her bags and headed north in an old bus with her partner, Morrie. The bus had a mind of its own and returned to Coraki where Sandi took up a position as Practice Nurse at the Coraki Medical Practice in late 2006. During her time there she was diagnosed with breast cancer but continued to work when able. She endured several lots of surgery, extensive chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Sandi was a dedicated nurse whose brilliance shone in the field of emergency nursing, hence becoming our educator for many years. A staunch unionist, she represented our site as NSW Nurses’ Association delegate for 15 years.

Sandi was gifted in countless ways and could create

Poetry recitals became an expected part of Sandi’s company, or singing meaningful songs at any time of the day or night. Composing lengthy, apt poems at every opportunity came naturally to her, as did her impersonations of doctors, co-nurses and patients – all in good fun. On one occasion she arrived at a party with all the attributes of an elderly lady – it took us a while to work out who it was. Sandi gave generously of her time and talents at Brownies and Girl Guides in her local community. A true intellect, her very neat scribe quickly became a memorable part of life at The Campbell.

We will always remember Sandi as a person of integrity who prided herself in her punctuality and had the ability to articulate her exact thoughts in a professional manner. Her strength of character enabled her to deal with her illness in stoic fashion. It was both a pleasure and a privilege to have worked with her, been a part of her life and to have had her as a part of ours.

— Margaret Harris and the staff at Campbell Hospital, Coraki

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ARCHI

Australian Resource Centre for Healthcare Innovations

ARCHI is a free, national knowledge sharing and networking service for health professionals, supporting clinical practice improvement and innovation. ARCHI promotes discussion, sharing tools and resources as well as connecting health professionals across the country.

What’s new on ARCHI? Father Links Baby Shed Project - A health promotion project offering early intervention to increase fathers’ engagement with their babies and enhance their confidence in parenting.

Ambulance to Emergency Department Handover Project - This handover protocol ensures the smooth transfer of pre-hospital care in the acute setting, standardising the information and processes that surround handover.

Visit the ARCHI website today at

www.archi.net.au

THE LAMP FEBRUARY 2012 | 37

‘N

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NEW! ‘We’ve Got Yo ou Covered’ Bucket Hat

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The latest NSWNA mer merchandise chandise is not only stylish and comfortable, comfor table, it is affordable af fordable and sold at cost to members. order form for m to Glen Ginty Ginty, 9662 1414 or post to: NSWNA, rs. TTo o order, order, fax the order y, (02) 9 Ave 2017.

Merchandise www.nswnurses.asn.au .nswnurses.asn.au 50 O’Dea A ve v NSW N 2017. Mer chandise order order forms for ms available on our website www w..nswnur

Q&A

ASK JUDITH I’ve heard that the Annual Conference is moving to another location this year?

Where and why?

the Annual Conference is an opportunity for branch delegates elected by the branch to represent the branch’s views.

The venue for this year’s Annual Conference has been moved to Rosehill Gardens after 25 years at the Royal Randwick.

The resolutions provide leadership to the membership on core union issues such as quality patient care and it can also set the future direction of the association by taking into consideration societal and community issues that affect nurses and the communities which they serve.

As the Royal Randwick is currently undergoing major construction, Rosehill Gardens will remain the venue for Annual Conference in the foreseeable future until construction and upgrades have been completed at Royal Randwick.

The Rosehill Gardens was chosen for several reasons. Besides coming under the same umbrella as the Royal Randwick (Australian Turf Club) where we’ve received exemplary service over the last 25 years, it also accommodates both the trade exhibition and the conference; offers sufficient parking to conference attendees; and is only a 12 minute commute to accommodation at Homebush.

I want to be more involved in the Association by becoming a branch delegate and voting at Annual Conference. How can I do this?

Members have an opportunity to elect their workplace delegates who will represent them at Committee of Delegates meetings and Annual Conference with speaking and voting rights and the opportunity to present workplace and industrial resolutions.

This is the first year that the Bi-ennial General Meeting (BGM) for branch elections will be held since a resolution was passed in 2008 to change it from an annual general meeting.

As a democratic organisation, the role of the delegate is pivotal in NSWNA policy making and ensures that the branch is kept up to date with state-wide issues as raised at CODs and Annual Conference.

For more information on Branch Elections, please go to the Members Only section of www.nswnurses.asn.au What is Annual Conference?

For those delegates who will be attending Annual Conference for the first time, Annual Conference is the supreme policy making body of the Association where delegates have the opportunity to present issues that their branch feels is important.

It is in a nutshell, democracy in action.

Held once a year, usually in July or August,

There are 3 main objectives for policy making at Annual Conference: 1. Responding to broad workplace pressures and workplace industrial issues.

2. The Government’s agenda and the state of the nation from a union perspective 3. The union provides direction to the membership on issues that underpin union philosophy of standing up for disenfranchised groups and education on professional issues.

JUDITH KIEJDA answers your questions about the 2012 NSWNA Annual Conference.

As it’s a once a year opportunity, resolutions at Annual Conference should provide leadership to the membership on future directions of the Association.

What’s the difference between resolutions put up at CoD vs Annual Conference?

Due to a packed two-day schedule, resolutions put up at Annual Conference should deal with broader union issues and not day to day workplace issues that can be dealt with by members and organisers or at Committee of Delegates Meetings (CoD).

A resolution should be about issues of concern that are widely and deeply felt by the membership.

As it’s a once a year opportunity, resolutions at Annual Conference should provide leadership to the membership on future directions of the Association.

These resolutions can include big picture issues that can affect society on a local, state, national and international level, such as the global financial crisis and its impact on retirement savings, employment of public servants, services delivered to people and the social standing of patients. All these have an impact on the future of nursing and are examples of some of the issues that have been debated in past Conferences.

should contribute views at COD that can help Council make governing decisions between Conferences.

Last year, I had to miss part of Professional Day to get to the airport.

I’d like to stay for the whole session this year, is that possible?

Professional Day 2013 will still be held on the third day of the Conference. This all day educational forum has been gaining popularity in the last few years with interesting and informative speakers and sessions that have enlightened members on innovative and cutting edge professional issues.

Committee of Delegates (COD) is the ideal forum for resolutions about issues that are bigger than a single workplace but need action or campaigning but don’t require a change of policy as at Annual Conference.

Given this year’s new venue will add an extra hour to delegates’ return trip to the airport for departure, consideration should be given to staying on till a later flight or even the next day. Often really exciting presentations have been given later in the day and it’s a real shame to miss such thought provoking sessions.

As CODs offer more of an “advisory” role and not the broader decision making process of Annual Conference, delegates

Expenses will be met for those delegates wishing to stay an extra night in order to attend Professional Day in its entirety.

THE LAMP FEBRUARY 2012 | 39

Are your workmates or friends members of the NSWNA? Why not ask them. And, if not, invite them to sign up. Like you, they need the security of belonging to a strong and dynamic union.

Not only will you be building your union by signing up new members, you and a friend could win this fabulous cruise to the Great Barrier Reef. The more members you sign up, the more chances you have to win!

Prize includes return airfares for two from Sydney, a seven-night cruise of the fabulous Barrier Reef in a stateroom on the beautiful Coral Sea Princess Cruises.

Multi-award-winning Coral Princess Cruises will introduce the lucky prize winner to Australia’s most famous natural wonder: the Great Barrier Reef. With over 28 years’ experience and an unrivalled reputation for cruising excellence, their exclusive itineraries

D DRAWN R AWN 30 JUNE 2012

showcase the very best of the Great Barrier Reef and tropical islands in total comfort and unmatched style.

You’ll enjoy the hidden jewels of the Great Barrier Reef: the reef, ancient rainforest and secluded tropical islands most visitors never see. Exclusive reef moorings mean you won’t be surrounded by hundreds of other reef visitors – and the company’s small ships accommodate a maximum of just 44 guests, ensuring an intimate and personalised experience.

You can be as adventurous or as relaxed as you please. Explore remote coral cays, deserted but for a myriad of colourful tropical fish, peaceful tropical islands and primordial rainforests well beyond the reach of most visitors, or simply relax on the sun deck or in the open-bridge or spa and cruise serenely through some of the most aweinspiring scenery Australia has to offer.

Coral Princess Cruises’ informative crew is always on hand to provide assistance and information about the fascinating reef life and habitats, and an experienced dive instructor can take you for an exhilarating introductory scuba dive, revealing even

more of this breathtaking world heritage-listed wonderland.

Three, four and seven-night cruises depart Cairns and Townsville each week, all year round. A special 10% discount is available to NSW Nurses’ Association members on the company’s range of small ship cruises on the Great Barrier Reef, Western Australia’s Kimberley, Across the Top of Australia, Papua New Guinea, Melanesia and New Zealand.

HURRY! Call the Association now for a recruitment kit and recruitment incentive scheme details.

Phone 8595 1234 (metropolitan area) or 1300 367 962 (rural) or go to www.nswnurses.asn.au RECRUITERS NOTE: nurses and midwives can now join online!

If you refer a new member to join online, make sure you ask them to put your name and workplace on the online application form. You will then be entitled to your vouchers and draw/s in the NSWNA Recruitment Incentive Scheme.

NURSE UNCUT

What’s HOT on Nurse Uncut?

AiNs the big winners in new aged care agreements, NSWNA launches campaign to fight for public services, Men in Nursing forum hailed a success, and tips on how to grow your super savings. Read all the latest happenings at www.nurseuncut.com.au

Hot topics AiNs big winners in aged care agreements www.nurseuncut.com.au/ains-the-big-winners-from-aged-careagreements/ More than 90 employers, covering 176 facilities in the not-for-profit aged care sector, have signed up to a new template agreement that delivers an average 9.2% pay increase to nurses over three years. The three-year agreement includes a 3% pay increase in the first year (from 1 July 2011), 2.8% in the second year and 3% in its final year. Wage increases are even higher for AiNs, with their wages to be at least 3.5% above the Nurses’ Award minimum rate.

NSWNA will fight for public services www.nurseuncut.com.au/nswna-launches-campaign-to-fight-for-public-services/ The NSW Nurses’ Association has embarked on a campaign for a Financial Transactions Tax (FTT) to be introduced in Australia, with the money raised used on much-needed spending increases in programs such as health and aged care. Read the full story at Nurse Uncut.

More men in nursing www.nurseuncut.com.au/men-in-nursing-forum-hailed-a-success/ Around 29 men attended the Men in Nursing forum held late last year, hailing it a huge success. Among key points raised at the forum, which was attended by both students and registered nurses, was a desire to communicate more broadly to young men about the rewarding career that nursing can provide. There was also a call for the NSWNA to promote men in nursing through advertising, and to include an all day Men in Nursing forum on their education calendar.

How to grow your super savings www.nurseuncut.com.au/how-to-grow-your-super-savings/ Your super is an investment in the future – your future. But the basic amount your employer contributes to your super on your behalf (known as Super Guarantee or SG contributions) may not be enough to support you in your retirement. Fortunately, you don’t have to rely solely on employer contributions. Read about your two other options at Nurse Uncut.

What nurses are talking about?

Help please – wanting to register in Canada www.nurseuncut.com.au/forum/component/option,com_ccboard/Itemid,24/forum,11/topic,6 98/view,postlist/#ccbp4162 ‘I am wondering if anyone has registered in Canada to work? If so, how complex is the registration?’

Night shift penalties ... what’s the status? www.nurseuncut.com.au/forum/component/option,com_ccboard/Itemid,24/forum,13/limitsta rt,20/topic,463/view,postlist/#ccbp4184 ‘Re: the night shift penalty case. The Commission directed the parties (Dept & NSWNA) to gather more specific information. This is now in process with a survey being recently being conducted with many nurses taking the time to answer questions regarding their night duty experiences while nursing. This research survey has resulted in follow-up forums now being held across the state. All information gathered will be collated for presenting to the Commission at a later date. It’s a slow process but we are lucky that this case will not fall into the current government dictate re: wage increases being no more than 2.5%.’

On the ‘I Support Nurses’ Facebook page: Will you leave the age care sector if the wages gap is not fixed? www.facebook.com/NurseUncutAustralia ‘I’m a carer in aged care, studying to be an RN. I love the work I do now, and the people I care for, but as soon as I graduate I won’t go into aged care because of the pay.’

The Quakers Hill Nursing Home Fire www.facebook.com/NurseUncutAustralia ‘There are many fantastic, caring and dedicated nurses working 24/7 to help our communities. One messed up person does not define us. We grieve for those lost and their families and those nurses who knew them and loved them. RIP.’ ‘We cannot allow one registered nurse’s behaviour to represent/reflect the reputation and image of nursing.

Let us not focus too deeply on this. There is foul play evident among all healthcare professions.’

THE LAMP FEBRUARY 2012 | 41

NURSING RESEARCH ONLINE

Older workers: research readings Francesca Beddie and Tabatha Griffin

The triumph of hope over experience Nigel Edwards

Reorganising and restructuring have been common activities in the British National Health Service (NHS) during the past 20 years and are on the agenda again with the coalition government.This 16-page electronic report by the NHS Confederation looks at the available evidence about the pattern of reorganisation, why there’s so much of it and why it often fails, and outlines important points to consider when reorganising services.The NHS Confederation is an independent membership body that represents all types of organisations providing and commissioning NHS services in England.

www.nhsconfed.org/Publications/reports/Pages/triumph-of-hope.aspx

One of the significant challenges facing Australia is the ageing of its population. This has led policy makers to consider how older workers can be kept in the workforce. To generate discussion on older workers, NCVER (the National Centre for Vocational Education Research) commissioned six researchers to draft essays on various issues around keeping older Australians engaged in the workforce. These essays, and responses by six additional discussants, were presented at a roundtable held in Canberra in May 2011.

Themes to arise included the need to consider the diversity of older workers, the challenges of low literacy and numeracy skills for some older workers, discrimination and stereotypes, and the recognition that not all older workers want to keep working. NCVER is an independent body responsible for collecting, managing, analysing, evaluating and communicating research and statistics about vocational education and training (VET).

www.ncver.edu.au/publications/2422.html

Women, health and ageing – findings from the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women’s Health Julie Byles, Annette Dobson, Nancy Pachana, Leigh Tooth, Deborah Loxton, Janneke Berecki, Richard Hockey, Deirdre McLaughlin and Jenny Powers

The Australian Longitudinal Study on Women‘s Health (ALSWH), is a large longitudinal cohort study funded by the Department of Health and Ageing and conducted by a team of researchers and staff based at the Universities of Newcastle and Queensland.The ALSWH first collected data in 1996 from three cohorts of women then aged 18-23 45-50 and 70-75.

The Federal Government recently announced that it would create a National Disability Insurance Scheme. But what will this scheme mean for people with disability and their carers? To answer those and other questions, Dr Rhonda Galbally AO joined Disability and Race Discrimination Commissioner Graeme Innes in this installment of Pod Rights. Dr Galbally is chair of the National People with Disability and Carers Council, which prepared the Shut Out report that led to the reference to the Productivity Commission. She has personally lobbied hard for the scheme.

This report focuses on the findings into the health of older women.

Women live longer than men and as the population ages will comprise an increasingly larger proportion of the Australian population.

Older women who are married may become carers of increasingly frail or ill husbands, and this may limit their capacity to look after their own health.When the women are widowed they suffer financial disadvantage and may face difficulty maintaining their homes and with transport. Nevertheless, provided they are in good health, they lead more active social lives than older men. Due to their longer life expectancy, older women make up a majority of the people with dementia, sensory impairment, falls and fractured femurs. They are more likely to need aged care services. Caring for older women impacts on the lives of middle-aged women, who often become their informal carers. Helping older women to remain healthy and live independently for as long as possible is an important long-term goal.

www.humanrights.gov.au/podcasts/2011/podcast_2011_16.mp3

www.alswh.org.au/Reports/OtherReportsPDF/ALSWH_Major%20Report%20E_Final%5B1%5D.pdf

National disability insurance scheme: podcast Rhonda Galbally and Graeme Innes

42 | THE LAMP FEBRUARY 2012

COMPETITIONS

Lucky NSWNA prize winners!

Direct Debit Union Shopper $2000 gift certificate

$2000 cash Join Online

"IG 3AVINGS FOR 5NION -EMBERS

Sponsored by First State Super Sophia Re’Bon (pictured left) from Wollongong Hospital had no idea she was in the running for a $2000 cash prize when she chose to join the Association using our Join Online option. So she was surprised and delighted when we called her with the news!

We are running this promotion throughout 2012, so if you know of friends or colleagues who want to join the Association, but haven’t got around to it, let them know they can Join Online and possibly win $2000. Have them put your name on the form as the recruiter and you could win prizes too. See details of the NSWNA Recruitment Incentive Scheme on our website www.nswnurses.asn.au

Sponsored by Union Shopper Grace Trapolini form Westmead Hospital was thrilled to find out she had won a $2000 Union Shopper gift certificate, just by switching her Association membership fees from payroll deduction to direct debit.

We are urging all members on payroll deductions to make the switch to direct debit, as members who stay on payroll deductions leave themselves vulnerable to becoming un-financial, should the state government suddenly remove the option of payroll deductions. Many members are making the switch, as they know how important it is to stay financial. Be prepared by making the switch today.

Grace is thinking about buying a new car so the $2000 Union Shopper gift certificate will certainly help her make a saving. She could also use it to buy a wide range of electrical goods such as a new coffee machine, fridge, dishwasher or air conditioning – the choices are endless!

Find out about our direct debit promotion by visiting our website www.nswnurses.asn.au

THE LAMP FEBRUARY 2012 | 43

DON’T PUT YOUR NSWNA MEMBERSHIP AT RISK! The State Government could at any time stop payroll deductions.

As a matter of urgency please convert to the Direct Debit or Credit method of paying your fees.

BE PREPARED. CHANGE TODAY. Download, complete and return your Direct Debit form to the Association.

www.nswnurses.asn.au Alternatively call us on Metro 8595 1234 or Rural 1300 367 962 Authorised by B Holmes NSW Nurses’ Association.

44 | THE LAMP FEBRUARY 2012

BOOKS

BOOK ME SPECIAL INTEREST Understanding Pathophysiology Judy Craft, Christopher Gordon and Adriana Tiziani Elsevier/Mosby RRP $145.00 ISBN 9780729539517

Waltzing Matilda and the Sunshine Harvester Factory: the Early History of the Arbitration Court, the Australian Minimum Wage, Working Hours and Paid Leave.

Understanding Pathophysiology prioritises diseases relevant to nursing students and presents them according to prevalence and rate of incidence in Australia and New Zealand, with the aim of providing a balance between science, clinical case material and pharmacology.

The book first explores each body system by structure and function, then by alteration. It incorporates a lifespan approach and explores contemporary health, with specific chapters on stress, genes and the environment, obesity and diabetes, cancer, mental illness and indigenous health.

Hon. R. S. Hamilton Fair Work Australia RRP $20.00 ISBN 9780646548814

Mosby’s Guide to Physical Examination (7th ed.)

Henry M. Siedel, Jane W. Ball, Joyce E. Dains, John A. Flynn, Barry S. Solomon and Rosalyn W. Stewart Elsevier/Mosby RRP $128.00 ISBN 9780323055703

This is a textbook of physical examination, history-taking, and health assessment, with an emphasis on differential diagnosis and variations across the lifespan. The book conveys a patient-centered approach to physical examination with a strong evidencebased foundation.

Clinical Coach for Nurse Practitioners Rhonda Hensley and Angela Williams F. A. Davis (available through Elsevier Australia) RRP $48.00 ISBN 9780803621718

Written specifically for the nurse practitioner student, this text aims to assist the student in decision-making in the clinical setting. Experienced nurse practitioners coach the student as they analyse 30 of the most common patient complaints, ruling out each differential until they reach the correct diagnosis.

The book features charts, guidelines, screening tools, and tables, as well as practical advice on issues such as legal considerations, licensure, billing and coding.

Waltzing Matilda and the Sunshine Harvester Factory details why the Conciliation and Arbitration Court was established in 1904 and explains how it influenced social, economic and political life. The book ‘reminds us that our workplace conditions have been hard fought for, and we must never take them for granted.’ Edited by Fair Work Australia Deputy President Reg Hamilton, many contributed to its production including professors Joe Isaac and Stuart Macintyre from the University of Melbourne; the Australian Council of Trade Unions; Australian Industry Group and Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Values-Based Health and Social Care: Beyond Evidence-Based Practice Edited by Jill McCarthy and Pat Rose Sage (available through Footprint Books) RRP $49.95 ISBN 9781848602021

Values-Based Health and Social Care: Beyond Evidence-Based Practice calls into question the dominance of evidence-based practice and sets out an alternative vision of care that places holism, professional judgment, intuition, and client choice at its centre. Bringing together writers from a range of health and social care backgrounds, the book describes the rise of evidence-based practice and explores major criticisms of the approach.

Student Workbook for Essentials of Anatomy and Physiology (6th ed.)

Valerie C. Scanlon and Tina Saunders F. A. Davis (available though Elsevier Australia) RRP $33.95 ISBN 9780803623248

The purpose of this book is to help students learn the material presented to them in a basic anatomy and physiology course. It can also act as a stand-alone study guide, guiding the student, chapter-by-chapter, in exercises and labelling activities that promote an understanding of the essentials of anatomy and physiology.

All books can be ordered through the publisher or your local bookshop. NSWNA members can borrow the books featured here, and many more, from our Records and Information Centre (RIC). Contact Jeannette Broomfield gensec@nswnurses.asn.au or Cathy Matias 8595 2121 cmatias@nswnurses.asn.au. Some book reviews are based on information received and have not been independently reviewed. Reviews by NSWNA RIC Coordinator Jeannette Broomfield.

Publisher websites Elsevier Australia ww.elsevierhealth.com.au/ Fair Work Australia www.fwa.gov.au F. A. Davis www.fadavis.com/ Footprint Books www.footprint.com.au/ Sage Publications www.uk.sagepub.com THE LAMP FEBRUARY 2012 | 45

Plan your day with our free Easter Show App

EASTERSHOW.COM.AU * Conditions apply. Please see www.eastershow.com.au for details.

NSW Health Nursing and Midwifery Scholarship Fund

NURSING POSITIONS

2012 Postgraduate Scholarships

CANBERRA’S LEADING NURSING AGENCY HAS OPENED IN THE RIVERINA AREA OF NEW SOUTH WALES.

NSW Health is offering the following nursing & midwifery postgraduate scholarships in 2012: Category 1: Clinical Studies Category 2: Education Category 3: Management These scholarships are available to full time or part time registered nurses or registered midwives employed and currently working in the NSW public health system (Further criteria applies).

For further information and application forms visit www.health.nsw.gov.au/nursing/scholarships.asp Applications open 1st December 2011 & close 1st March 2012.

AVAILABLE

• Are you a Registered, Endorsed, Enrolled or Assistant Nurse?

• Are you looking for a Quality driven organisation to work for?

• Would you like the flexibility of choosing where and when you work?

• Would you like to receive above award wages?

The Professional Nursing Agency is committed to providing the Canberra community and now the Riverina with High Quality Care and Professionally Qualified staff to meet the client’s needs 24 hours a day.

We are looking for Nurses at all levels in the Riverina with a similar commitment to the Health Industry to us to meet our clients requirements.

Please contact Eric on 0418 867440 or through our website www.professionalnursing.com.au

MOVIES

MOVIE OF THE MONTH BUCK This was a gem of a film. I rushed off to see it after a busy day of work and with absolutely no expectations. All I recalled, as I walked briskly down Market Street towards the cinema, were the words,‘horse whisperer’.Though I put these out of my mind as I navigated through the charging throng of people, in a busy peak-hour Sydney street, to find the screening room.

CINÉ FILES Buck is a documentary about Buck First time director Brannaman, the man who Cindy Meehl was a fashion inspired the film and book The designer and artist before Horse Whisperer and who, as we discover in this film, rose like a she attended a horse clinic phoenix from the ashes of a with Buck Brannaman and suggested making a wretchedly violent and grief documentary strewn childhood to become an about his life. understanding, compassionate and humble man. His gift with horses has led him to dramatically transform the lives not only of horses but, more amazingly, the people connected with those horses. Buck himself says: ‘Often, instead of helping people with horse problems. I’m helping horses with people problems.’

The documentary shows old footage of a very young Buck and his brother, performing with their vindictive and controlling father. Buck’s mother died while the boys were still young, after which beatings by their father became even more brutal.The boys were finally rescued from further beatings when a teacher discovered thick welts and scarring on their backs. Buck found safe haven in a loving, supportive foster family, where he healed and flourished to grow into a handsome, gentle and respectful man.

The documentary includes interviews with Robert Redford, and footage of a very young Scarlett Johansson, that leave you in no doubt of the admiration and respect felt for this man who became a mixture of mentor, legend and folk hero.

This documentary is about far more than horses; its power lies with the principles Buck teaches and how they can become life altering.

There were moments of drama, laughter and even the urge to sob, but the film overwhelmingly left this viewer with a renewed feeling of hope and encouragement about life in general. It might also leave you wanting to go out and buy a horse. I’m looking forward to seeing it again.

Anni Cameron, RN, BHA, MEd, is Teacher of Nursing at St George Tafe

Only at the movies FEBRUARY 16

Be warned – you may feel the desire to saddle up after you see this documentary, writes ANNI CAMERON.

‘Often, instead of helping people with horse problems. I’m helping horses with people problems.’

MEMBERSGIVEAWAY The Lamp has 20 in-season double passes to giveaway to Buck, thanks to Madman Entertainment. The first 20 members to email their name, membership number, address and contact number to lamp@nswnurses.asn.au will win!

THE LAMP FEBRUARY 2012 | 47

DIARY DATES

CONFERENCES, SEMINARS, MEETINGS SYDNEY, HUNTER & ILLAWARRA National Disability Services NSW 2012 Annual State Conference 13-14 February 2012 Hilton Hotel, Sydney NSW Register online www.ors.net.au/NDS_ASC12.html Registrations close 8 February Miriam Sosin 9256 3133 or miriam.sosin@nds.org.au www.nds.org.au/events/1317882370 Education Forum for A.C.A.T Nurses 21 February 2012 Bankstown Hospital, Aged Care Day Hospital Allied Health Building Meeting Room Wendy Oliver 9722 7236 or wendy.oliver@sswahs.nsw.gov.au Nepean Midwifery 21st Annual Conference 2 March 2012 Sebel Resort, Windsor murrayt@aimhigherevents.com.au NSW Operating Theatre Association 2012 Annual Conference Perioperative Nurses Out in Front 8-10 March 2012 Grand Pavilion, Rosehill Gardens Racecourse Registrations close 17 February 9799 9835 or info@nsw-ota.asn.au 2nd Whole Person Care National Symposium 21-22 March 2012, Sydney 9368 1200 or wholepersoncare@iceaustralia.com www.iceaustralia.com/wholeperson12 CNC/NP Professional Day 2012 e Nursing – The Machine goes Ping 29 March 2012 Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Missenden Rd, Camperdown Free – please reserve your place Jane Mawson (CNC) 9515 7630 or jane.mawson@sswahs.nsw.gov.au Lynn Hyde-Jones (NP) 9515 7278 or lynn.joneshyde@sswahs.nsw.gov.au The Children’s Hospital at Westmead ‘Spring with the Kids’ Paediatric Perioperative Seminar 15 September 2012, The Sebel, Parramatta Contact: Claudia Watson, 9845-2112, claudia.watson@health.nsw.gov.au Australasian College for Infection Prevention and Control (ACPIC)* National Conference 2012 8-11 October 2012 Sydney Exhibition and Conference Centre 8204 0770 or conferenceinfo@ashm.org.au *formally Australian Infection Control Association (AICA)

48 | THE LAMP FEBRUARY 2012

REGIONAL INTERSTATE & OVERSEAS Discharge Planning Masterclass London 3 February 2012 Manchester 23 March 2012 bookings@mkupdate.co.uk or 017687 73030 10% discount if you book online: www.mkupdate.co.uk Wound Care for Registered Nurses Edinburgh 20 February 2012 bookings@mkupdate.co.uk or 017687 73030 10% discount if you book online: www.mkupdate.co.uk The ECG Workshop Manchester 9-10 February 2012 Nottingham 1-2 March 2012 bookings@mkupdate.co.uk or 017687 73030 10% discount if you book online: www.mkupdate.co.uk The Australian Pain Society 32nd ASM Integrated Perspective of Pain 1-4 April 2012 Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre www.dcconferences.com.au/aps2012 14th National Nurse Education Conference 2012 11-13 April 2012 Pan Pacific Hotel, Perth WA nnec@iceaustralia.com www.iceaustralia.com/nnec2012 Australia and New Zealand Urological Nurses Society & USANZ Annual Scientific Meeting 21-24 April 2012 Darwin Convention Centre, Darwin urological_nurses@hotmail.com or 9990 4148 www.anzuns.org URMPM Seminar for Risk & Emergency Management for HealthCare 2012 2–4 May 2012, University of London, London, UK Contact: www.eventsforce.net/urmpm International Conference on Integrative Medicine Jerusalem 13-15 May 2012 +41 22 5330 948 or Skype +41 22 5330 948 rlevy@paragon-conventions.com www.mediconvention.com STTI European Conference 2012 Diversity Across Europe: Implications for Nursing 12 - 14 July 2012, Cardiff, Wales, UK Call for abstracts. The deadline for submission is 14 February 2012.

Contact: www.sttiec2012.net 13th International Mental Health Conference Positive Change: Investing in Mental Health 6-8 August 2012 Call for Abstracts Outrigger Inn (formerly Holiday Inn) Gold Coast, Qld www.anzmh.asn.au/conference

9th Tri-National (German Language) Psychiatric Nursing Conference Health promotion and health competency Vienna 4-5 October 2012 Call for abstracts (German language only) until 30 March 2012 info@oudconsultancy.nl 10th International Conference for Emergency Nurses New Frontiers in Emergency Nursing 10-13 October 2012 Hotel Grand Chancellor, Hobart TAS info@cdesign.com.au www.cdesign.com.au/cena2012

REUNIONS Manly Girls High School 1967-1972 reunion 3 March 2012 Lyn 07 3869 1936 or 0409 691 936 Jill 9938 1220 or 0413 709 424 mghs67to72@gmail.com St Vincent’s Hospital Darlinghurst Jan-Mar 1972 40-year reunion 4 February 2012, from 11am Paddington RSL, Oxford St, Paddington NSW Jennifer Purcell 0418 944 320 or jennacell86@gmail.com Canterbury Hospital 50-year reunion Graduate nurses from 1960s 6 February 2012 Kathy 9644 8520 or mealing.kathleen@gmail.com Roslyn 0400 273 300 RPAH 50-year reunion 8 February 2012 Still seeking RN graduates from the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital January 1962 PTS group barbdryland@hotmail.com or Rosemary at rabrab75@gmail.com RGHC 1972 Groups 103/104/105 40-year reunion 11 February 2012 Venue TBA Marjorie Willard (nee Bruce) majiwillard@hotmail.com Judy Rafferty sheep55@bigpond.com Grafton Base Hospital 40-year reunion PTS February 1972 17-18 February 2012 Opal Cove, Coffs Harbour NSW Kathy Sullivan kathral@bigpond.com or 0407 168 815 Third bi-annual Gladesville Hospital reunion 26 February 2012 Warren 0428 727 384 or warrenjmartin@hotmail.com Colin 0425 258 709 or colc@live.com.au, Rob 0416 764 200 PAM Hospital Tenterfield 150-year celebration 3 March 2012, 6pm Tenterfield Golf Club Karen Holley 02 6739 5223 or Bradholleycontracting@hotmail.com Tenterfield Hospital Fete 4 March 2012 Karen Holley 02 6739 5223 or Bradholleycontracting@hotmail.com …more reunions overleaf

CROSSWORD

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Across 1. Delusional belief that one is an animal 9. Device that receives and responds to a signal or stimulus 10. Person qualified to examine the eyes 11. Ring 12. Abnormal union or growing together of parts 13. Acid-fast bacillus (1.1.1) 14. Unintended incident during a person’s treatment or care (7.5) 16. One of the digits of the foot 17. Instrument for crushing calculi 19. Transient Ischaemic Attack (1.1.1) 20. The quality of being deadly 24. Ankle bone 26. Isolation of an organ, tissue, or system from communication 27. Poisonous alkaloid found in tobacco 29. Dermatitis of the scalp, common in infants (6.3) 30. Person affected by amnesia

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Down 1. An animal parasite 2. In front of the elbow 3. The characteristic way an individual behaves 4. Third stage in the memory process 5. A protein encoded by the PRNP gene (5.7) 6. Helium 7. To separate, set apart from others 8. Inflammation of the prostate 9. Deprive of food 15. Inflammation of a valve 18. Hormone that stimulates the uterus to contract during childbirth 21. To translate a message, signal, or stimulus into code 22. Someone who is physiologically dependent on a substance 23. Mentally responsive 25. Together or joined 27. Nasopharyngeal airway (1.1.1) 28. And so forth (abrv.)

THE LAMP FEBRUARY 2012 | 49

DIARY DATES

POSITIONS V VACANT ACA ACANT A

Member Development Officer (Student Recr Recruiters) uiters) RPAH Jan 1969 reunion lunch 24 March 2012, Sydney Jan O’Dea (nee Parsons) 0402 800 046 or janodea@hotmail.com Jenny Smith (nee Sinclair-Harris) 0427 016 822 or jennifer.smith@det.nsw.edu.au Sutherland Hospital 1973 reunion March 2012 Marianne Beuzeville marianne@upsidedowninsideout.com.au RPAH April 1979 graduates’ reunion 28 April 2012, 5.30 pm Helm Bar, Darling Harbour Jane Howland 6580 1119 page 0050 or jane.howland@ncahs.health.nsw.gov.au

NSWNA EVENTS Check venue locations with Lyn Stevens on 02 8595 1234 or 1300 367 962

EDUCATION DATES For more information on NSWNA Education Courses contact Carolyn Kulling (02) 8595 1234 Free call 1300 367 962 or www.nswnurses.asn.au/topics/ 2761.html

T Two wo par part-time t-time positions (2-days per week, 12 month contract)

Diary Dates Diary Dates is a free service for members.

Please send diary date details, in the same format used here – event, date, venue, con-tact details, via email, fax and the web, before the 5th of the month prior, for example: 5 May for June Lamp.

Send information to: Email: lamp@nswnurses.asn.au Fax: 9550 3667 Post: 50 O’Dea Ave, Waterloo NSW 2017 Please double-check all information is correct. The Lamp cannot guarantee that the issue will always be mailed in time for the listed event.

Due to high demands on the page, some dates, too close to publication or too far in the future, may be cut.

Only Diary Dates with an advised date and contact person will be published.

Special Interest Groups Special Interest Groups is now part of Diary Dates. If you are a special interest group, you must send information about your event as above. Diary Dates are also on the web: www.nswnurses.asn.au/events Send us your snaps If you’re having a reunion, send us some photos and any information from the night, and we’ll try to publish them.

Limited FREE enrolments available to primary health care nurses working in a general practice setting in NSW. Register via education@apna.asn.au or www.apna.asn.au/scripts/ cgiip.exe/WService=APNA/ ccms.r?PageId=11513

NOTICES APNA Online Learning (APNA CPD endorsed) STI and Blood Borne Viruses This course aims to assist PHCNs to gain a better understanding of the management of STIs, HIV and viral hepatitis within general practice.

Crossword solution

Z O O P A R A S I T E E B B C T

O I P I C I F I T I I A L E R T

A N T E C U B I T A L N O P A I

N I O I R I S I O I E N C O D E

T E M P E R A M E N T G K O L O

H I E I T I D I I E H R A R E M

R E T R I E V A L N A D D I C T

O I R I O I E I I I L M E C A I

50 | THE LAMP FEBRUARY 2012

P R I O N P R O T E I N P N P A

Y N S L E C S I H N T T E I P M

O S T A R V E I O X Y T O C I N

H E D N S I E Y C D E A O O I E

I N G U E I V A L V U L I T I S

I S O L A T E A A S T U E I I I

A O T U P I N I S I U S Y N I A

P R O S T A T I T I S A L E T C

The NSW Nurses’ Association is a trade union, which represents the industrial, professional and legal interests of nurses and midwives in NSW. The Role We are seeking two Member Development Officers (Student Recruiters) on a part time basis to work within our Professional Ser vices team in increasing membership density across a broad spectrum of learning facilities along with workplaces. The positions will be on a twelve month contract, and will be two days per week – we are flexible in the days and working arrangements as these roles will be filled by current nursing/ midwifer y students.

Essential Criteria The successful applicant will have a: 2 Demonstrated commitment to the union movement (Union Membership is essential).

2 Currently undertaking a course of study leading to a qualification in nursing/midwifer y.

2 Demonstrated capacity to be an open learner.

2 Commitment to contribute and work within a team environment.

2 Commitment to acquiring the skills of Union Member Developer.

2 Ability to network and form alliances with all students as well as young nurses and midwives.

2 Demonstrated time management skills.

2 A good command of the English language both written and oral.

2 Demonstrated capacity to listen and use active listening techniques.

2 Sound computer skills, with an ability to undertaken internet searches and use email and social media sites.

2 Sound administrative skills, including a proficiency in writing file notes, reports and letters.

Desirable Criteria It is desirable that the applicant possesses: 2 Active participation or organising of local groups.

2 Successful establishment of networks relating to social justice or political issues.

2 Working towards a knowledge of contemporar y nursing/midwifer y and health industr y standards.

2 Demonstrated ability to o think analyticallyy.

2 Current NSW drivers licence.

Process ocess The Application Pr Employee Please contact Emplo yee Relations on 02 8595 1234 or via email: jobs@nswnurses.asn.au to receiv which includes an jobs@nswnurses.asn.au receivee an application pack which Employment Application For m and Position Position Description.

NSWNA Employment Form Februar y 2012 to: ceived bbyy Frida Applications should be received Fridayy 17 February Rachel VVeloso eeloso Acting Emplo yee Relations Manag er Employee Manager aaterloo NSW 2017 VVia ia post: 50 O’Dea Avenue, W Waterloo swnurses.asn.au wnurs Or via email: jobs@ns jobs@nswnurses.asn.au

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First State Super the fund for all nurses We have a range of well-priced investments which are simple to understand.

First State Super has made super a whole lot easier for nurses If you work in either a public or private hospital (or perhaps both) you can use First State Super for all your super requirements. This could include your employer’s superannuation guarantee (SG) contributions if they provide choice of fund. You may need to complete a Standard Choice form – visit Publications & forms on our website for a copy.

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More More information information Web:

www.firststatesuper.com.au w ww.firststatesuper.com.au

Phone: 1300 650 873 Email: enquiries@firststatesuper.com.au

L Low ow ffees ees | S Simple imple | O Open pen Consider the th e F ir st S tate S upe r P ro d u c t D i s c l o s u re S tatement h aving rregard egard tto o yyour our o wn ssituation ituation before before deciding deciding whether whether becoming be coming a m e mbe r o Consider First State Super Product Disclosure Statement having own member orr continuing yyour our membership membership is is right right ffor or you. you. A c opy iiss a va i l a b l e b a lling u i s i ti n g o ur w ebsite. T he iinformation n fo r m a ti o n c ontained iin n tthis his d ocument iiss continuing copy available byy c calling uss o orr vvisiting our website.

The contained document c u r re n t a e ce mbe r 2 011. P re p a re d b SS T rustee C o r p o r a ti o n A BN 1 11 18 2 02 6 72, A FSL 2 93340, tthe he ttrustee rustee o First State State Superannuation S u p e r a n n u a ti o n current ass a att D December 2011.

Prepared byy F FSS Trustee Corporation ABN 11 118 202 672, AFSL 293340, off First S che me A BN 5 32 26 4 60 3 65.

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