The Lamp May 2013

lamp THE MAGAZINE OF THE NSW NURSES AND MIDWIVES’ ASSOCIATION

VOLUME 70 No.4 MAY 2013

COUNTRY RALLIES FOR RATIOS Print Post Approved: PP241437/00033

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CONTENTS

lamp THE

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

VOLUME 70 No.4 MAY 2013

Sydney Office 50 O’Dea Avenue, Waterloo NSW 2017 (all correspondence) T 8595 1234 (metro) 1300 367 962 (non-metro) F 9662 1414 E gensec@nswnma.asn.au W www.nswnma.asn.au Hunter Office 8-14 Telford Street, Newcastle East NSW 2300

COVER STORY

12 | Country rallies for ratios

NSWNMA Communications Manager Janaki Chellam-Rajendra T 8595 1258

Thousands of nurses and midwives throughout rural and regional New South Wales have organised local rallies in support of our 2013 Public Health System pay and conditions campaign.

FOR ALL EDITORIAL ENQUIRIES, LETTERS AND DIARY DATES: T 8595 1234 E lamp@nswnma.asn.au M 50 O’Dea Avenue, Waterloo NSW 2017 Produced by Hester Communications T 9568 3148

PHOTOGRAPH: Robin Wright

Press Releases Send your press releases to: F 9662 1414 E gensec@nswnma.asn.au

REGULARS

5 6 8 33 35 36 39 41 43 49 50

Editorial Your letters News in brief Ask Judith Social Media Nurse Uncut Nursing research online Crossword Books Movies of the month Diary dates

NHS

QUEENSLAND HEALTH

20 | Queensland: health cuts one day, privatised the next The Campbell Newman Horror Show is touring Queensland with massive job cuts in health biting throughout the state and the privatisation of public hospitals on the agenda.

Editorial Committee • Brett Holmes, NSWNMA General Secretary • Judith Kiejda, NSWNMA Assistant General Secretary • Coral Levett, NSWNMA 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 F 9662 1414 E ppurcell@nswnma.asn.au Records and Information Centre – Library To find old articles in The Lamp, or to borrow from the NSWNMA nursing and health collection, contact: Jeannette Bromfield, RIC Coordinator T 8595 2175 E gensec@nswnma.asn.au

AGED CARE

The Lamp ISSN: 0047-3936

22 | Lack of nurses leads to system failure

26 | Pay rise for Mercy nurses

Union membership pays off for staff at two nursing homes in the state’s southwest.

COMPETITION

9 | Win a Central Coast escape

457 VISAS

28 | Train Australians first says Gillard The Prime Minister says it is wrong to staff the health sector with foreigners on temporary visas while neglecting the training of young Australians.

General disclaimer The Lamp is the official magazine of the NSWNMA. Views expressed in articles are contributors’ own and not necessarily those of the NSWNMA. Statements of fact are believed to be true, but no legal responsibility is accepted for them. All material appearing in The Lamp is covered by copyright and may not be reproduced without prior written permission. The NSWNMA takes no responsibility for the advertising appearing herein and it does not necessarily endorse any products advertised.

Privacy Privacy statement: The NSWNMA 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 NSWNMA office. If you are still not satisfied that your privacy is being maintained you can contact the Privacy Commission.

Subscriptions for 2013 Free to all Association members. Professional members can subscribe to the magazine at a reduced rate of $50.

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

T H E L A M P M AY 2 0 1 3 | 3

Registration Renewal Reminder to all Nurses and Midwives you are due to renew your registration by 31 May 2013 under the National Registration and Accreditation Scheme. Visit the AHPRA website www.ahpra.gov.au and click on ‘Renew your registration online’

Continuing Professional Development In order to renew registration, nurses and/or midwives are required to meet the National Board’s mandatory registration standards for continuing professional development (CPD).

CPD is about maintaining, improving and broadening your knowledge, expertise and competence, and develop the personal and professional qualities required throughout your professional lives. Nurses and are expected to do a minimum number of CPD hours directly relevant to the nurse or midwife’s context of practice.

Mandatory learning activities in the workplace may be counted as CPD, provided they are relevant to your context of practice.

FAQ is available at www.ahpra.gov.au

The NSW Nurses and Midwives association offers a ½ day seminar ‘Are you meeting your CPD requirements?’ that provides you with an overview of your national registration requirements and how to document your CPD evidence.

Details are available on our website www.nswnma.asn.au/education

POSITIONS V VACANT ACA ACANT A

INFORMATION INFORMA ATTION OFFICER OFFIC NSWNMA Are Ar re you passionate p about the industrial rights of Nurses and Midwives?

Are Are you a good listener and a clear communicator?

Have you been involved in a union campaign?

The NSWNMA has a vacancy for an Information Officer in our Information team at our W Waterloo aterloo offices. This team provides pr ovides telephone advice on industrial, professional pr ofessional and legal matters to N NSWNMA members members.

T o be successful suc in tthe role role yyou will be To able e to demon demonstr monst mon nstrate nstra te excellent written demonstrate and nd d verba verbal ve bal al communi c mmunication ca cati ation skills, communication neg tiation and negotiation d confl flict rresolution esolutio solution tion skills s conflict and be computer lite erate. erate e Yo Y ou o must mu be literate.

You

getic, motivated and self-confident, ener energetic, oups / be able to deal with dynamic gr groups individuals, conflict and rapid change. ovided.

Comprehensive training pr Comprehensive provided.

Starting salary of $66,436 + Super + 19 day month. i For information on how to apply go to nswnma.asn.au nswnma.asn.au s swn search for and search ‘NSWNMA WNMA Jobs’ Jobs in the t sear arrch b bo o ox. search box.

Ap Appl lications close 10 0 May 2013 Applications

EDITORIAL

BY BRETT HOLMES GENERAL SECRETARY

Alarm bells ring on Abbott’s plans for public hospitals Comments by the federal opposition’s Shadow Minister for Health Peter Dutton on plans to privatise the management of public hospitals have flown under the radar but they should set our alarm bells ringing loud and clear.

On two occasions recently the federal opposition’s Shadow Minister for Health Peter Dutton, has put on the table that a Tony Abbot-led federal government would consider privatising the management of our public hospitals.

In Queensland and Western Australia the Liberal state governments have already started down the path of privatising the management of public hospitals.

The first was in an interview with the Australian Financial Review (AFR), the second was in response to a question I put to him on the ABC’s Q and A. Dutton, a Queensland MP, told the AFR that the Coalition did not see public hospitals as immune in its drive to find savings in the health budget. He added the Coalition, if elected, would continue to work with state governments that have delivered services through private hospitals and not-forprofits.

In reply to my question he said: “if our debate is about how we’re going to get more money to frontline services, how we’re going to get better patient outcomes, then I just think we shouldn’t be afraid of having a debate about where the best delivery model, the best management practices lie and if it lies within the public sector that’s fine. If that’s the most efficient delivery mechanism but if it’s within private management of those services then we shouldn’t be afraid to have that debate.”

We should sit up and take notice of these comments. They are not just theoretical musings. In Queensland and Western Australia the Liberal state governments have already started down the path of privatising the management of public hospitals.

In Queensland, the full privatisation of the planned Sunshine Coast University Hospital is on the table as is the operation of the new Queensland Children’s Hospital. The public day oncology services at the Mater Public Hospital in Brisbane have already been privatised to form a new Mater Cancer Care Service.

The NSWNMA is not afraid of participating in this debate and we’ll be putting it to both the major parties that the management of public hospitals should remain in the public sector. We see that as being the best model.

Public health is funded by the public and we believe the best way to make sure that those funds are used in an accountable way is through a public service management not a private company that would prioritise cost cutting and profit.

The assertion that private companies deliver more efficient outcomes in health is contradicted strongly by overseas experiences.

In Britain the NHS has been under relentless attack by the current Conservative government and the increased involvment of private companies in public hospitals has been an important plank in its health policy.

In this issue of The Lamp we look at how the cost cutting and budget-driven management practices at the Mid Staffordshire Trust which has emerged as a full blown scandal in Britain led to a systemic failure which resulted in a very large loss of life (see page 26).

It is instructive to observe that nurses have been very clearly targeted as scapegoats for this failure even though the roots of the problem lie in the fundamental changes in management structure.

Recent studies have shown an MRI can cost $2871 in the United States compared to $363 in France. In the Netherlands it costs $731 to stay in hospital per day, in the United States $12,537. US health spending swallows up 17.6% of GDP compared to 9.1% in Australia.

Significant numbers of Americans do not have health cover because of its prohibitive cost and the US healthcare system is wasteful and economically exorbitant.

While the Coalition strongly denies it wants to go down the US route, the handing over of public hospital management to private companies will produce similar outcomes in the long term.

T H E L A M P M AY 2 0 1 3 | 5

YOUR LETTERS

Positive message refreshing I am writing to congratulate the NSWNMA on the positive approach adopted in the recent media campaign on nursing and midwife ratios. It is impressive to see the NSWNMA taking a role in educating the public on the benefits of services provided by nurses and midwives to people in their home environments. After the seemingly endless negative messages from some political leaders it is refreshing to see a positive message.

Congratulations!

Sandra Hoot OAM

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Debt collection debacle I am an ex-member of NSWNMA (due to having moved interstate). But my years of working for NSW Health came back to haunt me recently when, out of the blue, I was contacted by a debt collection agency chasing me for nearly $3000 of “overpaid leave�.

It was more than 18 months since I had resigned. Due to total inefficiencies of NSW Health’s systems I hadn’t been advised of any problems and they were completely disbelieving that they had made any mistakes. All they were interested in doing was forcing me to repay the money to the debt collection agency.

After many emails and two months of very stressful waiting I finally received information as to how they’d calculated this supposed debt, and it took me less than 30 seconds to find yet another mistake.

Instead of me owing them nearly $3000, they owed me $1600!

Also I found out that due to them not processing my initial resignation letter, they have recorded on my file that I did not give the required notice of resignation and simply failed to turn up for work. This just adds insult to injury and two months have now elapsed since I wrote to them and asked for that to be amended but nothing has been done.

They have paid me the money owed and withdrawn my file from the debt collection agency. Over six weeks ago I wrote to their manager of overpayments relating my story and asking for their systems to be improved so that no-one else is treated as badly as I was. But so far my email has not been acknowledged, let alone answered in a way that suggests they are interested in improving their performance.

Kind regards, Liz Marrack EDITOR’S NOTE: We refer our members to the NSW Ministry of Health policy directive PD2009_015, and the Public Health System Award clause 27, sub clause (v), (a) and (b). If you have a concern about your own pay, you can always call the NSWNMA for advice or assistance.

letter of the

month The letter judged the best each month will be awarded a $50 Coles Myer voucher. “Whatever your next purchase, remember Union Shopper.

After all, who can think of a reason NOT to save.�

unionshopper perr.com.au .

u n i o n s h o p p e r. c o m . a u • 1 3 0 0 3 6 8 1 1 7

Every letter published receives a $20 Coles Group & Myer gift card.

6 | T H E L A M P M AY 2 0 1 3

NO TIME

LETTER OF THE MONTH

Journey insurance aids recovery I wanted to write this letter to say thank you to the NSWNMA for being forwardthinking enough to take out Journey Insurance for its members.

I recently broke my foot, in the car park at Royal North Shore Hospital, on my way into work. I put in a worker’s compensation claim only to have it rejected as the insurance company considered that I was still travelling to work, even though I was on the hospital grounds.

Being the major bread winner in my family, and having only one day’s sick leave and no annual leave, I was looking at eight weeks off with no income!

I rang the union and instantly they told me not to worry because I would be covered by their insurance. They were very helpful in getting everything set up. Because of the union I am now concentrating on recovery, not on how to feed my family and pay a mortgage.

Another great reason to be a member.

THANK YOU. Christine Sommerville-Jones.

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NEWS IN BRIEF

Australia United States

The narcissist network The reason you may not have thousands of followers on Twitter or friends on Facebook could be that you are normal.

Researchers at Western Illinois University measured two socially disruptive aspects of narcissistic personalities – grandiose exhibitionism and entitlement/exploitativeness. Those who had high scores on grandiose exhibitionism tended to amass more friends on Facebook. Other researchers, Buffardi and Campbell, found a high correlation between Narcissistic Personality Inventory (NPI) scores and Facebook activity.

Afghan veterans face new battles A former commander of Australian defence forces in Afghanistan has warned of a “tidal wave” of psychological problems for returning soldiers.

Major General John Cantwell told the ABC’s 7.30 there is likely to be a huge surge in cases of post-traumatic stress.

“I think it will be a tidal wave. There will be thousands of cases and I know that some of these are already starting to bombard the in-trays of people within Defence and also in Veterans Affairs,” he said.

Major General Cantwell – who says he too has suffered from posttraumatic stress disorder – says work needs to be done within the defence forces to “normalise” mental health issues.

“Even a few years ago Defence wasn’t too clever at this. I know that now it has the right priority,” he said. “Regrettably I still meet many veterans who don’t feel they can speak up and if they do speak up they feel they have been systemically punished.”

He says the stigma surrounding mental health is not only found in the defence forces.

“It’s in the wider community,” he said. “We, all of us, unfortunately, still avert our eyes when we see mental illness, it’s just something we find uncomfortable.”

There are currently 1650 Australian personnel in Afghanistan.

During the 12-year involvement in the war-torn country 39 Australian soldiers have lost their lives. By the end of the year about 1000 Australian defence force personnel will have returned home.

United Kingdom

DJs to miss nurse inquest

Elias Aboujaoude, a professor of psychiatry at Stanford University and author of Virtually You, told The Atlantic magazine that our ability to tailor the internet experience to our every need is making us more narcissistic.

“This shift from e- to i- in prefixing internet URLs and naming electronic gadgets and apps, parallels the rise of the self-absorbed online Narcissus,” he said. “As we get accustomed to having even our most minor needs ... accommodated to this degree, we are growing more needy and more entitled. In other words, more narcissistic.”

Aboujaoude says that beyond the basic social media platforms that narcissists use to display themselves, there is a small but growing support industry they can turn to for help and advice.

“Articles abound providing advice on how to build fan bases on Facebook and get books reviewed on Amazon. Services allow the purchase of page views, YouTube plays, and fake social media followers of all kinds. We suspect part of the rise in narcissism is being driven by internet tools.”

8 | T H E L A M P M AY 2 0 1 3

“Jacintha was a muchloved colleague and a first class nursing sister. She’s sorely missed by everyone at the hospital.”

A date in May has been set for the inquest into the death of British nurse Jacintha Saldanha.

However the two Sydney DJs, Mel Greig and Michael Christian, who made the hoax call to the King Edward VII Hospital inquiring about the health of the Duchess of Cambridge, which preceded Jacintha’s death, will not be required at the inquest.

The hospital’s chief executive, John Lofthouse, told ABC News that the nurse’s death was tragic.

“Jacintha was a much-loved colleague and a first-class nursing sister. She’s sorely missed by everyone at the hospital.”

2Day FM’s owner, Southern Cross Austereo, has been granted the right to be represented at the inquest, giving them access to all material disclosed to the court, including three notes found with Jacintha Saldanha’s body, a letter from her GP and witness statements.

The court heard that witnesses would include the duty nurse who divulged details of the Duchess’s condition to the prank callers.

NEWS IN BRIEF

COMPETITION

aCoast Central escape

Australia

Remember to renew The Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia is reminding nurses and midwives to renew their registration by May 31.

More than 340,000 nurses and midwives with general or non-practising registration are due to renew their registration with the national board.

More than 99.5% of nurses and midwives have provided an email address to the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA), which acts on behalf of the Nursing and Midwifery Board. However, AHPRA says that emails to more than 6% of those addresses bounce back undelivered.

To update your contact details using AHPRA’s secure online service visit www.ahpra.gov.au Last year more than 90% of nurses and midwives renewed their registration online and on time.

Anyone who experiences difficulties using the online service can phone AHPRA’s Customer Service Team on 1300 419 495 and a team member will talk them through the process.

Thanks to Central Coast Tourism, Mercure Kooindah Waters Golf & Spa Resort and the Australian Reptile Park, you can win a Central Coast Stay & Play Getaway package!

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Special Offer

Australia

Darius is Organiser of the Year Darius Altman of the NSWNMA was last month named Organiser of the Year at the ACTU National Union Awards.

NSWNMA also won a gong at the prestigious awards for community outreach with the Unions for Transfusions program. Unions for Transfusions is a multi-union initiative with a goal to increase the number of people donating blood in NSW. For more information go to www.unionsnsw.org.au/ donateblood/ or contact Lynne Ridge at the NSWNMA office.

Competition closes 30 April 2013. Please note: only one entry per member will be accepted. * Accommodation prize redemption excludes Saturday night bookings, and is valid until 31/10/2013.

NEWS IN BRIEF

United States

A little germ is good A growing body of evidence suggests that all the antibacterial-wiping, germ-killing cleanliness of the developed world may be making us more prone to illness — and that a little more dirt might keep us healthier in the long run.

“KNOWING WHAT I KNOW ABOUT THE HYGIENE HYPOTHESIS, I THINK TWICE BEFORE I RUN TO A PHYSICIAN FOR AN ANTIBIOTIC.”

This idea was first proposed in 1989 by epidemiologist David Strachen, who analysed data from 17,414 British children and found that those who had grown up with more siblings (and presumably more germs) were less likely to have allergies and eczema.

According to this “hygiene hypothesis”, bad things can happen if this early exposure to germs doesn’t take place or doesn’t include the right microbes. The immune system can become overly sensitive, overreacting to nonthreats such as pollen or dander as if they’re potentially harmful. When combined with certain genetic traits this process can lead to conditions such as asthma and allergies, Kathleen Barnes, an immunogeneticist at Johns Hopkins University told the Washington Post.

Barnes says modern hygiene saves lives and prevents the spread of disease, and no researcher would advocate abandoning it entirely. But we may want to rethink our relationship with germs, she says.

“Knowing what I know about the hygiene hypothesis, I think twice before I run to a physician for an antibiotic,” she says. “I also think about the foods my family eats. We eat a lot of yogurt for the beneficial bacterial cultures it provides.”

CPD courses within NSW > Teaching techniques for Nurses | Burwood | 12–14 June | 21 CPD hours > Breastfeeding update | Burwood | 14 June | 7 CPD hours > Understanding team nursing and leadership | Burwood | 20–21 June | 14 CPD hours > Perioperative anaesthetic nursing | Tweed Heads | 21 June | 7 CPD hours > Pain management | Dubbo | 25–26 June | 14 CPD hours

1 0 | T H E L A M P M AY 2 0 1 3

www.acn.edu.au 1800 COLLEGE (26 55 343) ssc@nursing.edu.au Australian College of Nursing

NEWS IN BRIEF

EDUCATION@NSWNMA United Kingdom

ED in a tent An English hospital was forced to set up a tent outside its doors as ambulances banked up and admissions soared.

The emergency department at the Norfolk and Norwich Hospital had faced admissions described as “off the scale” by the hospital’s director of medicine and emergency care.

The hospital had previously been under fire for slow response times, with the ongoing issues of queues cited as a contributing factor.

Associate director of special operations at the local ambulance service, Oskan Edwardson, told the Guardian newspaper that on Monday April 1 “… the trust had an average of between six and 15 vehicles queuing for up to three-plus hours. Clearly this led to ambulances not being available to respond to other patients in the community. We worked closely with the hospital and CCG [Clinical Commissioning Group] throughout the afternoon and deployed the trust’s major incident tent to help release ambulances back on to the road.”

United Kingdom

Back to basic care British student nurses will have to spend up to a year helping patients eat, wash and get dressed – work usually done by healthcare assistants – under government plans to shake up the National Health Service.

Any student nurse who refuses to undertake such hands-on work will be denied NHS funding for their degree, worth up to £40,000 over three years.

The move, by British health secretary Jeremy Hunt, was in response to the Francis Report into the Mid Staffordshire hospital scandal that led to hundreds of patients dying due to poor care.

“Frontline, hands-on caring experience and values need to be equal with academic training. These measures are about recruiting all staff with the right values and giving them the training they need to do their job properly, so that patients are treated with compassion,” Hunt told the Guardian newspaper.

ANY STUDENT NURSE WHO REFUSES TO UNDERTAKE SUCH HANDS-ON WORK WILL BE DENIED NHS FUNDING FOR THEIR DEGREE, WORTH UP TO £40,000 OVER THREE YEARS.

WHAT’S ON MAY 2013

Basic Foot Care for RNs and ENs – 2 days 2-3 May, Wagga Wagga 26-27 June, Penrith Members $203 Non-members $350 ——— • ———

Legal and Professional Issues for Nurses and Midwives – ½ day 9 May, Broken Hill 31 May, Wagga Wagga Topics covered include the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law, potential liability, the importance of documentation, the role of disciplinary tribunals and writing statements.

Members $40 Non-members $85 ——— • ———

Practical, Positive Actions in Managing Stress and Burnout 14 May, Gymea Members $85 Non-members $170 ——— • ———

Aged Care Seminar Series – 1 day 20 May, Lismore Suitable for all RN, EN and AiNs.

Members $75 Non-members $170 ——— • ———

Basic Foot Care for AINs – 1 day 24 May, Penrith Members $85 Non-members $150 ——— • ———

Leadership Skills for the Aged Care Team – 4 days 28 May, 2 July, 30 July, 27 August, Penrith A four-day workshop specifically designed to meet the leadership needs of nurses working in aged care.

Members $320 Non-members $480 ——— • ———

Are you meeting your CPD requirements – ½ day 30 May, Wagga Wagga, 13 June, Newcastle Suitable for all nurses and midwives to learn about CPD requirements and what’s involved in the process.

The government’s response is consistent with a recommendation in the Francis Report (see page 24): “There should be a national entry level requirement that student nurses spend a minimum period of time, at least three months, working on the direct care of patients under the supervision of a registered nurse. Such experience should include direct care of patients, ideally including the elderly, and involve hands-on physical care.

“Satisfactory completion of this direct care experience should be a pre-condition to continuation in nurse training. Supervised work of this type as a healthcare support worker should be allowed to count as an equivalent.”

Members $40 Non-members $85 ——— • ———

Computer Essentials for Nurses and Midwives – 1 day 5 June, Prince of Wales Hospital, Randwick Suitable for all nurses and midwives.

Members $85 Non-members $170 ——— • ——— To register or for more information go to www.nswnma.asn.au/education or phone Carolyn Kulling on 1300 367 962 T H E L A M P M AY 2 0 1 3 | 1 1

COVER STORY

Country rallies

for ratios

Thousands of nurses and midwives throughout rural and regional New South Wales have organised local rallies in support of our 2013 Public Health System pay and conditions campaign.

T H E L A M P M AY 2 0 1 3 | 1 3

COVER STORY

Community specialties under the pump Community nurse Chris McMillan addressed a rally in Coffs Harbour and described how the burden on different community specialties had increased dramatically.

"People are being pushed out of the hospital at a faster rate than ever," she said. “In all strands of specialised community care: community nursing, CAPACS, cardiac rehab, pulmonary rehab, respiratory liaison, stoma and continence, palliative care, Aboriginal health, diabetes and chronic care – the demand has increased without an increase in staff.

“In all these services patients are being moved into the community a lot quicker. Often these patients rebound back to hospital due to the shortage of specialised community nursing staff to cover the needs of these patients.

“In the past five years you have had two extra surgeons plus a urologist and a gynaecologist come into our area. The impact on a specialty like stoma continence nursing has been enormous. We have one fulltime stoma nurse and one part-time continence nurse.

“They cover an area from Scots Head in the south to Half Way Creek in the north and to Dorigo in the mountains. That is a huge, huge area.

“All across the specialties the number of patients is increasing with the same number of staff. It’s demanding but the government is doing nothing.”

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IN GOULBURN, NSWNMA GENERAL Secretary Brett Holmes told assembled nurses and midwives that they were sending a strong message to local MP Pru Goward that she must stand up for the people of Goulburn and its surrounding area.

“Nurses in country hospitals like Goulburn simply cannot provide the same level of care to patients with the same illness as their city colleagues.

“Under the current system a patient with pneumonia in Goulburn is allocated five hours of nursing care per day, but if that patient lived in Sydney, near Royal North Shore Hospital, they would be entitled to six hours of nursing care,” he said.

Jocelyn Fitzner, a Goulburn community mental health nurse, talked about the pressures faced by nurses in her field.

“We work in an under-resourced, under-staffed mental health environment unequal to our counterparts in the city.”

Goulburn mayor Geoff Kettle addressed the rally and agreed that something needs to be done to bring country hospitals up to the same staffing levels as the city.

“It is unfair that ratios are different in the city than they are here in country hospitals like Goulburn. We need to press the New South Wales government and you will have my 100% support,” he told nurses and midwives at the rally.

“Mr O’Farrell, this is a simple claim. All the nurses are asking for is the chance to care for patients like we want to and like patients deserve. We want to put patient safety first.”

‘THE SICKEST TOWN IN THE HUNTER’ Muswellbrook also got a good turnout of members to celebrate the launch of the campaign in the Hunter.

Lisa Kremmer, NSWNMA campaign director, pointed out the gross inequities in care between the city and a rural centre like Muswellbrook.

“In a place like Muswellbrook, on a 20bed medical ward for example, compared to a 20-bed medical ward in one of Sydney’s hospitals, your patients are receiving 20 hours less care per day.”

The mayor of Muswellbrook, Martin Rush has also thrown his support behind the NSWNMA campaign.

Martin says that media reports called Muswellbrook the “sickest town in the Hunter” based on NSW Health studies showing that the area had higher rates of ED presentations for asthma and respiratory diseases than any other part of the state.

“A critical part of the solution to addressing these appalling statistics is to ensure the state government provides the level of service required to meet the needs of our

“It is unfair that ratios are different in the city than they are here in country hospitals like Goulburn.We need to press the New South Wales government and you have my 100% support.

— Geoff Kettle, Goulburn Mulwaree Mayor

THE BUSH DESERVES BEST CARE As The Lamp went to print rallies to launch the Ratios Put Patient Safety First campaign were taking part in all the major rural and regionals centres across the state.

Tyrone Dungey, Branch Secretary Grafton Base Hospital, Grafton, warned members that they could be in for a long fight.

“Maybe we really are tougher in the bush but does that mean we are entitled to less care? This is going to be a long and hard campaign.We’re going to have to work for this but it is worth working for.

community. This means an appropriate number of midwives and nursing staff to patients.

“The ‘Ratios put patient safety first’ campaign is an important step to boosting the numbers of nurses and improving the delivery of patient care in regional New South Wales communities.

“I am very pleased to provide my personal support to the campaign of the NSW Nurses and Midwives’ Association to restore confidence in our health system, enhance patient safety and care and support nursing staff in the performance of their duties.”

Nurse Bev Morris at the Coffs Harbour rally T H E L A M P M AY 2 0 1 3 | 1 5

COVER STORY

Orwellian tactics to obstruct research The New South Wales Ministry of Health has tried to stop nurses and midwives from participating in an important academic study into ratios.

NSWNMA General Secretary Brett Holmes says that, despite directions from management not to participate in the research, nurses and midwives are entitled to have their say.

“It has become clear that not only does the Ministry of Health fear the result of the research into ratios, they are attempting to stop nurses and midwives from expressing their professional opinion,” he said.

“Any direction could only apply to paid work time and nurses and midwives could legitimately complete the survey in their own time using their own computer, tablet or smartphone.

“This survey did not ask for patient or personal information or records or official, sensitive or confidential information, and staff are not breaching the Code of Conduct by completing it. The conduct of the survey is entirely consistent with NSW Health’s claimed commitment to collaboration, openness, respect and empowerment as set out in the Code of Conduct.”

Brett said the research was the first part of a longitudinal study into the NSW ratios system. It is academically sound and is being coordinated by the University of Technology Sydney, he said.

“This research will have a substantial long-term impact in terms of patient safety and nursing workloads and it is of critical importance that we are able to obtain the views of the profession around the impact of ratios.”

“This survey did not ask for patient or personal information or records or official, sensitive or confidential information, and staff are not breaching the Code of Conduct by completing it.

— Brett Holmes

STOP PRESS The Ministry’s heavy-handed tactics have not succeeded. Despite the obstacles put in their path over 2700 nurses and midwives completed the survey providing a strong, statistically significant base for the research to continue.

Terri and Edward take our campaign to Barry O’Farrell Terri Cripps and Edward Makepeace are two NSWNMA members who live in the electorate of Ku-ring-gai and represented

by Premier Barry O’Farrell.

They said they weren’t optimistic when they approached his electorate office for a meeting to tell the Premier about our campaign demanding fair nursing ratios for all hospitals and wards throughout New South Wales.

“He is a pretty busy man after all,” says Edward. “But he was receptive.”

“He wouldn’t give us the commitment that he would support our claim but he did promise to discuss it with Health Minister Jillian Skinner.”

Edward said the Premier seemed well briefed on the issues, but talked about the tight budgetary position facing the state.

“He did give us a good hearing, appeared sympathetic and left us feeling it was well worth the effort.”

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COVER STORY

Goulburn

Regional ratios

Nowra

Blue Mountains and Springwood

Kempsey 1 8 | T H E L A M P M AY 2 0 1 3

Nowra

Nowra

Muswellbrook

Bathurst

Bathurst

STOP PRESS Government yet to respond to our claim After two meetings, NSWNMA negotiators are still waiting for a response to your claim to put patient safety first by improving and extending the ratios/nursing hours system.

Three meetings have been held in April. In those meetings senior Health Ministry representatives have asked your negotiators extensive questions about members’ ratios claims in order to calculate how much the claim will “cost”, but they did not have any authority to make a response.

The Ministry officials cannot tell us when they expect to be “authorised” by Government to make a response.

Grafton

campaign launches

Nowra Thousands of nurses and midwives rallied through rural New South Wales to support the Ratios campaign.

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QUEENSLAND HEALTH

Queensland: health cuts one day, privatised the next The Campbell Newman Horror Show is touring Queensland with massive job cuts in health biting throughout the state and the privatisation of public hospitals on the agenda.

Queensland Nurses’ Union secretary, Beth Mohle, spoke to The Lamp.

QNU SECRETARY BETH MOHLE SAYS HER members were unprepared for the attack on the Queensland public health system by the Campbell Newman LNP government.

“Nurses are shell-shocked. Many voted for the LNP. Now they are saying ‘I can’t believe this’. These radical changes in health were never telegraphed to nurses or the public before the election,” she said.

“Health minister Lawrence Springborg has implemented the most brutal health policy changes I’ve ever seen in my life. They don’t care who gets hurt – the health workers or the community.”

Beth says it is hard to understand the government’s aggression toward an iconic Queensland public service.

“Queensland had a public health system long before the NHS, Medibank or Medicare.

It was originally funded by the Golden Casket (lottery) and the public love it.”

Things looked more promising when Campbell Newman swept into power in March 2012.Within a week he had settled an EBA with Queensland nurses that was overwhelmingly endorsed by QNU members. But from there it was only downhill.

“We still had the payroll disasters that were a legacy of the previous government.The new government legislated in the dead of night to ensure that Queensland Health could automatically recover overpayments without approval – up to 25% of a nurse’s wage. Our members were gobsmacked they could do that without consulting.

“They then legislated to do away with job security and ‘no contracting out’ protections.

“Then we had an audit by Peter Costello that catastrophised the state’s finances and tried to put Queensland in the same basket as Greece.

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“In the September state budget they announced massive job cuts in health. 4100 jobs were earmarked to go in the budget. Over 3500 have already gone including over 750 nurses and midwives.”

GOVERNMENT REVEALS IGNORANCE Beth says looking at the health areas that have been hardest hit, reveals the Newman Government’s profound ignorance about health.

“The impact on primary and preventative care has been the most significant. A town like Emerald is a good example. It is a mining area with a significant Indigenous population. All those primary and preventative care projects, like outreach programs and immunisation, many with an Indigenous focus, have been cut.”

Earlier this year the Newman Government abolished the primary school nurse service in Metro South. Primary school nurses provided vital health screening and education programs for at least 50,000 children aged 5-12. One hundred and twenty-seven free hearing clinics – including screening with audiometry (checking level of hearing loss) and tympanometry (checking for middle ear conditions) – were cancelled.

PRIVATISATION NEXT Not content to cut large numbers of staff, and cut back on services, the government has flagged its intention to involve the private sector in the public health system.

“The government has a privatisation agenda. Everything in the public sector is up for grabs. Health isn’t even seen as a public good anymore,” Beth says.

Recently a review of the planned Sunshine Coast University Hospital was announced.

Full privatisation of this facility is being considered as part of this review. A similar review

is taking place with respect to the operation of the new Queensland Children’s Hospital.

This follows on the heels of an announcement that public, day oncology services at the Mater Public Hospital in Brisbane are to be privatised to form a new Mater Cancer Care Service from May 2013.

UNION RIGHTS UNDER ATTACK Beth says there has also been an attack on trade union rights.

“We had regular meetings with previous premiers, but Premier Newman refuses to meet with union leaders. Consultation has been legislated out of existence.

“Now they are reviewing the union encouragement policy. If this goes so will trade union training leave, leave for QNU councilors to attend council meetings and delegates to attend annual conference, as well as leave for workplace consultative committees.

“We’ll lose Pay Roll Deductions (PRD) and union education. Springborg actually said that allowing PRDs was akin to money laundering!”

CULTURE OF FEAR Queensland Premier Campbell Newman – whose parents were both federal Liberal MPs – was educated at the Royal Military College, Duntroon and spent 13 years in the army.

Beth says it is easy to see his military bearing in his style of governing.

“The current climate of fear is palpable – kill one and terrorise a thousand. NGOs like the Indigenous health services are too scared to say anything. Their funding arrangements have a gag clause – if they receive more than 50% from the state government they can’t advocate.

Abbott looks at private-public hospital management A Tony Abbott-led government will consider private companies running public hospitals if the Coalition is elected in the September federal election.

Beth Mohle

“There are echoes of the old Joh Bjelke-Peterson days. The LNP has a huge majority and there is no upper house in Queensland to curb excesses of power.The ideology in this Queensland Liberal National Party (LNP) is very hard.

“People have been keeping their heads down. But now things are turning and people are starting to get angry and take action.”

LESSONS TO BE LEARNT Beth Mohle says there are important lessons for all nurses to be gleaned from the experiences of Queensland nurses working under the new Liberal National Party government.

“Before the election this mob didn’t fess up about what they were going to do,” she says.

After the initial shock, however, she says nurses are mobilising in increasing numbers to defend the public health system.

“The lesson is you have to be politically savvy, you have to be organised and you have to be linked in with your community.

“You also need to toughen up.

Relationships are important to nurses.

When it gets nasty we can find it difficult. Although we like to be liked, it is more important to be feared and respected. We need to put pressure on the politicians.

“They just want us to be compliant girls. Well, we won’t be. We are a force to be reckoned with. The community respects us – it’s only the politicians who don’t.”

The Abbott model would build on current of taxpayer dollars and that includes in initiatives in the Liberal-governed states of the public hospital sector.”

Queensland and Western Australia.

In Queensland, the Mater Hospital Opposition heath spokesman Peter Dutton complex in Brisbane is run under a – a Queensland MP – told the Australian public-private partnership scheme. The Financial Review (AFR) that the Coalition Queensland government is negotiating did not see public hospitals as immune in with private companies who are looking its drive to find savings in the health to manage a new $1.8 billion hospital budget. being built on the Sunshine Coast.

“Given the Labor government has racked Chief executive of the Australian up hundreds of billions of dollars of debt, Healthcare and Hospitals Association, Prue we’re going to have to find more efficient Power, told the AFR her organisation ways of spending our health dollar,” would be “very opposed” to wholesale Mr Dutton said. privatisation of public hospitals.

In fact, Australia has one of the lowest “We think the public hospital system in levels of debt in the developed world.

Australia works well and does a lot of the more complex work that private hospitals Mr Dutton said “the Coalition, if we’re don’t do,” she said. elected, would continue to work with state governments that have delivered, Senator Richard Di Natale, the Greens both under Liberal and Labor leadership, health spokesman, said he was opposed to services through private hospitals and not- going down the path of the United States for-profits. and its heavily privatised health system.

“If that means it’s more efficient to spend it “I would have grave concerns about through change management at public handing over control to private hospitals, then we shouldn’t be afraid of operators, whose primary motivation is to that debate. make a buck out of healthcare,” Senator Di Natale said.

“We’re keen to explore more efficient use

It’s savage in Queensland The Queensland government has not only been aggressive in its application of cuts to the health service and the rest of the public sector, it been aggressive in its correspondence too.

NSWNMA General Secretary Brett Holmes recently wrote to the Queensland Minister of Health Lawrence Springborg, asking for further information about his government’s cuts to the health system.

His Chief of Staff, Jake Smith, wrote back that the Minister would reply later in more detail.

“In the interim, however, the Minister has asked me to alert you to savage consequences of hypocrisy, inconsistency and curious silence from various union bosses, which are of concern to nurses and midwives across Queensland whom he represents as Minister,” Smith wrote.

Mr Smith than asked for various pieces of

correspondence from the NSWNMA to the previous Queensland government and the federal government “to satisfy the Minister that your letter is genuinely motivated by the wellbeing of Queensland’s valued nurses and midwives and is not politically motivated.”

He went on: “The Minister hopes that you will be able to furnish copies of any of the above as soon as possible, so that we can all work together to stop the savage health cuts from the federal government; and rectify the savage payroll debacle inflicted on Queensland’s nurses and midwives by the previous state government.”

Brett Holmes says the letter is a remarkable insight into what the Queensland Nurses’

Union is up against.

“The QNU is like us – they have always been prepared to take on any government if the interests of nurses demands it. They ran vigorous campaigns against the previous Labor government – as we have done in New South Wales – to improve the conditions of their members,” he said.

“It is very presumptuous of Minister Springborg to say he represents Queensland public health system nurses. In fact, he is their employer and a ruthless one to boot. The QNU represents Queensland nurses and they will continue to get our support as they stand up to this government and oppose its destructive attack on a cherished public health system.”

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NHS

(HARRY E. WALKER/MCT VIA GETTY IMAGES)

Lack of nurses leads to system failure

Britain’s National Health System has been rocked by a scandal at the Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust, where cost cutting and nurse shortages led to a system-wide failure to keep patients safe.

AN ESTIMATED 400 TO 1200 PATIENTS DIED as a result of poor care at Stafford Hospital, a small district general hospital in Staffordshire, England, in a 50-month period between January 2005 and March 2009.

The scandal has sent tremors through the British health system and led to a public inquiry, the findings and recommendations of which were recently released and will have far reaching consequences for British nursing.

The Francis Inquiry, held over 139 days, heard dramatic evidence of poor care.

A striking aspect of much of the testimony to the inquiry related to how a lack of basic nursing care, as opposed to clinical errors, led to injury or death.

Some of the accounts of neglect were harrowing. Requests for assistance to use a bedpan or to get to and from the toilet were not responded to. Patients were left on commodes or in the toilet for far too long. They were also left in sheets soiled with urine and faeces for considerable periods of time. Considerable suffering, distress and embarrassment was caused to patients as a result.

The causes of these instances of poor care included, in a small number of cases, staff who appeared uncaring. More often there were inadequate numbers of staff on duty to deal with the challenge of a population of elderly and confused patients.

There may also have been a lack of training in continence care and difficulties may have been compounded by infection control problems.

“It is difficult to believe that lapses on the scale that was evidenced could have occurred if there had been an adequately implemented system of nursing and ward management,” inquiry chair Robert Francis QC said.

The inquiry received striking evidence about the incidence of falls, some of which led to serious injury. Many, if not all, took place unobserved by staff and too many were not reported to concerned relatives for too long, or only when they saw an injury for themselves. continued page 24

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(PHOTO BY CHRISTOPHER FURLONG/GETTY IMAGES)

Julie Bailey, Cure the NHS.

Stafford Hospital scandal: the facts

From heroes to villains. 12 months ago the NHS and British nurses were the centrepiece of a global celebration at the London Olympics. Now a scandal at the Mid Staffordshire NHS Trust has given conservative politicians and some sections of the media an opportunity to broaden their attack on the beleaguered health system and to scapegoat the nurses that prop it up.

“If you are in that environment for long enough, what happens is you become immune to the sound of pain.”

An estimated 400-1200 patients died as a result of poor care in a 50-month period between January 2005 and March 2009.

The hospital was run by an NHS Foundation Trust that was semiindependent of Department of Health control. Cost-cutting, driven by that trust status, was later cited as a key reason for how poor care took hold and was allowed to persist.

Alarm bells started ringing in 2007 when the Healthcare Commission, the then NHS care regulator, became anxious that Stafford seemed to have unusually high death rates. The families of patients who died also played a key role in exposing the scandal, forming the campaign group Cure the NHS and demanding a public inquiry.

The subsequent public inquiry chaired by Robert Francis QC found that “a chronic shortage of staff, particularly nursing staff, was largely responsible for the substandard care.” Francis also found that morale was low and “while many staff did their best in difficult circumstances, others showed a disturbing lack of compassion towards their patients. Staff who spoke out felt ignored and there is strong evidence that many were deterred from doing so through fear and bullying.” Francis laid much of the blame on the Trust’s ruling board.

Crucially, Francis highlighted the key impact of the Trust board’s decision to save £10m in 2006-07, as part of its desire to gain Foundation Trust status.

“The board decided this saving could only be achieved through cutting staffing levels, which were already insufficient. It also ignored staff concerns,” Francis said.

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NHS

from page 24

The reason for the incidence of falls and other safety concerns was, the report observed, probably attributable to a combination of a high dependency level among the mix of patients, combined with too few staff, or staff not sufficiently qualified to cope.

IMMUNE TO THE SOUND OF PAIN While much of the blame has been laid at systemic failure arising from cost cutting and staff shortages, nurses, doctors and frontline staff have been widely criticised for allowing the poor care to go unchallenged. Francis identified a litany of cultural and organisational deficiencies including: • bullying • target-driven priorities • disengagement from management • low staff morale • isolation • lack of candour • acceptance of poor behaviours • reliance on external assessments • denial “I consider that staff morale had been low for some time before the concerns about the Trust came to the public’s attention,” Francis said.“The constant strain caused by financial crisis, staff cuts and the consequent difficulties in delivering an acceptable level of care have taken their toll. Many staff will have been concerned about their job security, while others will have felt the stress of the target-driven culture already described.”

The inquiry heard many strong views from diverse sources about the inadequate numbers of nurses. One doctor, who started work in Accident and Emergency in October 2007, said: “… the problem was primarily that there just were not enough staff. The nurses were so under-resourced they were working extra hours, they were desperately moving from place to place to try to give adequate care to patients. If you are in that environment for long enough, what happens is you become immune to the sound of pain.”

HIJACKED FOR OTHER AGENDAS The Mid Staffordshire scandal has led to a frenzy of media sensationalism and attempts by the Conservative government to use it for its own agenda.

“NHS: no one is safe” was a headline in the Times newspaper that was typical of the reaction by the right-wing press. Much indignation has fixated on nurses, with undue emphasis on a handful that appeared uncaring.

British health minister Jeremy Hunt has used the scandal to soften up the public to the idea of the private sector taking over

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Key recommendations of the Francis Report The Francis Public Inquiry into the Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust made 290 recommendations, among them: More powers to suspend or prosecute boards and individuals Where serious harm or death has resulted to a patient as a result of a breach of the fundamental standards, criminal liability should follow.

Duty of candour Every healthcare organisation and everyone working for them must be honest, open and truthful in all their dealings with patients and the public, and organisational and personal interests must never be allowed to outweigh the duty to be honest, open and truthful.

Only registered people should care for patients A registration system should be created under which no unregistered person should be permitted to provide direct physical care to patients currently under the care and treatment of a registered nurse or a registered doctor (or who are dependent on such care by reason of disability and/or infirmity) in a hospital or care home setting. The system should apply to healthcare support workers. This approach is applicable to all patients but requires special attention for the elderly.

It should be clear who is in charge Hospitals should review whether to reinstate the practice of identifying a senior clinician who is in charge of a patient’s case, so that patients and their supporters are clear who is in overall charge of a patient’s care.

Gagging clauses should be banned Gagging clauses or non-disparagement clauses should be prohibited in the policies and contracts of healthcare organisations, regulators and commissioners; insofar as they seek, or appear, to limit bona fide disclosure in relation to public interest issues of patient safety and care.

NHS contracts. Prime Minister David Cameron has openly advocated tying nurse pay to performance in looking after patients.

These knee jerk reactions stand in contrast to NHS patient surveys that show more than 90% of patients leaving hospital say their care was good or very good.

LESSONS FOR AUSTRALIA NSWNMA General Secretary Brett Holmes says there are many lessons for Australian nurses to draw from this terrible British experience.

“The positive profile that the community holds of nurses and midwives can not be taken for granted. If care ever falls below expected standards we can expect close scrutiny by the public and the media,” he said. Brett says there are also sobering lessons for our public health system.

“There are differences between the

British and New South Wales health systems. The NHS has a stronger reliance on an assistant workforce than we have, but that excessive substitution remains a real and imminent threat in Australia with growing projected nursing workforce deficits.

“The Francis Report graphically documents the appalling outcomes for patients when health services rely on inadequate numbers of trained nursing staff and have excessive reliance on non-nurses to perform nursing work.

“It backs up our arguments that mandated minimum staffing levels are necessary to ensure that benchmarks, budgets and organisational culture do not replace the patient as the focus of service delivery.

“And it provides a real-life contemporary example of the consequences of running a system with not enough nurses to deliver decent care.”

Reactions to the Francis Report in Britain Christina McAnea, Head of Health, UNISON “We owe it to the patients who died and to their relatives to make sure that the lessons of this and previous Inquiries are hammered home, not only in hospital corridors but in the corridors of Whitehall.

“UNISON has been campaigning for many years on the importance of having the right number of staff with the right mix of skills on hospital wards. And sisters should be on the wards and not dealing with administration. Patients clearly suffered as a result of this not happening.

“We welcome the report’s recommendation for registration of healthcare assistants, and this must come with a clear commitment to invest in their training and ensure they are supported to deliver safe, compassionate and dignified patient care.”

Cathy Warwick, Chief Executive, Royal College of Midwives “The recommendation to introduce a new duty of candour is an excellent suggestion. We hear far too often from midwives who are genuinely petrified about raising the alarm bell over poor quality of care. They fear that senior managers will come down on them hard simply for raising concerns. It is good news too to see a tough new system that will hold senior managers, in particular, accountable for their actions. It is also good to see Francis recommend the regulation of health care assistants, such as maternity support workers.”

Dr Peter Carter, Chief Executive & General Secretary, Royal College of Nursing “The RCN welcomes this powerful and monumental report, which puts patients at the heart of NHS care. It delivers key recommendations that we support and have been calling for, including the registration and regulation of health care assistants. We welcome moves for overarching standards that enshrine what patients deserve from the NHS and from those who work for it.”

Frances O’Grady, General Secretary, Trade Union Congress “While what happened in Mid Staffordshire was unforgivable, this is an extreme case and there is good practice and excellent treatment at the overwhelming majority of our hospitals.

“But the worry is that with the combination of huge government spending cuts and the massive changes happening throughout the health service – where private companies are increasingly likely to be the ones providing services in pursuit of profit – we risk re-creating the very conditions and lack of accountability that allowed the Mid Staffordshire tragedy to go unnoticed for so many years.”

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AGED CARE

Pay rise for Mercy nurses Union membership pays off for staff at two nursing homes in the state’s southwest.

MERCY HEALTH AGED CARE NURSES AT Albury and Young have won pay increases of up to 15% over the next two years, under their first union-negotiated workplace agreement.

Enrolled Nurses and Registered Nurses will receive an immediate 7% increase followed by 4% on July 1, 2013 and another 4% on July 1, 2014. Assistants in nursing will receive 4% now plus two installments of 3%.

The agreement also makes the two nursing homes eligible for extra funding under the federal government’s new Workforce Supplement for aged care services. That could mean further pay increases of up to 2% by July next year.

“We were really excited when Mercy Health accepted our claim,” Maryanne Dean, branch delegate for the NSWNMA at Mercy Place Albury, said. “Everyone at work was just thrilled.”

“Our long campaign was well worth it.

The vast majority of nurses here are very happy,” said Angela Scott, who was Association branch secretary at Mercy Place Mount St. Joseph’s in Young, during negotiations for the workplace agreement.

Owned by the Catholic Sisters of Mercy, Mercy Health operates 10 residential aged care facilities in Victoria and two in New South Wales – the 120-bed Albury home and the 65-bed facility at Young.

Victorian nurses working for Mercy were covered by workplace agreements but the NSW nurses were employed under the Nurses Award and received significantly less than union-negotiated agreements applying at nearby nursing homes.

Lack of a workplace agreement also disqualified the two facilities from receiving extra federal funds under the Workforce Supplement.

Union branches at Albury and Young began negotiating to move from the award

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“Our long campaign was well worth it.” to workplace agreements in June 2010.

Branch meetings overwhelmingly rejected management’s first offer of 6.5% over three installments (1.5%, 2.5% and 2.5%) with more than 100 nurses signing postcards asking Mercy Health for a fair pay rise.

Late in 2012 the union put a counterclaim of 7%, 4% and 4% for ENs and RNs and 4%, 3% and 3% for AiNs. It took management 72 days to reply with a repeat of their original 6.5% offer and a threat to cut staffing if they were forced to meet any higher increase.

Nurses at Young sought community

support for their claim by holding a roadside rally near the nursing home and putting leaflets into letterboxes.

They got local media coverage as did Albury nurses who held similar actions.

“Our leaflets explained the massive wage gap between our facility and others in the region. We explained we needed to be brought up to a comparable rate to other facilities so we could retain and attract good staff,” Angela Scott said.

Maryanne Dean said members of the public, including relatives of residents at the Albury facility, were very supportive. Some telephoned the head office of Mercy Health to lobby for the nurses.

Union branches decided to seek approval from Fair Work Commission (FWC) to take protected industrial action as part of the bargaining process.

FWC authorised workplace ballots, conducted by the Australian Electoral Commission, which resulted in an overwhelming “Yes” vote to take action.

Branches decided that action could include refusing to fill out forms relating to the aged care funding instrument, refusing to work more than contracted hours, a ban on overtime, distributing leaflets to residents and visitors to the facilities, wearing badges at work and a series of four, eight and 12-hour work stoppages.

“We wanted to try t-shirts, badges and flyers first,” Maryanne said.“Work stoppages would have been the last resort.”

In the end industrial action was not needed, as Mercy Health agreed to the union’s wages counter-claim.

Both branches voted to accept the pay deal and all staff will vote on the final agreement soon.

Supplement gets results Assistant General Secretary of the NSWNMA Judith Kiejda said the result of enterprise bargaining at Mercy Health showed how the Workforce Supplement could help improve aged care wages and working conditions across New South Wales.

Judith said facilities that sign up to the federal Workforce Supplement will be eligible to receive funding to pay an extra 1% increase to staff in July 2013 and another 1% rise in July 2014.

She said the Association had already helped to negotiate workplace agreements with more than 80% of aged care facilities in NSW. “Those facilities without current agreements should quickly finalise agreements that comply with the Supplement so their nurses can receive the benefit of this important federal government initiative.�

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SECTION 457 VISAS

Train Australians first says Gillard The Prime Minister says it is wrong to staff the health sector with overseas workers on temporary visas while neglecting the training of young Australians.

PRIME MINISTER JULIA GILLARD HAS criticised the widespread and growing use of overseas temporary workers in hospitals and health care.

More needs to be done to train Australians to fill job vacancies in health and other sectors reliant on foreign labour, Ms Gillard said. She told an ACTU conference on job security that Australia has 107,000 overseas temporary workers – 20% more than the same time last year. Employment growth in the same period was only around 1%.

“The number of people coming here to fill short-term gaps should not be growing 20 times faster than employment overall,” she said.

She said the federal government would crack down on abuses of the 457 visa program, which allows employers to import temporary workers for up to four years.

She said the crackdown would include measures to:

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“I offer absolutely no apology for putting the opportunities of Australian working people first.”

• Stop employers paying overseas workers less than local “market rates”.

• Require employers to prove there is a genuine shortage of local labour before using overseas workers.

• Raise the English language requirement for getting visas for certain jobs.

• Strengthen existing requirements to train Australians.

• Hire more inspectors to enforce rules.

“I offer absolutely no apology for putting the opportunities of Australian working people first, front and centre, wherever they were born,” Ms Gillard said.

She said the use of section 457 visas was growing in industries such as information technology, accommodation, food service and retailing, which should be doing more to train young Australians.

“Most striking of all is the widespread use of temporary skilled labour in hospitals and health,” she said. “There are nearly as many visas in the health sector today as there are in construction: 12,700 temporary workers from overseas have ongoing employment in the health and social care industry in Australia.

“It is absurd to rely on temporary overseas labour to fill ongoing skilled work in public hospitals, while contracted local labour cleans those same hospitals in the middle of the night for around $20 an hour.

“That is an absolutely damning failure of long-term national economic policy.We don’t want to be a nation that can’t care for its own sick and can’t provide jobs for its own kids.”

Ms Gillard said federal Labor governments had succeeded in greatly increasing the numbers of Australians in job training despite the global financial crisis.

“By 2011, 146,000 more students undertook vocational educational training and studies than in 2007. There were 100,000 more apprentices and trainees – and around 35,000 more people with university degrees added a vocational qualification to their skills.”

By contrast, conservative state governments are cutting hundreds of millions of dollars from their training systems, while the federal opposition supports greater reliance on temporary workers from overseas.

“I will fight to keep Australia from going down that path. That is not the future we want for Australia,” the Prime Minister said.

Australia relies on imported nurses to fill large gaps in the local health workforce.

Where do they come from and how do they get here?

Nurse migration: the big picture AUSTRALIA IS SUPPOSEDTO BE SELF-SUFFICIENT in nurses, midwives and doctors by 2025, without the need to import overseas trained personnel.

That goal – to meet all of Australia’s requirements for medical, nursing and midwifery professionals in 2025 from the supply of domestically trained graduates – was set by a meeting of federal and state health ministers in 2012.

The ministers asked Health Workforce Australia to develop a national training plan to produce more domestically-trained graduates.

Training will be supplemented by the

recruitment of enough migrant professionals, over the next 13 years, to deliver self-sufficiency. Health Workforce Australia advertises “jobs down under” at career expos in Britain and Ireland, for example.

One complicating factor is that there is almost as much nurse migration out of Australia as into Australia.

Within this policy context, Australia has relied on several sources of migrant health professionals to boost supply. They include: 1. New Zealand health professionals, who are given free entry to Australia and full qualification recognition under the

terms of the Trans-Tasman Agreement.

By the time of the 2006 Census, 5905 NZ nurses and midwives were resident in Australia.

2. Permanent migrants selected through Australia’s points-tested General Skilled Migration Program.

3. Health professionals who come to Australia as dependents of other migrants or as refugees.

4. Former international students who get degree qualifications in Australia then convert their status to stay here, through a process termed ”two-step migration”. continued page 30 T H E L A M P M AY 2 0 1 3 | 2 9

SECTION 457 VISAS

from page 29

5.Temporary labour migrants sponsored by employers through the 457 visa program to fill designated positions for up to four years. Up to 30% of 457 visa holders in the health workforce manage to stay in Australia permanently through “two-step migration”.

In the five years between 2004-05 to 2008-09, the number of registered nurses who arrived as general skilled migrants (6400 or 7676 including partners) was dwarfed by the number of 457 visa arrivals (14950).

However more recent data for 200910, shows a growth in permanent skilled migration (1700 nursing/midwifery arrivals up from 1360 the year before), alongside a fall in nurses/midwives sponsored on a temporary basis (2710 compared to 4070 the year before).

The United Kingdom has been the biggest single source of 457 migrant nurses (9350 in the five years to 2010) followed by: India – 6420, Philippines – 1850, South Africa – 1770, Malaysia – 1570, Ireland – 1560.

In a study for Health Workforce Australia, Professor Lesleyanne Hawthorne, from the University of Melbourne’s Faculty of Medicine, said migrant health professionals from English-speaking backgrounds and Commonwealth countries were quick to integrate into the Australian workforce, because they share two advantages – high exposure to English and training in British-origin education systems.

Health professionals from non English speaking background and/or non-Commonwealth countries, such as China and Vietnam, perform less well, despite mobility clearly improving within 10 or more years.

“Large numbers of such nonEnglish speaking background health professionals face years of professional displacement and skills atrophy. Many never achieve appropriate work,” Professor Hawthorne said.

Unemployment, or not being able to find work in your trained profession, is not an issue for 457 temporary visa applicants, who by definition arrive with offers of work.

Professor Hawthorne said temporary migration had been attractive to both governments and Australian employers, because 457 visa holders can be required to work in specified “areas of need”.

457 visa holders are restricted to working for their sponsor only and must meet minimum levels of qualifications and English language skills.

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Migrants appreciate union support Many temporary migrants know the value of union membership and are happy to join.

“They didn’t take much convincing to join – they already knew what a union’s role was.”

MIGRANTS ON TEMPORARY WORK VISAS deserve the same level of union protection and service as locals, says Jocelyn Hofman, a registered nurse and NSWNMA representative at a Blue Mountains aged care facility.

Jocelyn has helped eight foreign RNs employed on 457 temporary visas to join the NSWNMA in her role as union delegate and branch secretary.

“They didn’t take much convincing to join – they already knew what a union’s role was,” she said.

“There was some initial doubt because of the cost of the joining fee, but when I explained they could pay by instalments they didn’t have any hesitation in joining.

“When I explained the services the union provides one of the RNs said,‘Yes, I know about it because I come from a democratic country.’

“I tell them the union is their support system if they have questions about issues like wages or holidays or legal advice.

“As a union member they can ask me

questions or call the NSWNMA office – the union is always there to help.”

Jocelyn is herself a migrant, from the Philippines. She settled in Australia in 1980. She said there were no language barriers to working with overseas nurses.

“Some of them need some guidance because they have not worked in aged care before, but generally they are very good nurses.

“I would encourage Australians to support these temporary migrants and make them feel welcome. It’s a big culture shock for them being away from home, especially when they haven’t got their family here.”

She said one overseas nurse told her she was anxious not to “make waves” in her Australian job because her family had mortgaged their farm to finance her time abroad.

Jocelyn agrees local nurses should have priority for jobs. However the aged care industry often has trouble recruiting locals, possibly because salaries are lower than in other branches of nursing.

Cooking the books on visas There are worrying trends – and suggestions of rorting – in the so-called “temporary skilled” visa program.

THE 457 VISA PROGRAM IS SUPPOSED to meet temporary shortages of skilled labour – hence the official name Subclass 457 (Temporary Work (Skilled)) Visa.

But Prime Minister Julia Gillard says there is growing evidence that importing workers on 457 visas has become a substitute for training Australians.

The Prime Minister also worries that 457 visa holders are increasingly shifting from those with university degrees and advanced trades qualifications, to those with lower skills.

“The areas where temporary work from overseas is growing show that this is work for which we can and should train young Australians,” she said recently.

She cited accommodation and food services, where the number of applications for 457 “skilled” visas had almost doubled compared to the same period last year, and now exceeds 5000. Applications in retail were up 80% to just under 2500.

“These are plainly areas where the two million Australians in insecure work, or the 660,000 Australians who are unemployed, could be trained and could find secure, skilled work,” Ms Gillard added.

However some employer representatives have called for the 457 visa program to be extended to lower-skilled categories including in health care. Catholic Health Australia chief executive Martin Laverty has called for the 457 visa program to be extended to enrolled nurses.

He said enrolled nurses should be included on the skilled occupation list as one of several measures required to fill job vacancies in the aged care sector, and in some states the acute health sector.

“It [the program] is not only valuable, but should be expanded,” Mr Laverty told the Australian Financial Review.

Economics editor of Melbourne’s Age newspaper, Tim Colebatch, backed up the Prime Minister’s suggestion that the 457 visa program was being rorted in some areas.

He wrote that until mid-2011, few firms used 457 visas to import cooks; in 2010-11, just 45 visas a month were issued for skilled kitchen staff. Yet by January 2013, 1690 cooks had been granted 457 visas, 240 a month.

Colebatch questioned why foreign cooks were suddenly in great demand despite a fall in spending in hotels and restaurants.

“Where is the labour shortage that requires us to suddenly import thousands of foreign cooks?” he asked.

“It’s not just cooks. This year alone, the number of chefs, their superiors, entering on 457 visas has shot up 150% to almost 90 a month.

Imports of cafe and restaurant managers have quintupled, from 27 a month to 134 a month. Does anyone smell a rat here?”

Colebatch also asked why “poor, backward Nepal” is now one of the 15 main sources of “temporary skilled migrants’’ to Australia.

He reminded readers of the rorting of the student visa program, exposed in 2008-09, in which unskilled Indians and Nepalis were lured to study low-level TAFE courses as cooks and hairdressers as a back door to gaining permanent residence.

“Where is the labour shortage that requires us to suddenly import thousands of foreign cooks?”

T H E L A M P M AY 2 0 1 3 | 3 1

Just Health?

Politics and Ethics in Australian Health Care

Professional Da Dayy Wednesday W edn ednesda e y 7 August 2013 TIME:

9am – 5pm, Reg Registration istration from 7am.

VENUE: Rosehill Gardens, James Ruse Drive, Rosehill.

Put this date in your diary

COST: COST: NSWNMA members $50, Branch OfďŹ cials and students: free of charge, Non-members $100.

ormation please contact the NSWNMA on 8595 2181 (metro) For more inf information .nswnurses.asn.au/education or 1300 367 962 (rural) or go to www www.nswnurses.asn.au/education

Q&A

ASK JUDITH Accrued sick leave I work in a public hospital and have accrued considerable sick leave. I have advised my NUM that I intend to have surgery and have given her three months notice as I know when I am going into hospital and my doctor has already given me a medical certificate for this time. My NUM has stated to me that she is not going to approve this leave. Is this allowed?

From the information you have supplied your NUM cannot refuse your request.You have followed the provisions outlined in sub-clause (c) and (d) of Clause 37, Sick Leave, of the Public Health System Nurses’ and Midwives’ (State) Award 2011 which states: “(c) All periods of sickness shall be certified to by the Medical Superintendent or Director of Nursing of the employer or by the employee’s own legally qualified medical practitioner or dentist. The employer may dispense with the requirement of a medical certificate where the absence does not exceed two (2) consecutive days or where, in the employer’s opinion, the circumstances are such as not to warrant such requirement. (d) Each employee shall, as soon as reasonably practicable and in any case within 24 hours of the commencement of such absence, inform the employer of his or her inability to attend for duty and as far as possible state the nature of the injury or illness and the estimated duration of the absence.”

Overpayment letter I am employed as an EN in a public hospital. Recently I received an overpayment letter from my employer.

Can you advise what I should do and what I should ask for before any action is taken.

You should request from your employer a detailed report showing what was paid, what should have been paid and the difference that was overpaid. A summary of the overpayment (amount only) is not acceptable as you have the right to know exactly how the overpayment was calculated.

Sub-clause (v) (b) of Clause 27, Payment and Particulars of Salary, of the Public Health Sector Nurses’ and Midwives’ (State) Award 2011, prescribes how overpayments should be treated. The Award states: “(b) Overpayment (i) In all cases where overpayments have occurred, the employer shall as soon as possible advise the employee concerned of both the circumstances

surrounding the overpayment and the amount involved. The employer will also advise the employee of the pay period from which the recovery of the overpayment is to commence. (ii)One off overpayments will be recovered in the next normal pay, except that where the employee can demonstrate that undue hardship would result, the recovery rate shall be at 10% of an employee’s gross fortnightly base pay. (iii) Unless the employee agrees otherwise, the maximum rate at which cumulative overpayments can be recovered is an amount, calculated on a per fortnight basis, equivalent to 10% of the employee’s gross fortnightly base pay.”

Contact the NSWNMA for further assistance if your employer does not provide a detailed report of the overpayment.

Penalties on overtime?

I am an AiN working permanent parttime in a nursing home. My employer has stated that I do not receive Saturday/Sunday shift penalties when I work overtime on these days. I receive the overtime payment but no shift penalties. Is this correct?

Yes this is correct. Shift penalties are not payable on overtime. Shift penalties are payable on the ordinary rostered hours for Saturday, Sunday, afternoon and night shifts.

Overtime is paid for at the rate of timeand-a-half for the first two hours and double time thereafter and on Sundays such overtime is paid for at the rate of double time and on public holidays at the rate of double time-and-a-half.

Easter roster I am a full-time RN rostered to work regularly on Sundays in a public hospital. I am paid a 75% shift penalty for hours worked on Sundays. I noticed the response to an Ask Judith question titled “Easter Loading” in the March 2013 issue of The Lamp, stating that I would only be paid a 50% public holiday loading for working Easter Sunday. If this is the case, I would be suffering a loss of pay for working on a public holiday. Is this correct?

Yes it is. As a full-time employee working a rotating seven-day roster you accrue six weeks annual leave. This extra leave compensates you for working a rotating roster and working on public holidays. As Easter Sunday was not one of the 10 gazetted public holidays, you will be credited one day of your public holiday leave. Crediting of one day would also

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

occur if you were rostered off on this day.

Part-time staff who work on this day will be paid 150% public holiday loading or be paid 50% and have one day added to leave (if elected).

Superannuation I recently read an article from the April edition of The Lamp titled Older, Wiser and Unsupported. My concern is I have been given conflicting advice about Superannuation cut-off points. Could you please clarify?

A regulated superannuation fund may accept contributions as follows: • If the member is under age 65 – all contributions made in respect of the member • If the member is age 65 or more but under the age 70 – the following contributions made in respect of the member: — Mandated employer contributions — Employer contributions (except mandated employer contributions) or member contributions provided the member has been gainfully employed on at least a part time basis during the financial year in which the contributions are made (this is commonly referred to as the work test).

• If the member is age 70 or more but under 75 – the following contribution is made in respect of the member: — mandated employer contributions — employer contributions (except mandated employer contributions), or member contributions made by the member, which are received before the 28th day after the end of the month in which the member turns 75 and the member satisfies the work test • If the employee is 75 or more – mandated employer contributions.

10-hour shifts I am employed as an AiN in a public hospital and understand that nurses in other hospitals have rosters that include a 10-hour night shift. Can I have this introduced at my hospital?

Funding for 10-hour night shifts was introduced in July 2006 after many years of negotiation with the NSW Department of Health.The funding was granted to 60 hospitals over a six-year period to 2012, where nursing staff had voted in favour.

Unless your hospital was on the list of 60, at this stage there are no plans for the introduction of funded 10-hour night shifts at additional hospitals.

T H E L A M P M AY 2 0 1 3 | 3 3

ACN NURSING & HEALTH EXPOS Sunday 23 June

10am–3pm

G OL D COIN ON

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Sydney Town Hall FFor or more info visit www www.acn.edu.au .acn.edu.au

Proud P roud to to be the the lawyers lawyers for for NSWNMA NSWNM MA members members * *

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NURSES & MIDWIVES SAID & LIKED on facebook www.facebook.com/nswnma

Celebrities stand up for ratios Our Facebook page has come alive with celebrities showing their support for patient ratios by wearing our ‘Ratios put patient safety first’ badges. If you see someone famous, why not ask them to wear one of our badges? Post your photos on our Facebook page or tweet them to @nswnma with the hashtag #morenurses.

Seen sporting the ‘Ratios put patient safety first’ badges recently:

Shooting up Security guards in Victorian hospital emergency departments want to carry weapons. What do you think?

Clockwise: Entertainer Andrew O’Keefe X Factor winner Samantha Jade Country singer Tamara Stewart (left) Scott Gooding from My Kitchen Rules

NO!!!!!!!

A gun won’t deter people who are brought to hospital for help if they are not thinking or acting straight. Imagine if the gun got into the wrong hands!

What will help the situation is to give us more staff so we can safely manage those with an increased chance of becoming violent.

As a former hospital security guard and now an RN, I believe security guards should be allowed to carry tasers or capsicum spray. The strength that these violent people have is amazing. More man power can make the situation worse and when you have eight guards, a few nurses and a dozen doctors around a person it is very hard to all work safely. Walk a week in a guard’s shoes.

Guns have no place in a hospital ever. There are many other ways to deal with dangerous situations, and the potential harm of a staff member or patient is indisputable. I also believe it is unfair to place such an enormous burden and responsibility on security staff.

Uni vs the ward The debate over where nurses should be trained is always contentious. But in the end, a good nurse is a good nurse.

A lot of new grad nurses really have no idea how to think outside the box, and must admit it. They need to understand empathy, and how a patient is really feeling – they aren’t just Joe Blogs in bed nine. I’m old school and proud of it.

Nursing [education] needs to be put back into hospitals. The way things are going I wouldn’t want to be a patient anywhere.

Nursing is a profession! The same as all allied health professionals – doctors, physios – they all train in universities. Why on earth do we continue to have our own nurses wanting to dumb us down? Frankly, it’s highly offensive to suggest that we are not as good as the older nurses. I am almost 40 years old.

The attitude of hospital-trained versus nurse-trained really needs to stop. In my experience, a good nurse is a good nurse.

T H E L A M P M AY 2 0 1 3 | 3 5

WHAT’S

SOCIAL MEDIA

NURSE UNCUT

HOT THIS MONTH

A BLOG FOR AUSTRALIAN NURSES AND MIDWIVES www.nurseuncut.com.au

Sign up for the weekly email newsletter that alerts you to new posts.

Nurse Uncut is also on Facebook: www.facebook.com/NurseUncutAustralia. And on Twitter @nurseuncut

A tribute to the nurses of Boston In the immediate aftermath of the Boston Marathon bombing, Nurse Uncut took a look at some of the nurses who were on hand to treat victims. www.nurseuncut.com.au/nurses-of-boston/

HPV vaccinations – what nurses should know We spoke with Dr Julia Brotherton, medical director of Australia’s National HPV Vaccination Program Register. www.nurseuncut.com.au/hpv-vaccinations-%e2%80%93-what-nurses-should-know/

Charting the globe We launch a new series on the nursing stories you might have missed from around the world.

Shaming the government with ‘Ward Watch’, the Syrian nurse that switched sides, and more. www.nurseuncut.com.au/charting-the-globe-1/

Compassionate care is more than equal treatment We look at why, sometimes, with older people who are lesbian, gay, trans, intersex, or bisexual, equal isn’t equal. www.nurseuncut.com.au/compassionate-care-lgbti/

How the Celtic Tiger’s carcass landed on nurses and midwives Irish nurses and midwives are doing it tough in a country where austerity measures have caused unions to fight amongst themselves. www.nurseuncut.com.au/how-the-celtic-tigers-carcass-landed-on-irelands-nurses-and-midwives/

Shooting up in the ED Victorian emergency department guards want to be armed. We asked our members for their thoughts. www.nurseuncut.com.au/shooting-up-in-emergency/

Nurses under threat A random collection of violent situations faced by nurses. Some extreme, some “normal”. www.nurseuncut.com.au/nurses-under-threat/

Experience: a Respect Our Work activist Chris Morgan, a nurse at Frankston Hospital, shares stories from the 2011-12 Victorian Respect Our Work campaign www.nurseuncut.com.au/experience-a-respect-our-work-activist/

ONLINE

nsw nurses & midwives

@nurseuncut

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Follow us on Twitter >> NSWNurses & Midwives @nswnma Watch us on YouTube >> SupportNurses Connect with us on Facebook >> www.facebook.com/nswnma Aged Care Nurses >> www.facebook.com/agedcarenurses Ratios put patient safety first >> www.facebook.com/safepatientcare

ME BANK A AGENCY GENC CY HOL LA ARS ARSHIP NURSES NURSE S SCHOL SCHOLARSHIP ANNOUNCED ANNOUNCED..

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The scholarship will pr provide ovide a unique opportunity for nurses, midwives, assistants in nursing and care workers, who work with ANRA personal care professional member agencies, to access continuing professional ough a national scholarship development (CPD) thr through program. program. e available to assist in meeting the Scholarships ar are onferre ences, to undertake sho short costs of attending confer conferences, courses or workshops or complete online education. e asked to describe how the education Applicants ar are $ #""! ! # ! # "! #"" ! ! $! ! ! # ! # "! #"" ! ! $! ! $#""! will transfer that knowledge to advance their clinical practice. “This scholarship is an important part of our ongoing commitment to supporting the health and community sectorr,,� said d Kylie Whicher services sector,�

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Professional Development Speaking at the ANRA Professional Melbourne, ANRA Chair Alan Bell noted Meeting in Melbourne, Professional Development is an that continuing Professional important means of developing clinical skills and competence for agency nurses. “ANRA is very excited to be partnering with ME Bank provide nurses working with our and the ANF to provide member agencies the opportunity to continue their professional learning,� learning,� said Mr Bell. professional Speaking to ANRA member agencies at the launch,

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The scholarship is open to all nurses, midwives, ing and personal car re worker workers assistants in nursing care RA member agencies for greater grre ea eater than working with ANRA cations ar re now open and clo 12 months. Applications are close on 30 ! !

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Norfolk Island, the wonderful Island destination, is just a 2 and a half hours short flight away with Air New Zealand.

There’s more to Norfolk Island than you may think.

Relax over a famous “Vineyard Platter”, enjoyed with a local glass or two, on the Cellar Door verandah at the Two Chimney’s Winery; learn to cook like a chef with Hilli’s Restaurant & Wine Bar Mastering Taste Cooking Tour. Whether you are having a quick bite to eat between activities, or settling in for an extended dining experience, Norfolk Island’s dining experience

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Contact Adventure World on 1300 295 161 or email info@adventureworld.com.au for more information about Norfolk Island.

Conditions: the prize is not transferable or redeemable in cash; prize is valid for 12 months after the draw date; flights and accommodation are subject to availability; times of tours and availability are subject to change without notice.

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Membership Application forms or Direct Debit forms can be downloaded from our website www www.nswnma.asn.au. .nswnma.asn.au.

Alternatively call the NSWNMA on 8595 1234 (metro area) or 1300 367 962 (non-metro area) for more information.

NURSING RESEARCH ONLINE

During the 2013 National Rural Health Conference in Adelaide, ABC Radio National’s Bush Telegraph broadcast interviews with a range of people discussing key issues affecting the health and wellbeing of Australians living in rural and regional Australia. Many of these discussions are available as podcasts from the abc.net.au website.

Recruiting older health professionals into rural Australia

Drop in oral health in Indigenous communities

Dean Carson, Professor of Rural and Remote Research, Flinders University Rural Clinical School

Colin Endean, Kakarra-Willurrara Health Alliance in remote South Australia

One of the biggest areas of need in Indigenous communities is for oral health care.

In the past 25 years the oral health of Indigenous people has deteriorated dramatically for a range of reasons, among them smoking, diabetes and poor diet. Gum disease and tooth decay are rife in many communities.

Recruitment efforts have focused mainly on fresh, young graduates. But one of the speakers at the National Rural Health Conference says the focus should be on a whole different demographic. www.abc.net.au/rural/telegraph/content/2013/s3733582.htm

www.abc.net.au/rural/telegraph/content/2013/s3734003.htm

High hopes for the NDIS in rural Australia

Rural Health leader points to key areas for action

Denis Ginnivan, a policy consultant on the NDIS to the National Rural Health Alliance

Professor Lesley Barclay, Northern Rivers University Department of Rural Health

There was great hope expressed at the conference that people in rural Australia who have a disability would get better services as a result of the new National Disability Insurance Scheme. People in rural and remote Australia miss out on many of the services available in the city, and the NDIS scheme promises to deliver support to all people with disabilities, irrespective of where they live. NDIS legislation recently passed through the Federal Parliament and is due to take effect from July 1.

Strong Indigenous leadership and community driven solutions to healthcare were key messages to come out of the National Rural Health Conference in Adelaide. www.abc.net.au/rural/telegraph/content/2013/s3733974.htm

Regional health experts want hi-tech bush services Jane Hall, professor of health economics, University of Technology Sydney, and keynote speaker at the National Rural Health conference

www.abc.net.au/rural/telegraph/content/2013/s3733972.htm

Food gardens counter impact of poor and expensive food

Telehealth and the National Broadband Network could be part of the solution to providing quality health care to regional areas.

But Professor Jane Hall says Australia is using the latest technologies for old-style services. Professor Hall says hi-tech solutions should be used to link patients and their carers.

Susannah Summons, visiting dietitian, Alice Springs region

Food gardens in Indigenous communities are helping to tackle some of the health issues related to poor diet, including diabetes and obesity.

Dietician Susannah Summons has set up food gardens in 16 Aboriginal outstations over the past two years, selecting locations where fresh food is hard to access and expensive to buy.

www.abc.net.au/rural/telegraph/content/2013/s3733024.htm

www.abc.net.au/rural/telegraph/content/2013/s3733975.htm

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Enrol in any of our various professional development courses to get your CPD points by 30 May 2013!

visit w www.ihna.edu.au ww.ihna.edu.au

Please ccall all us on 1800 22 52 83 T H E L A M P M AY 2 0 1 3 | 3 9

Recruit a new member and go in the draw for A Wonderful Holiday of a Lifetime Travel from Sydney to Perth in the classic Gold Service on the mighty Indian Pacific.

The Indian Pacific is an epic journey that spans a continent. Over 3 days and 3 nights guests experience some of the most diverse scenery on earth – from the stunning Blue mountains with lush tree canopies and spectacular valley views, through the great Dividing Range, the salt lakes and sand dunes of South Australia and over the longest straight stretch of rail track in the world across the Nullarbor Plain.

Prize includes one way journey to Perth for two on the Indian Pacific, airfares for two from Perth to Sydney and five-night’s accommodation in a Novotel Perth Langley’s Superior King Room, including full buffet breakfast for two*.

4 0 | T H E L A M P M AY 2 0 1 3

Thomson Bay, Rottnest Island.

Credit: Tourism Western Australia

Remember for every new member you recruit/have recruited from 30 June 2012 to 30 June 2013 means you will have your name submitted to the draw.

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 NSWNMA Recruitment Incentive Scheme.

test your

knowledge 1

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Across 1. A disorder characterized by thickening, loss of elasticity, and calcification of arterial walls.

8. A mass of lymphoid follicles near the root of the tongue (7.6) [ 10. Intradermal (1.1) 11. The interval between the lowest and highest values in a series of data 12. An instrument with a sliding blade for excising a tonsil

15. The insertion of a tube, as into the larynx 17. The final point in a process 18. A substance that produces a solid union between two surfaces 20. Relating to the absence of breast milk 22. Newborn 24. Repeated 26. A plant whose dried leaves are used for smoking 27. Not bringing death 28. Growing old

Down 1. Hay fever (8.8) 2. Inflammation of a tendon 3. A venous plexus on the surface of the ovary (6.4) 4. An organism that cannot grow in the presence of oxygen (8.8) 5. Wool fat 6. A fat that is liquid at room temperature 7. The external occipital protuberance

9. A graft between genetically identical individuals, syngraft (9.5) 13. Within the womb (2.5) 14. To appear on the skin 16. A patient treated in a hospital dispensary or clinic 19. Spool, reel 21. Sella 23. Arch; bow 25. A young children

T H E L A M P M AY 2 0 1 3 | 4 1

s t i f e n e b r e b you r me m As a member of a defined benefit super scheme take time out and make sure you’re maximising your benefits.

For or over 20 years, State Super Financial Services (SSFS) has been assisting current and former NSW nursing professionals take advantage of opportunities which come from being a member of a defined benefit super scheme. During this time we’ve enhanced the financial outcomes of more than 200,000 public sector employees.

So, if you’re thinking about: Retirement

Redundancy

Ways to increase your super nest egg

Whether your investment structure is right for you

your local SSFS team is there to provide you with the decision support you need.

So call us now on 1800 620 305 or visit www.ssfs.com.au www.ssfs.com.au and set yourself up today for the lifestyle you want now and in the future.

Your Y o our future. fu e. Y futur Your o our choice. Your Your o financial planners State Super Financial Services Australia Limited (SSFS) AFS Licence 238430, ABN 86 003 742 756. This information is of a general nature only and contains no advice. Before making any decisions based on this information you should consider its appropriateness to you. Neither the SAS Trustee Corporation, the Commonwealth Superannuation Corporation (CSC) nor the Australian or NSW Governments take any responsibility for this information or the services offered by SSFS. SSFS_LAMP_0413

BOOKS

BOOK ME Law for Nurses and Midwives (7th Edition) Patricia Staunton and Mary Chiarella j Churchill Livingstone Elsevier Publishing j www.elsevierhealth.com.au j RRP $76.99 j ISBN 9780729541022

SPECIAL INTEREST

A rudimentary knowledge of what the law is, where it comes from, and how it operates, is essential to nurses and midwives in the course of their professional lives. Understanding the application of current legal statutes – particularly those relating to negligence and consent – as they apply to professional practice is essential. This book provides undergraduate and postgraduate nursing and midwifery students a concise introduction to the law as it pertains to health care provision in Australia.

Management and Leadership in Nursing and Health Care — An Experiential Approach (3rd Edition) Elaine La Monica Rigolosi j Springer Publishing Company j www.springer.com j RRP $70.00 j ISBN 9780826108395 This book covers the processes of management and leadership in health care practices, as taken from the author’s experience in teaching future managers of health care personnel. The content focuses on increasing organisational effectiveness in service and practice. Theories and concepts from the professions of business, organisational psychology, health care law, and educational administration, are applied to topics in each chapter.

Case presentations and multimedia activities such as role play, team assignments and other creative learning activities are used to provide experiences that illustrate and expand the learner’s range of experience.

Psychiatric and Mental Nursing (3rd Edition) Ruth Elder, Katie Evans, Debra Nizette.

Evolve Resource Learning System j Mosby Elsevier j www.elsevierhealth.com.au j RRP $99.95 j ISBN 9780729540988 This new edition focuses on practice in mental health and psychiatric care, integrating the theory and realities of practice. Mental wellness is featured as a concept and the consideration of a range of psychosocial factors are used to help students to contextualise mental illness and psychiatric disorders. Through a holistic approach the text aims to help the student and the beginning practitioner to understand the complex causation of mental illness, its diagnosis, effective interventions and treatments, and the client’s experience of mental illness.

The Nurse’s Reality Gap – Overcoming Barriers Between Academic Achievement and Clinical Success Leslie Neal-Boylan j Sigma Theta Tau International j www.nursingsociety.org/Publications/Books j RRP $34.95 j ISBN not issued.

This book sets out to address the gap between academia and clinical practice and better prepare nurses for the realities of the profession, in turn, helping to retain them in the field. As well as firsthand accounts from new graduates the author offers practical strategies for nurse educators to help their students navigate the transitional period from classroom to bedside. The author takes a deeper look at how nurse faculty members fail to prepare students for the clinical world, and offers practical strategies for both faculty members and students to “bridge the gap” between nursing school and the profession.

Menopause Change, Choice and HRT Dr Barry G. Wren and Margaret Stephenson Meere j Rockpool Publishing j www.rockpoolpublishing.com.au RRP $24.99 j ISBN 9781921878695 Dr Barry Wren, a gynaecological endocrinologist with more than 40 years experience, has researched the pros and cons of HRT (hormone replacement therapy) and in this book presents them in easy-to-understand language. With his co-author, family health nurse Margaret Stephenson Meere, Dr Wren reviews the history of HRT, provides an overview of HRT and the development of oral contraception and examines the use and misuse of statistics in research. The authors look at the controversial issues regarding regular hormone treatment, alternative therapies and other nonhormonal medical therapy. The book also seeks to clarify the role of oestrogen in maintaining a woman’s health, reducing disease in the postmenopausal woman, and increasing longevity. Dr Wren is the first president and founding member of the Australian Menopause Society.

All books can be ordered through the publisher or your local bookshop. NSWNMA members can borrow the books featured here, and many more, from our Records and Information Centre (RIC).

Contact Jeannette Bromfield gensec@nswnma.asn.au or Cathy Matias 8595 2121 cmatias@nswnma.asn.au. All reviews by NSWNMA RIC Coordinator/Librarian Jeannette Bromfield. Some books are reviewed using information supplied and have not been independently reviewed.

T H E L A M P M AY 2 0 1 3 | 4 3

The Edith Cavell Trust

Scholarships for the academic year 2014 Applications for the Edith Cavell Trust Scholarships are now being accepted for 2014. Members or Associate Members of the NSW Nurses and Midwives’ Association or the Australian Nursing Federation (NSW Branch) are invited to apply.

Applicants should meet one of the following criteria: 1. Student nurses undertaking full-time courses leading to initial registration as a nurse or midwife.

2. Registered or enrolled nurses who wish to attend:

an accredited clinical nursing education course of six months or less, either full-time or part-time; an accredited nursing conference or seminar relevant to applicant’s clinical practice.

3. Properly constituted nursing organisations, faculties or schools of nursing or registered or enrolled nurses wishing to: attend full-time, relevant postbasic studies at an approved institution for a period or periods of more than six months;

undertake an academically approved research program in the theory and practice of nursing work; conduct or fund a relevant professional or clinical nursing educational program.

Applicants must be currently

registered with the Nurses and Midwives Board of Australia.

Applicants must use the official Edith Cavell Trust application form. Details of the Edith Cavell Trust Rules are available on request and will also be supplied with the application form.

For further information or forms, contact: The Secretary – The Edith Cavell Trust 50 O’Dea Ave, Waterloo, NSW 2017 T Mrs Glen Ginty on 1300 367 962 E gginty@nswnma.asn.au W www.nswnma.asn.au – click on ‘Education’

Applications close 5pm on 31 July 2013

Location of the Heart

Heart Wall Layers

Inside the Heart

Assessment - Quick Quiz

Course costs and availability vary

www.enurse.com.au/educate Image - Anatomy & Physiology Made Incredibly Easy © 2009 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc All rights reserved.

e m i t p f u o r b s 2 u ’ r 01 tI o sc 3! t

W With ith every pur purchase rchase c of a Scrub TTop, op op, o you yo ou rreceive e eceive this campaign TT-Shirt --Shirt for

FREE!

Order your NSWNMA campaign scrub uniforms for conference and rally times, and make an impression!

SCRUB TOP

Over the past few months, NSWNMA and Total Image Group have been working together to create a new fit for purpose scrubs range. The new campaign uniform range endorses a modern appearance and offers both comfort and durable features, while still embracing NSWNMA image.

Sizes range from XS-5XL to ensure various body shapes and sizes are catered. Most importantly, the range has been designed to ensure a comfortable fit every time.

Size (cm)

XS

S

M

L

XL

2XL

3XL

4XL

5XL

Half Chest Circumference

53

56

59

62

66

69

73

77

81

Half Hem Circumference

54

74

78

82

General Guide for Female 8/10 SCRUB PANTS PANTS A

The new range consists of a Unisex Scrub Top and Unisex Classic Pant. Both made from 65% polyester, 35% cotton. This fabric blend is durable and of superior quality. The scrub campaign uniform also has number of functional features, including jet pockets, pen partition, drawstring front on pants and brushed fabric coating for added comfort.

57

60

63

67

70

10/12

12/14

14/16

16/18

18/20

20/22 22/24 24/26

33

37

40.5

43.5

46.5

50.5

54.5

58.5

Half Waist (Relaxed)

29

Half Waist (Stretched)

47

51

55

58.5

61.5

64.5

68.5

72.5

76.5

Half Hip

55

59

63

66

69

72

76

80

84

Out Seam Length

103

105

107

109

111

112

113

114

115

Scrub top and pant are $20 each incl GST. You can place your order by the following methods: 2

Shop online, online, by registering as a user on www.totalimagegrouponline.com/nswnurses on our tailored NSWNMA online store.

2 Browse through the customised catalogue, catalogue complete the order form and send back to Total Image by: email sales@totalimagegroup.com.au Fax: 9569 6200 or Post PO Box 199, Westgate NSW 2048 Total Image accepts credit card payment

by Visa, MasterCard, and AMEX (3.5% surcharge on AMEX) or cheque/money order.

Delivery by Australia Post within 10-14 working days and charged at $5 incl GST.

For more information please contact TTotal otal Image on (02) 9569 6233 or email uniforms@totalimagegroup.com.au

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information Industryy Plan contains general advice only only.. It is not specific tto This inf ormation from from Health Industr o your personal financial situation, objectives or needs. Please read read the PDS available available from from www.hipsuper.com.au www.hipsuper.com.au or talk to to a financial advisor before before making any super decisions. The Trustee 247 is Private Private Hospitals Superannuation Pty Trustee of HIP P ABN 50 030 598 598 247 Pty Ltd Ltd ABN 59 59 006 792 792 749, 749, AFSL AFSL L 247063.

247063. Registered Registered address: address: Level Level 5, 477 477 Pitt Street, Street, Sydney Sydney NSW performance indicator future HIP34279 2000. * Past per formance is not a rreliable eliable indicat or of futur e performance. performance. HIP34 279

FINANCIAL

New South Wales Nurses and Midwives’ Association Summary of The Financial Statements For The Year Ended 31 December 2012 The financial statements of the New South Wales Nurses and Midwives’ Association have been audited in accordance with the provisions of the Industrial Relations Act 1991, and the following summary is provided for members in accordance with Section 517(2) of the Act, as applied by section 282(3) of the Industrial Relations Act, 1996.

A copy of the Financial Statements, including the Independent Audit Report, will be supplied free of charge to members upon request. Certificates required to be given under the Act by the Accounting Officer and the Committee of Management have been completed in accordance with the provisions of the Act and contain no qualifications.

SUMMARY OF THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2012 2012 $

2011 $

Membership revenue

27,748,934

22,334,013

NursePower revenue

3,083,215

5,936,890

Other Income

1,664,349

1,608,188

TOTAL INCOME

32,496,498

29,879,091

LESS TOTAL EXPENDITURE

30,175,138

26,977,683

2,321,360

2,901,408

Profit on sales of assets classified as held for sale

3,983,891

—

Reversal of impairment loss – O’Dea Ave, Waterloo

2,097,394

—

Loss on disposal of available for sale assets

(897,236)

—

Share of losses of investment in joint venture operations

(340,201)

(182,392)

—

(324,984)

SURPLUS FOR THE YEAR

7,165,208

2,394,032

Net gain/(loss) on revaluation of financial assets

1,364,388

(607,410)

Actuarial losses-defined benefit fund

(332,256)

(1,456,719)

—

324,984

8,197,340

654,887

Impairment loss – available for sale financial assets

Financial assets reserve deficit recognised as impairment loss TOTAL COMPREHENSIVE INCOME ATTRIBUTABLE TO MEMBERS

In accordance with the requirements of the Industrial Relations Act 1991 [NSW], the attention of members is drawn to the provisions of Sub-sections (1) and (2) of Section 512 which read as follows: (1) A member of an organisation, or the Industrial Registrar, may apply to the organisation for specified information prescribed by the regulations in relation to the organisation.

(2) An organisation must, on the making of such an application, make the specified information available to the member or the Industrial Registrar in the manner, and within the time, prescribed by the regulations.

Auditor’s Certificate

We certify that the above Summary of the Financial Statements is a fair and accurate summary of the Report, Accounts and Statements of the New South Wales Nurses and Midwives’ Association for the year ended 31 December 2012. Our Independent Audit Report to the members dated 9 April 2013 on the Financial Report did not contain any particulars of any deficiency, failure or shortcoming as referred to in the Industrial Relations Act 1991 [NSW], as applied by Section 282(3) of the Industrial Relations Act, 1996.

DALEY & CO Chartered Accountants

Michael Mundt Partner

BALANCE SHEET AS AT 31 DECEMBER 2012 ACCUMULATED FUNDS

Information to be provided to members or Registrar

31,999,421

23,802,081

Represented by: Current assets

14,500,019

6,574,711

Non-current assets

28,722,350

34,300,196

TOTAL ASSETS

43,222,369

40,874,907

Current liabilities

8,616,470

8,106,393

Non-current liabilities

2,606,478

8,966,433

TOTAL LIABILITIES

11,222,948

17,072,826

NET ASSETS

31,999,421

23,802,081

9 April 2013 Wollongong A copy of the Financial Report, including the Independent Audit Report, may be found on the Members page of the website www.nswnma.asn.au or can be obtained upon written application to: Brett Holmes, General Secretary, New South Wales Nurses and Midwives’ Association, 50 O’Dea Avenue, Waterloo 2017 T H E L A M P M AY 2 0 1 3 | 4 7

GRADUATE DIPLOMA NURSING (MENTAL HEALTH) IN CANBERRA Full Scholarship. Second Semester 2013: August Intake.

A scholarship for Graduate Diploma Nursing (Mental Health) program is offered by the Division of Mental Health, Justice Health, Alcohol & Drug Services (MHJHADS). This is an excellent opportunity for Registered Nurses to build their knowledge and skills base in caring for people experiencing a range of mental health conditions.

Successful applicants will be offered a temporary 12-20month contract of paid employment, while they complete the Graduate Diploma Nursing (Mental Health) either part-time or full-time. During the program, RNs rotate through the diverse services, both inpatient and community based, provided by MHJHADS.

Registered Nurses who undertake the programme are: • Paid while they study and work; • Guaranteed a scholarship to cover course fees; • Well supported during the program; • Able to fast track their career.

Eligibility /other requirements: • Registered or eligible for registration with the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Board, • Hold a current driver’s license, • Have Australian citizenship or permanent residency.

Closing Date: 14th June 2013

FOR MORE INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT THE CLINICAL SUPPORT OFFICER: (PH) 02 6205 3661

Flex-0A Patented X-sole technology - clinically proven to reduce the load on your knees by 20%1

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MOVIES

movies of the month DANS LA MAISON

MANDARIN CINÉMA PRÉSENTE

IL Y A TOUJOURS UN MOYEN D’ENTRER

A French film about complex family dynamics, as seen through the eyes of a young voyeur, writes Meg Collins.

DANS

LA MAISON Un film de FRANÇOIS OZON

FABRICE LUCHINI ©JEAN-CLAUDE MOIREAU

KRISTIN SCOTT THOMAS EMMANUELLE SEIGNER DENIS MÉNOCHET ERNST UMHAUER JEAN-FRANÇOIS BALMER BASTIEN UGHETTO

MUSIQUE ADAPTÉ DE' EL CHICO DE LA ULTIMA FILA'' DE JUAN MAYORGA ORIGINALE PHILIPPE ROMBI IMAGE JÉRÔME ALMERAS A.F.C. DÉCORS ARNAUD DE MOLERON COSTUMES PASCALINE CHAVANNE MONTAGE LAURE GARDETTE FRANÇOIS OZON LIBREMENT DE PRODUIT PRODUCTION OURY MILSHTEIN PAR ÉRIC ET NICOLAS ALTMAYER HUBERT BARBIN SCRIPTE FRANCINE CATHELAIN L.S.A. SON BRIGITTE TAILLANDIER BENOÎT GARGONNE JEAN-PAUL HURIER CASTING SARAH TEPER A.R.D.A. DIRECTION EN ASSOCIATION AVEC LE AVEC LA AVEC LA BANQUE POSTALE IMAGE 5 COFIMAGE 23 PALATINE ÉTOILE 9 SOUTIEN DE LA RÉGION ÎLE-DE-FRANCE DE CANAL+ CINÉ+ FRANCE TÉLÉVISIONS MANDARIN CINÉMA FOZ FRANCE 2 CINÉMA MARS FILMS PARTICIPATION

SCÉNARIO ET ADAPTATION PREMIER ASSISTANT RÉALISATEUR UNE COPRODUCTION

WWW.MARSDISTRIBUTION.COM

TICKETGIVEAWAY The Lamp has 20 in-season double passes to give away to Dans la Maison thanks to Transmission Films.

The first 20 members to email their name, membership number, address and telephone number to lamp@nswnma.asn.au will win.

High school literature teacher Germain (Fabrice Luchini) is exceedingly disappointed with his students’ writings, until he reads the work of Claude.

Claude (Ernst Umhauer), sits in the back row of Germain’s classroom and the writings he presents fascinate Germain and his wife.

Germain actively encourages Claude to write and tutors him privately.

Claude’s writing is centred on the family of a fellow class member. Claude is manipulative and pursues this fellow student in a pseudofriendship.

He charms his way into his home. Claude develops a fascination for the mother of his “friend” largely, I suspect, because a mother figure is absent in his own life.

Despite its great success in France, this film is only for the die-hard art house cinema goer in Australia.

It is not a mainstream film and it is subtitled. The production design is unremarkable. The most outstanding features of this film are the screenplay, which is something quite different and very clever, the humour and the performances of both Fabrice Luchini and Ernst Umhauer.

Three stars if you’re an art house cinema goer – you’ll get a giggle out of it, otherwise, no, I don’t think so.

IN CINEMAS MAY 23.

Meg Collins is an RN at the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Sydney

DVDGIVEAWAY Reviewer Anni Cameron described Samsara as “a sumptuous sensory experience” featuring “dazzling visuals” when she reviewed the film for our December/January issue.

Now the film has been released on to DVD and to celebrate The Lamp has 10 DVDs to giveaway, thanks to Hopscotch Films. For your chance to win a DVD of Samsara write your name, address and membership number on the back of an envelope and send to: Samsara DVD Competition, 50 O’Dea Ave Waterloo NSW 2017 ONLY ONE ENTRY PER MEMBER WILL BE ACCEPTED.

DVDGIVEAWAY

Harking back to the early days of modern maternity care, delivered by midwives working in London’s East End in the 1950s, Call the Midwife, bears all the hallmarks of great British television. Fantastic script, brilliant performances, pathos and humour, and all based on the best-selling memoirs of midwife Jennifer Worth.

To celebrate the DVD release of series two, The Lamp has 5 DVDs to giveaway, thanks to Roadshow Entertainment.

For your chance to win a DVD of Call the Midwife, write your name, address and membership number on the back of an envelope and send to: Call the Midwife DVD Competition, 50 O’Dea Ave Waterloo NSW 2017 ONLY ONE ENTRY PER MEMBER WILL BE ACCEPTED.

T H E L A M P M AY 2 0 1 3 | 4 9

DIARY DATES

conferences, seminars, meetings NSW 2nd International Natural Health Summit 3-5 May, Rosehill Racecourse www.atmssummit.com.au Aged and Community Services Association State Conference 7-8 May, Rosehill www.agedservices.asn.au 7th Australian Women’s Health Conference 7-10 May, Sofitel Sydney Wentworth www.womenshealth2013.org.au info@womenshealth2013.org.au (02) 9254 5000 Australian College of Mental Health Nurses’ Hunter Mental Health Conference Rules of Engagement – From Risk to Recovery 10 May, Noah’s on the Beach, Newcastle Elizabeth.Moore@hnehealth.nsw.gov.au North Coast Nurse Practitioner Education Day “Liver disease can happen to anyone” 16-17 May, Ballina RSL Anne.moehead@ncahs.health.nsw.gov.au Australian Dermatology Nurses’ Association (ADNA) 12th National Conference 18-19 May, Sydney wired.ivvy.com/event/NC2013/ Blacktown Mount Druitt Nursing/Midwifery Research festival 22 May, Blacktown RSL Caroline O’Donnell 0422 006 786 Caroline.O’Donnell@swahs.health.nsw.gov.au

5th Annual NSW Health and Ambulance Darts Tournament 26 May, Revesby Workers Club PauI.Sillato@swsahs.nsw.gov.au 0424 705 778 Australian College of Nursing and Health Expo 23 June, Sydney Town Hall www.acn.edu.au Vascular Focus: Management of Aortic Disease 23 August, Liverpool Hospital Tanghua Chen 02 8738 3843 tanghua.chen@sswahs.nsw.gov.au 13th Rural Critical Care Conference 23-24 August, Albury www.ruralcriticalcare.asn.au

Enrolled Nurses Professional Association of NSW Annual Conference 19-20 September, Sydney Members $310 Non-members $340 1300 554 249 rjroseby@gmail.com Australian Nursing and Midwifery Conference 17-18 October, Newcastle Amy McIntosh 0423 497 038

SMART STROKES 2013 9th Australasian Nursing & Allied Health Stroke Conference 22-23 August, Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre Stephanie Rogers smartstrokes@theassociationspecialists.com.au

www.nursingmidwiferyconference.com.au/

2013 Transplant Nurses’ Association Conference 24-25 October, Sydney www.gemsevents.com.au/tna2013/

ACT 12th Australian Palliative Care Conference 3-6 September, Canberra www.dcconferences.com.au/apcc2013/

INTERSTATE 4th Australian Emergency Nurse Practitioner Conference 9-10 May, Melbourne www.dcconferences.com.au/NursePracED

International Centre for Nursing Ethics 14th Annual Conference Ethical issues at the end of life 16-17 May, Melbourne www.deakin.edu.au/health/research/aci/icneconference/

International Council of Nurses (ICN) 25th Quadrennial Congress 18-23 May, Melbourne www.icn2013.ch/ Australian No 2 Bullying Conference 22-24 May, Surfers Paradise www.no2bullying.org.au ACMHN Consultation Liaison Special Interest Group Conference CL nurses: Present and available 5-7 June, Noosa Jenni.Bryant@calvarymater.org.au Cancer Nurses Society of Australia 16th Winter Congress 25-27 July, Brisbane www.csnawintercongress.com.au 14th International Mental Health Conference 2013 5-6 August, Surfers Paradise anzmh.asn.au/conference Mental Health Services 23rd Annual Conference ‘Forging the Future’ 20-23 August. Melbourne (02) 9810 8700 info@themhs.org www.themhs.org

Crossword solution A L L E R G I C R H I N I T I S

R T E I N O A N I N T I E S

E R O G U G G E T U B U U L B

B E O N A B R O B A C I U E N E S

I O B A L I G A A T E T A N A T E R C O B C E

S C L A T O N O U I L I I O N U N T P G A L T E I T E N O N T

5 0 | T H E L A M P M AY 2 0 1 3

E R O I S I L S L O T G E N C E M I A C T G E R A A N F A T

S I N I O I N N U T E N R O U

S D E R U P T

S A T E D O D T A L S E

www.smartstrokes.com.au Australian College of Midwives 18th Biennial Conference 30 September-3 October, Hobart www.acm2013.com 5th Australian Rural & Remote Mental Health Symposium 14-16 October, Geelong (07) 5502 2068 hanzmh.asn.au/rrmh/

INTERNATIONAL 2013 World Congress for Psychiatric Nurses 2-4 May, Winnipeg, Canada worldcongress.rpnc.ca/ 24th International Nursing Research Congress 22-26 July, Prague, Czech Republic www.nursingsociety.org/STTIEvents/Res earchCongress/ 2nd World Congress of Clinical Safety 12-13 September, Heidelberg, Germany www.iarmm.org 8th European Congress on Violence in Clinical Psychiatry 23-26 October, Ghent, Belgium www.oudconsultancy.nl/GhentSite/

REUNIONS NSWIT 25-year reunion: the guinea pig year!

11 May, 6pm Ultimo NSW 2007 Karen Wetsteyn troykaren@tpg.com.au Facebook group NSWIT nurses 1985-1987

Karitane reunion/90th anniversary 17 May 5-7pm, Government House, Sydney Maha Sedhom 02 9794 2383 Enquirieskcfc@sswahs.nsw.gov.au May 1976 Blacktown District Hospital Reunion 6pm, 25 May Lily’s Restaurant, Seven Hills Karen Walker or Diane Shinnick on Facebook karen.walker01@optusnet.com.au Western Suburbs Hospital Graduate Nurses Reunion Saturday 25 May, Ryde-Eastwood Leagues Club Robyn Daniel 9644 9692 Robyn Conliffe 9858 1102 Wollongong Hospital May 1972-75 Date TBA Maureen Robertson (Sherley) 0438 830 790 Mary Potter Nursing Home, Wagga All staff 1985-2010 22 June 2013 Fay 02 6933 1159 fay.martin@yahoo.com.au RPA June ‘83 30-year reunion 29 June 6pm, Ridges, Camperdown Cathy Robinson (nee Mccrudden) 0242 342 778 / 0432 381703 Mater Graduate Nurses’ Association annual reunion 20 October Mary McKillop Place North Sydney Joan Stort 0401 344 363 joans2458@yahoo.com

NOTICE Former Australian Inland Mission (AIM) nurses who worked under John Flynn and Rev Fred McKay till 1977 sought for research project.

Contact Daryl Lightfoot at archives@pcnsw.org.au wmhs@gmail.com or (02) 9690 9374.

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