The Lamp November 2007 by NSW Nurses and Midwives' Association

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Print Post Approved: PP241437/00033

VIC NURSES WIN FAIR DEAL AFTER BITTER DISPUTE

There’s a lifetime of difference between HESTA and some other super funds

Compare the Pair: ✓ Same age ✓ Same income ✓ Same super contributions ✓ Same investment returns Yet Jenny’s ﬁnal super payout may be higher

$232,660* Jane is with a Retail Master Trust

$281,033 * Jenny is with HESTA, an Industry Fund.

Why the difference? ✓ We have low fees ✓ We don’t pay sales commissions ✓ We are run only to proﬁt members

www.hesta.com.au

*The amounts shown are not predictions or estimates of actual outcomes. The comparisons show projected outcomes based on certain assumptions, applying today’s HESTA Core Pool fees and the average fees of 15 Retail Master Trusts as at 30 June 2007 (research and modelling by SuperRatings, commissioned by HESTA). Differences in fees may change in the future and this would alter the outcome. Assumptions: This example is a comparison of two employees that assumes same: age (35), retirement age (65) and both continue working uninterrupted with same starting balance of $20,000 and starting salary of $45,000 (indexed at 3.5% p.a.). The only contributions are employer’s 9% superannuation guarantee (made quarterly in arrears). Based on an employer plan size of $150,000. One employee keeps their super in HESTA’s Core Pool and the other in a typical Retail Master Trust (balanced option) that assumes: same inﬂation (2.5%) and same annual investment returns (7.225% after deduction of tax but before deduction of fees), compounded annually. HESTA’s weekly administration fee is $1.25, the cost of Member Beneﬁt Protection is 0.02% (based on 2005/06), and investment management fees of 0.56% (based on 2005/06). The average Retail Master Trust weekly administration fee is $1.11, ongoing administration fee is 0.62% - 1.17% p.a. (varying with the member’s account balance) and investment management fee is 0.67%. Fees from member’s account subject to 15% tax allowance. Investment management performance fees and other fees, such as entry, exit, contribution and additional adviser fees, which may apply to Retail Master Trusts, have not been taken into account. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance. This information has been produced by H.E.S.T. Australia Limited ACN 006 818 695 AFSL No 235249 RSE No L0000109 and is about HESTA Super Fund Reg. No. R1004489 SPIN HST0100AU. Consider our Product Statement before making a decision about HESTA – free call 1800 813 327 or visit www.hesta.com.au for a copy. 2 THEDisclosure LAMP NOVEMBER 2007

ABOUT THE LAMP

C O N T E N T S

Contacts NSW NURSES’ ASSOCIATION For all membership enquiries and assistance, including Lamp subscriptions and change of address, contact our Sydney office. SYDNEY OFFICE 43 Australia Street Camperdown NSW 2050 PO Box 40 Camperdown NSW 1450 (all correspondence) T 8595 1234 (metro) 1300 367 962 (non-metro) F 9550 3667 E gensec@nswnurses.asn.au W www.nswnurses.asn.au HUNTER OFFICE 120 Tudor Street Hamilton NSW 2303 ILLAWARRA OFFICE L1, 63 Market Street Wollongong NSW 2500

Cover story oi

n io DE ct SI le IN le UT 07 era -O N ed LL IO is f PU ECT s th UR EL urse YO rn fo

magazine of the NSW Nurses’ Association

volume 64 no.10 November 2007

lamp the

Vic nurses win fair deal after bitter dispute 8

VIC NURSES WIN FAIR DEAL Print Post Approved: PP241437/00033

AFTER BITTER DISPUTE

Cover ANF (Vic) members voting to embark on industrial action in their push for fair pay. Photography by Mark Munro, courtesy of ANF (Vic)

Agenda 12 13 17 39 39

Punitive welfare laws bad for mental health Workers on AWAs earn less Politics trumps maternity care Commonwealth cuts share of health costs Labor plans to fix holes in Australia’s dental care

Industrial issues 14 Yeoval Community Hospital hits the dust 41 Jobs but no pay at Belvedere Park Nursing Home

43 Project investigates sharps injuries

Lifestyle 45 Movie review

Notice 47 2007 NSWNA election of branch alternate delegates at RNSH

NSWNA education program 49 What’s on in November ’07

ELECTION07

Choices for nurses this federal election 20 21 24 28 30 31 33

Occupational health and safety

Message from the General Secretary Industrial relations Health Superannuation Education and training Nursing education What the parties say

Regular columns 5

Editorial by Brett Holmes 6 Your letters to The Lamp 35 Ask Judith 48 Diary dates

47 Ease your feet in a pair of MBT physiological footwear

Giveaways

36 Nepean, RPA hold meetings on WorkChoices

45 20 double passes to see preview screenings of Crazy Love and 20 in-season double passes to Conversations with My Gardener

THE LAMP PRODUCED BY Lodestar Communications T 9698 4511 PRESS RELEASES Send your press releases to: T 9550 3667 E gensec@nswnurses.asn.au THE LAMP EDITORIAL COMMITTEE Brett Holmes, NSWNA General Secretary Judith Kiejda, NSWNA Assistant General Secretary Coral Levett, NSWNA President John Lyons, Coonabarabran District Hospital Jonathan Farry, RPA Hospital Mark Kearin, Wyong Hospital Roz Norman, Tamworth Base Hospital Stephen Metcalfe, Lismore Base Hospital Therese Riley, St George Hospital ADVERTISING Patricia Purcell T 8595 2139 or 0416 259 845 F 9550 3667 E ppurcell@nswnurses.asn.au RECORDS AND INFORMATION CENTRE - LIBRARY To find old articles in The Lamp, or to borrow from the NSWNA library’s nursing and health collection, contact: Jeannette Bromfield, RIC Coordinator T 8595 2175 E gensec@nswnurses.asn.au THE LAMP ISSN: 0047-3936

Competition

Nurses getting active

NSWNA COMMUNICATIONS MANAGER Noel Hester T 8595 2153 NSWNA COMMUNICATIONS ASSISTANT Russell Burns T 8595 1219 For all Lamp editorial enquiries, letters and diary dates: Editorial Enquiries T 8595 1234 E lamp@nswnurses.asn.au M PO Box 40 Camperdown NSW 1450

General disclaimer The Lamp is the official magazine of the NSWNA. Views expressed in articles are contributors’ own and not necessarily those of the NSWNA. Statements of fact are believed to be true, but no legal responsibility is accepted for them. All material appearing in The Lamp is covered by copyright and may not be reproduced without prior written permission. The NSWNA takes no responsibility for the advertising appearing herein and it does not necessarily endorse any products advertised. Privacy Privacy statement: The NSWNA collects personal information from members in order to perform our role of representing their industrial and professional interests. We place great emphasis on maintaining and enhancing the privacy and security of your personal information. Personal information is protected under law and can only be released to someone else where the law requires or where you give permission. If you have concerns about your personal information please contact the NSWNA office. If you are still not satisfied that your privacy is being maintained you can contact the Privacy Commission. Subscriptions Free to all Association members. Ex-members can subscribe to the magazine at a reduced rate of $44. THE LAMP NOVEMBER Individuals $60, Institutions $90, Overseas2007 $100.3

The biggest risk with the Federal IR laws, is thinking you’ll always be protected. I]ZgZ ]Vh cZkZg WZZc V bdgZ ^bedgiVci ;ZYZgVa ZaZXi^dc [dg cjghZh# >[ i]Z ;ZYZgVa >G aVlh gZbV^c ^c eaVXZ ndj XdjaY WZ [dgXZY dcid Vc 6L6 dg V cdc"jc^dc V\gZZbZci# Ndj XdjaY adhZ ndjg eZcVain gViZh# I]Z eVn ndj gZan dc [dg hX]dda [ZZh! i]Vi ]Zaeh [ZZY ndjg [Vbân! i]Z eVn i]Vi bV`Zh je V W^\ eVgi d[ ndjg ^cXdbZ lâa WZ \dcZ# I]Z W^\\Zhi b^hiV`Z ^h i]^c`^c\ ndj XVccdi Yd Vcni]^c\ VWdji î# Ndjg kdiZ XVc ]Zae egdiZXi ndjg eZcVain gViZh# Id ÒcY dji bdgZ k^hî djg lZWhîZ lll#chlcjghZh#Vhc#Vj

4 THE LAMP NOVEMBER 2007

E D I T O R I A L BY BRETT HOLMES GENERAL SECRETARY

Our public hospitals need proper funding and creative solutions g There’s no doubt inherent problems exist in the public hospital system but the media attack on RNSH reveals the work of nurses is misunderstood and undervalued.

he recent media frenzy at Royal North Shore Hospital (RNSH) showed there is an elevated level of ignorance in the media and in the community about the lot of nurses. This sad affair revealed that the work of nurses is misunderstood and undervalued particularly by people who do not have direct experience of hospital care. For some time our members have been telling us – and this was borne out by the furore at North Shore – that the public and the media do not have a realistic idea of nursing skills, the range of activities undertaken or the level of responsibilities carried by nurses. Workloads are often unrealistic and the workplaces can be chaotic, particularly in EDs – especially in winter. The circumstances that led to the train of events that unfolded at RNSH are to be found to some degree or another in many other public hospitals. The shortage of nurses and the skills mix on some shifts can lead to conditions that are sometimes less than ideal for some patients and this can be an unbearable burden for nurses. The fear of litigation or complaint from something going wrong is high. Aggression is now a normal part of nurses’ work environment. It would not be unreasonable to describe the reaction of the media and politicians as another form of aggression.

What has happened at RNSH is a prelude to what is sure to be a bitter election campaign where health will be a prominent issue, as will industrial relations. While there is little difference between the two main parties on many issues, health and IR are two areas where there is a distinct choice.

government meddling in the administration of hospitals does nothing to deal with pressure situations like that experienced at RNSH. We need to find and fund creative solutions such as a maternity-based system when pregnant women are experiencing difficulties, not the accident and medical emergency system. Developing and properly funding such an approach will take pressure off the general hospital system and provide a more focused service for pregnant women and their families.

A back-to-the-future approach won’t work These are the types of creative solutions we need. Not a back-to-the-future approach such as reinstating local boards, with all the local politicking, narrowmindedness and parochialism that goes with them. There needs to be genuine community input into health decision making at all levels. These boards, with all the local patronage and politics they entail, will not achieve that. Disconnecting individual hospitals from the broader health system in this way would also be a disaster for the quality of care and range of safe services in many regions. The fact is, for a variety of reasons, not every hospital can provide every service. It is not in the interests of stronger health care to have individual hospital administrators deluding themselves and their local communities that they can. The NSWNA is also very concerned about the prospect of the Howard government, if it is reelected, using these boards to meddle in the employment conditions of nurses and other hospital staff. This is code for forcing WorkChoices and AWAs on public hospital nurses, just as they have used funding negotiations to force them on other sectors such as higher education. Our public hospitals do have various problems that need addressing. But they need funding for positive and creative solutions, not a step backwards into parochialism and lower nurse wages.n

Our public hospitals need funding for positive and creative solutions, not a step backwards into parochialism and lower nurse wages.

We need less blame Unfortunately, it is easy to use health and hospitals as a political football when a fiercely contested election is imminent. It is easier to look at the consequences and play the blame game than it is to identify the causes and fix the problem.

This issue of The Lamp contains an election pullout that looks at these issues in depth but I would like to touch on one thing. The Howard government’s announcement that it will force state governments to re-establish local hospital boards is a step backwards and does nothing to develop or fund the new models of care necessary to reduce pressure on the hospital system (see page 14). Simply having another level of

THE LAMP NOVEMBER 2007 5

L E T T E R S

LETTER of the month Reply to Joe Hockey’s letters to nurses

Support for RNSH colleagues A short time ago the Tweed Hospital, Tweed Heads, suffered the media’s piranha treatment. Nurses were criticised along with the ambulance services. The situation at Tweed was tragic but it was the system that failed not the nurses. Nursing staff were investigated and the feeling that you were guilty until proven innocent was sensed. These feelings escalated especially when our CEO, Chris Crawford, courted the media with little support for nurses. Even our local national party member who had called us ‘third-world health care workers’ prior to the state election got on the band wagon. Now the media is on another witch hunt: Royal North Shore Hospital. To the nurses at RNSH, hold your head up high, support and care for each other. Tweed Hospital nurses, at our last branch meeting felt so strongly about the poor treatment of our nursing colleagues at Royal North Shore that they moved a motion to send our support to the nursing staff. It was carried unanimously. NSWNA Tweed Hospital Branch.

Rather than ads, how about proper funding for aged care and health Joe Hockey’s attempts to salvage WorkChoices with the latest desperate advertising has reached a new level of absurdity. Now we have a full-page advertisement reminding nurses that their respective state government is responsible for wages and conditions (23 September). What an insult to their intelligence. Hockey (why not Abbott?) has presumably acted now because he has been advised nurses are genuinely fearful that the federal government could make its health funding to the states dependent on nurses being employed on AWAs, as it has been done in the university sector. 6 THE LAMP NOVEMBER 2007

I thought fellow members would be interested in my letter to MP Joe Hockey regarding his open letters to nurses. Sir, as you were kind enough to address a letter to Australia’s nurses, I felt compelled to reply, even though I am a midwife and thus not directly addressed by the letters. (In NSW, the Nurses and Midwives Act and the Nurses and Midwives Board grant equal recognition to the two professions and I suggest that the federal government also affords midwives equal recognition.) My observations in my workplace (a public hospital in NSW) suggest that nurses and midwives remain extremely concerned and worried by the government’s workplace relations changes. Our income levels rely strongly on penalty rates as only fair recompense for the type of work that we do and the extremely onerous burden of shift work. There is even evidence now emerging of a possible link between shift work and some forms of cancer. My observations and also discussions with my colleagues have informed me that we are not reassured by the government’s protestations that our income and working conditions are not under threat. Let me be more specific about some of our concerns. The NSW government is obviously convinced there is a threat as it moved very soon after the workplace relations legislation was introduced to make us Crown employees, thus protecting us from the legislation. Nurses and midwives with whom I have discussed this issue perceive members of the Howard government to be anti-nurses/midwives. An example is the comments by Tony Abbott about nurses being indoctrinated. The government specifically ignored the Most nurses realise that Labor state governments can be voted out and that at the last NSW election the Coalition stated it would introduce WorkChoices if elected. Moreover, John Howard, with a Senate majority, has been steadily eroding states’ rights in health and education. The nursing profession has never been recompensed at a rate commensurate with its social value. We would have great difficulty maintaining a decent standard

concerns of midwives and caused much angst in creating a Medicare item that allows personnel other than midwives to provide antenatal care. Recent suggestions that nursing and midwifery preparation for practice be returned to hospitals is not only anachronistic but also dangerous. This would return us to the ‘bad old days’ when minimally supervised students who were a part of the workforce were unleashed on an unsuspecting public. In this I speak from personal experience, having had a few potentially catastrophic near misses in my own hospital-based training. Finally, I have been much surprised that very conservative colleagues, whom I would have thought to be conservative voters, have recently been engaging in anti-government talk as well. So, Mr Hockey, if I were you I wouldn’t waste the ink trying to make friends in nursing and midwifery circles at this late stage. Julianne McDougall, Registered Midwife. Manning Rural Referral Hospital

LETTER of the month The letter judged the best each month will be awarded a $50 David Jones’ voucher, courtesy Medicraft, Australia’s largest manufacturer of hospital beds and furniture. For more information on Medicraft products, visit www. medicraft.com.au or call 9569 0255.

of living were it not for the award conditions that underpin our basic wage. As a nurse, I feel discriminated against because Howard has taken more than 11 years to recognise our existence. Instead of throwing taxpayer dollars at the lost cause of WorkChoices, how about paying nurses decent salaries and properly funding federal responsibilities such as aged and mental health care? Albert White, Retired NSWNA Member, RN, Queanbeyan.

Got something to say?

Send your letters to: Editorial Enquiries email lamp@nswnurses.asn.au fax 9550 3667 mail PO Box 40 Camperdown NSW 1450 Please include a photograph along with your name, address, phone and membership number. Letters may be edited for clarity and space.

Excessive workloads posed excessive risk

Lee Mitchell

Who pays for Howard’s ads? You do! I am pleased to see that your organisation can see through John Howard’s façade. Your new TV ads are great and really hit home. I watched in amazement at the disrespect and contempt the federal government shows the public during a television ad they are currently running regarding workplace relations. The ad tells us of workers who ‘don’t want their employment circumstances changed’. What goes by totally unnoticed by many is the fact that the federal government in its advertising states this information is ‘supplied by big business’. Just how stupid does the Howard government believe the public is? Anyone who is considering voting for the Howard government should consider that this generation will be the first generation in over 100 years that has left workers with worse working conditions than the generation before. People who don’t understand this need to ‘pull their heads out of the sand’. I sat in a room with people who were visibly emotionally disturbed by this situation, expressing concern for the future welfare of their children and grandchildren. Younger voters are being especially affected most by these draconian changes, which leave lives so unstable through work conditions. When you see the Howard government’s numerous ‘flashy’ advertisements, consider who is paying for them. One way or another, it’s the Australian workforce. That means YOU! Another term of the current Howard government will drive us back towards ‘serfdom’, and may well be irreversible. So THINK very carefully when you vote and make sure you do vote. Often people state with regard to governments in power that ‘they didn’t vote for them’ and often this is true. The reason most often though, is that they didn’t vote at all. Mr Lee Mitchell, Lithgow.

I recently resigned as a Registered Nurse at Manning Rural Referral Hospital. During the three weeks of my reconnect program I have had a chance to evaluate my position with regard to the duties and responsibilities of an RN after many years of absence from this type of work. I was absolutely impressed by the level of professionalism and dedication exhibited by the staff. These people have been extremely helpful to me and the way in which they work as a team is to be highly commended. Patient care is of an excellent standard because of the unceasing efforts of the staff. However, I believe that workloads are excessive and that registered nurses are often being asked to do too much in the allotted time. I also believe the patient to staff ratio is too heavy. Most shifts are busy – beyond what is reasonable. Staff are often looking run-down and harassed by the constant demands. On three occasions my clinical instructor organised to show me through the necessary clinical packages, the most important being in IV therapy. On each of these occasions he was called away to Emergency Department to fill in and was left exasperated. On two other occasions I was accompanying the RN early in the pill round when I was asked to assist a busy EN to mobilise patients so I was unable to complete these rounds. Consequently, the first pill round for which I became entirely responsible was the evening shift on the last day of the reconnect program. I felt quite unready to take on this, plus all the other duties of a new RN the following evening. Dangerous drugs and procedures are being initiated daily. The registered nurses who are responsible for dispensing them need an orderly environment where they are not constantly being distracted by the other unending demands of the job. When I trained there was one drawer of drugs on the pill trolley, now there are three. Doctors may order a generic drug under one of half a dozen different trade names. Often the doctor’s writing is only semi-legible because they are also rushed for time. This all adds to the stress that nurses experience on a daily basis. Nurses are being asked to work extra shifts to cover the unavailability of staff, causing them fatigue and placing them at further risk of error.

I feel that because of the unrealistic demands of the workload, the potential for errors to be made is increased. I am unwilling to put myself in this situation where an error could be made and leave me involved in a legal dispute. No amount of hospital regulations and policies can address the need for properly resourced and staffed public hospitals. Mr JE Rowe, Formerly RN at Manning Rural Referral Hospital.

Justine Darling

Thanks for scholarship, NSWNA I wish to thank the NSW Nurses’ Association for the Edith Cavell Trust scholarship, which helped me complete my Bachelor of Nursing at Charles Sturt University. How lucky was I! Thank you, it was a huge help and a relief. It took so much financial pressure off my family and myself. We all finished and I just can’t believe I am an RN at last. I now wait patiently to see what new graduate position I will be offered. Whatever position/ hospital I work at I am sure I will love it. Once again, thank you to all the wonderful health professionals who have helped me through this journey and to the brilliant lecturers at Charles Sturt University, particularly Rene McGill for her knowledge and drive. Justine Darling, RN Sutherland Hospital

EVERY LETTER PUBLISHED

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NO C E W V ES R I SNT O BR Y I E F

Vic nurses win fair deal after bitter dispute

he Victorian Government has finally agreed to an agreement that delivers public sector nurses annual wage increases of up to 6.1% and measures to improve workloads. The result ends one of the toughest industrial disputes ever waged by the ANF. ANF (Victorian Branch) members embarked on industrial action when negotiations stalled in their pay case. Members refused to accept the Victorian

g Our Victorian nursing colleagues faced has paid off, seeing them win one of the

Government’s initial pay offer of 3.25% increase each year over five years, which would have left them the worst paid nurses in Australia. At a stop-work meeting on 16 October, 3,000 ANF members voted to implement work bans that included shutting one in four public hospital beds and cancelling ¼ of operating theatre sessions. The Victorian Government was forced under the new IR laws to penalise any nurses taking part in the industrial action and took the ANF to the Federal Court. Thousands of public sector nurses found their pay packets had been docked. The nurses had been penalised by their managers for attending the stop-work meeting on 16 October and for imposing work bans – some had lost up to half their pay.

Harsh and draconian? Absolutely, but this is all part of life under WorkChoices! With Victorian public sector nurses in the federal IR system, the Victorian State Government had no choice but to take legal action against the ANF and penalise nurses taking industrial action – no matter how justified and reasonable. WorkChoices imposes large fines on employers for not penalising unauthorised industrial action. Public sector nurses in Victoria do not enjoy the same protection as their NSW colleagues, who were made NSW Crown employees by Premier Morris Iemma and are thus momentarily protected from the scourge of WorkChoices. Under the federal industrial relations system, Victorian public sector nurses are subject to WorkChoices. Under these IR laws, there is no path to reasonable

‘The case highlights how vulnerable workers are under WorkChoices.These IR laws take away a path to reasonable industrial action.There is no legal avenue for workers to pursue what they are entitled to.’ NSWNA General Secretary Brett Holmes. 8 THE LAMP NOVEMBER 2007

fines and legal action for pursuing fair pay but their determination toughest industrial campaigns in the WorkChoices era.

industrial action. Industrial action is practically illegal. NSWNA General Secretary Brett Holmes said the case highlights how vulnerable workers are under WorkChoices. ‘These IR laws take away a path to reasonable industrial action. There is no legal avenue for workers to pursue what they are entitled to,’ he said. ‘The Howard government’s federal IR laws do not allow nurses to stand together and take action to get ONE agreement to cover all public sector nurses in Victoria,’ said Brett. ‘Victorian nurses, like most NSW nurses in the private sector, no longer have a state Industrial Commission or laws that allow them to legally take action to get the pay rises they deserve,’ he said. ‘Our Victorian colleagues have been forced to break the law because they simply took industrial action to get what they are entitled to.’

Victorian nurses’ fair pay victory State Secretary ANF (Victorian Branch), Lisa Fitzpatrick told a meeting of more than 5,000 members on 25 October that their determination had finally paid off. She

said that their courage in sticking together, despite having their pay docked, was pivotal in reaching a fantastic outcome. ‘I take my hat off to you. Without your action, I wouldn't come here today with an agreement that I believe I can recommend that you should accept,’ she said. The Agreement delivers nurses a pay increase of between 3.6 and 6.1% per year for four years, depending on their grading. Lisa said that on average nurses will get a 4.75% per year wage increase over the life of the deal, lifting them from the lowest-paid to ‘around the third-top’ of nurses in the country. NSWNA Assistant General Secretary, Judith Kiejda, said Victorian nurses deserve the pay rise. ‘Victorian public sector nurses are currently the worst paid in Australia. They deserve to be paid the same as their interstate colleagues.’ The government also agreed to an additional 500 nurses, who would be deployed in areas where workload ratios were too low, such as emergency departments and maternity wards, and existing nurse ratios will be maintained or improved. Members voted unanimously to accept the proposed Agreement. n

HOCKEY BACKFLIPS AND SUPPORTS ANF The case took an ironic twist when the face of WorkChoices, Federal Minister for Industrial Relations, Joe Hockey, came Joe Hockey out in defence of the ANF and its members. The Brumby government should ‘put aside the cheap politics and pay the nurses what they deserve’, he said. This is the same man who opined in the same week that ‘the role of unions in Australia is essentially over’. John Howard also accused the Victorian Government of hypocrisy for using WorkChoices to dock the pay of nurses involved in work bans. He did not mention that his IR laws impose large fines on employers for not penalising unauthorised industrial action. THE LAMP NOVEMBER 2007 9

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Membership Application forms or Direct Debit forms can be downloaded from our website www.nswnurses.asn.au Alternatively call the NSWNA on 8595 1234 (metro area) or 1300 367 962 (non-metro area) for more information.

NO C E W V ES R I SNT O BR Y I E F

Vic nurses’ dispute highlights threats to NSW nurses

ngela Pridham, NSWNA Councillor and RN with Wollongong Community Mental Health, warns that the Victorian nurses’ dispute should be a real wake-up call for NSW nurses. ‘NSW public sector nurses are only protected as long as we have a Labor state government. A change of state government will see NSW nurses brought under the federal system and exposed to WorkChoices. ‘We will face the same threats and pressures as our Victorian colleagues, who are already in the federal system,’ said Angela. ‘We will have no bargaining power and no

path to take industrial action to pursue what we are entitled to.’ NSWNA Assistant General Secretary, Judith Kiejda, said if a Howard government is returned, NSW public sector nurses face the threat of being forced on to AWAs because health funding could be tied to NSW Health offering its employees AWAs. ‘The next Health Agreement between the States and Commonwealth is due to be negotiated next year. A Howard government would most likely make federal health funding for the next five years conditional that the States offer their employees AWAs. If this happens, the NSW Government will be forced to put public sector nurses on AWAs,’ she said. ‘It’s a sneaky way of bringing all nurses under WorkChoices. ‘We've already seen this happen

in the tertiary sector where funding is tied to the universities offering their employees AWAs. ‘The Liberal-National Coalition is currently doing “Economic Modelling” on the benefits of having all current Award employees covered by WorkChoices. It is clearly their intention to introduce more measures to force more employees on to AWAs,’ said Judith. ‘With negotiations for NSW Nurses’ next pay rises commencing next year, I strongly recommend that nurses keep this in mind when voting on 24 November,’ said Judith.n

‘With negotiations for NSW Nurses’ next pay rises commencing next year, I strongly recommend that nurses keep this in mind when voting on 24 November.’ NSWNA Assistant General Secretary Judith Kiejda

Angela Pridham

ANF LAUNCHES HARDSHIP FUND FOR PENALISED NURSES

he Victorian Branch of the ANF has established the Victorian Nurses Welfare & Hardship Fund to assist nurses who had their wages docked for participating in industrial action during their campaign for fair pay. While this landmark case has resulted in a great win for Victorian nurses, it has come at a personal cost with many workers losing more than half their pay. Under Workchoices, it is illegal for the ANF to

ask the Victorian Government to repay the docked wages. Donations to the Victorian Nurses Welfare & Hardship Fund’ can be made online at www.fundnursingproperly. com.au or send a cheque payable to ‘Victorian Nurses Welfare & Hardship Fund’ and send to: ANF (Victorian Branch), Box 12600 A’Beckett Street PO, Melbourne VIC 8006 or deposit donations directly at any National Australia Bank branch BSB 083 352 Account Number 859 680 424. THE LAMP NOVEMBER 2007 11

A G E N D A

Punitive welfare laws bad for mental health g A new report says clients are forced to ‘jump through hoops’ at Centrelink.

ew federal government Welfare to Work and WorkChoices laws have heightened the anxiety of people on income support living with a mental illness, according to a report commissioned by the NSWNA. The Howard government’s Welfare to Work laws are the most radical reform of Australia’s income support system since the Social Security Act in 1947. The laws rely on a ‘big stick’ approach to get people

changes, both actual and anticipated, to Welfare to Work arrangements. A major concern voiced by the mental health workers was Centrelink’s ‘job capacity assessment’ and the way it was applied to their clients. ‘Typically, the health professionals we interviewed referred to the new procedures as “punitive”, “penalty-based” and the “big-stick approach”. Further, they saw the job capacity assessment as involving no support or understanding of these clients who were required to “jump

These mental health professionals reported numerous instances of their clients presenting in highly emotional states in recent months. with disabilities, single parents and the long term employed back into work. The new laws have also had a negative impact on mental health workers, says the report, Jumping Through Hoops, based on interviews with 22 mental health professionals. These mental health professionals reported numerous instances of their clients presenting in highly emotional states in recent months. This included clients who were fearful and anxious about Christie Breakspear

12 THE LAMP NOVEMBER 2007

through hoops”,’ said Christie Breakspear, one of the authors of the report. ‘The consequence for clients of not complying with the new system is having their payment cancelled for eight weeks.’ Centrelink assessors are not required to have a mental health background and this can lead to flawed assessments of job capacity according to the report. ‘Centrelink asks the wrong questions of my clients, they don’t have the expertise. Lots of enquires about a person’s mobility, can they move from their bedroom to kitchen. Completely irrelevant,’ one experienced clinical psychologist told researchers. “My clients’ problems are that they think the food in the kitchen is poisoned, and that someone is out to get them – that sort of thing. There are no boxes to tick on their forms about this.”’ One case worker said the new system seemed to be based on the premise that the average person with a disability is trying to rip off the system. ‘I just don’t think that’s true. I think the average person in the system is very honest and their work ethic is just as high as everyone else in the population. But this new system seems to be punitive, about catching people out.

PENALISING THE POOR RAMPS UP In the first full year of operation of Welfare to Work, there were 15,509 eight-week no-payment penalties imposed, whereas during the last full year of the previous system there were 6,432 eight-week no-payment penalties – a 140% increase The Welfare Rights Centre has estimated the combined monetary value of these penalties at $27m. and has claimed that ‘this has come out of the pockets of the most vulnerable Australians’ (Rights Review September 2007, p3).

‘It’s a very small percentage of people who are doing the wrong thing, but they get all the publicity,’ the caseworker said. The report finds that some of the mental health professionals have found the laws impacting on their own jobs and health. For some the laws had led to a heavier and more complex workload, with workers forced into the role of advocate for clients dealing with Centrelink. Some also reported a loss of control over their jobs as Centrelink became the arbiter of services. ‘I feel more worried about clients and what will happen to them. I think they are being punished for having a mental illness or being homeless. I also feel like I, personally, have to know a lot more about Centrelink,’ said one community nurse. Christie Breakspear says all of the participants in the research saw the benefits of encouraging and supporting their clients to participate in the work force. The report can be downloaded from www.nswnurses.asn.au n

AUSTRALIA@WORK – KEY FINDINGS

Workers on AWAs earn less g Workplace study reveals workers on AWAs earn around $106 a week less.

study of 8,343 workers found that workers on AWAs earn on average $106 a week less than those on collective agreements. The study, Australia@ Work – conducted by the University of Sydney’s Workplace Research Centre – also demolishes the federal government’s fiction that employers and employees sit down and negotiate mutually beneficial, mutually flexible agreements together. Forty-six per cent of people on AWAs say they were given no opportunity to negotiate their conditions of employment with the trends getting worse. Of the 177,000 people who moved onto AWAs this year, 56% said there was no negotiation. Most of the growth in AWAs was among low-skilled workers in sectors like retail or labouring who were earning significantly less but working longer hours.

Majority just keeping their heads above water While John Howard has bragged that ‘Australian workers have never had it so good’, the report outlines the economic stress most workers are enduring. Fourteen per cent of Australian workers say they are struggling on their current income, describing it as ‘difficult’ or ‘very difficult’. Thirty-seven per cent say they are just ‘coping’, while only 7.5% report ‘doing really well’.

The Workplace Research Centre’s study is consistent with initial research conducted by the by the government’s own agencies early in the life of the laws. The government quickly stopped analysing and publishing data about AWAs soon after. Brigid van Wanrooy, the co-author of the new report, said her research showed it was unlikely the federal government’s fairness test would improve the fortunes of those on AWAs. ‘What the report undoubtedly confirms is that low-qualified workers achieve a better outcome for themselves when they do so collectively at the workplace,’ she said.

When the truth hurts, Hockey shoots the messenger The response of the federal government to the report was overwhelmingly hostile and personal. Joe Hockey accused the authors of being ‘former union officials who are parading as hacks’. ‘You have to look at their motives and sure enough you can identify what their real intentions are,’ he said. Peter Costello also went for personal vilification saying the report was ‘contaminated’ and prepared by ‘union hacks’. Independent commentators such as Sydney Morning Herald economist Ross Gittens were appalled at the government’s response. ‘The Australia@Work research project Hockey and Costello so

The study – funded by the federal government’s Australian Research Council and Unions NSW – found that: c employees on AWAs earn less than those on common law contracts and collective agreements and are working longer hours; c employees whose pay and conditions are set by awards and collective bargaining work the shortest full-time hours; c the total number of employees on AWAs grew by 33% in the year after WorkChoices; c those on new AWAs are more likely to be young workers (36% are aged 16-24 years) and in lowskilled jobs (56%); c 46% of all workers on AWAs say they do not have the opportunity to negotiate pay with their employer; c more than half (52%) say that more and more is expected of them for the same amount of pay; c more than half (52%) of Australian workers say they are finding it difficult to get by, or just coping, on their current household income.

unthinkingly trashed is a big deal. It’s a valuable and all-too-rare longitudinal study, tracking the work experience of more than 8,000 workers for five years at an estimated total cost of $2.4 million,’ he said. n

‘The Australia@Work research project Hockey and Costello so unthinkingly trashed is a big deal. It’s a valuable and all-too-rare longitudinal study, tracking the work experience of more than 8,000 workers for five years at an estimated total cost of $2.4 million.’ Sydney Morning Herald economist Ross Gittens

THE LAMP NOVEMBER 2007 13

INDUSTRIAL ISSUES

Yeoval Community Hospital hits the dust g Federal government ignores community’s plea for help

he financial collapse of a community-owned hospital in western NSW has shattered a small town’s dream and put the jobs of 21 nurses in jeopardy. Health authorities in Canberra refused to rescue Yeoval Community Hospital, despite the federal government advocating local ‘community’ control via independent boards as the salvation of the public hospital system. Yeoval Hospital started losing money last year, partly because it was unable to attract a doctor to move to the bush – a problem plaguing rural health services. Yeoval’s local board went to the Department of Health and Ageing in July for money to keep the hospital going. The department refused, offering only to provide a consultant to help find a buyer. The snub to Yeoval contrasts with the federal government’s decision to spend at least $50 million to take over the struggling State government-owned Mersey Hospital in Tasmania, and place it under the control of a local board. Mersey Hospital is in a marginal Liberal electorate, which the government is desperate to hold at this month’s election. Yeoval is represented by independents in the federal and state parliaments, so there is little to be gained politically by mounting a rescue operation. NSW Nurses’ Association Assistant General Secretary, Judith Kiejda, said Yeoval’s experience showed that putting hospitals under the control of local boards was no solution to problems afflicting 14 THE LAMP NOVEMBER 2007

public hospitals caused mainly by lack of funds and staff shortages. ‘Yeoval also shows that a local board’s good intentions and hard work may not be able to make the best decisions if it lacks clinical and financial knowledge and experience,’ Judith said. Yeoval Hospital’s assets and debt have been taken over by the United Protestant Association, for conversion to a low-care aged care facility. The UPA says most nurses will be re-hired but only for part-time jobs and 24hour/7-day registered nurse coverage will be slashed to just one RN for 12 hours a week. The NSWNA is negotiating to secure as many hours as possible for nurses who have to work but cannot travel to another town for employment, and redundancy pay for those left without jobs. ‘The nurses are apprehensive; some are very anxious and withdrawn. No one knows if they will have a job, everything is up in the air,’ said Lynne Wirth, president of the NSWNA branch at Yeoval. She said when nurses were told the extent of the hospital’s problems they agreed to help with measures such as working less than their contracted hours. ‘I’m currently on holiday and the hospital couldn’t afford to give me holiday pay in a lump sum due to the financial crisis,’ she said. Yeoval, population 400, sits on flat dry sheep country midway between Orange and Dubbo. A cost-cutting state government closed its eight-bed public hospital in 1988, erasing a vital facility.

But the community was not ready to let the hospital disappear without a fight. Public meetings voted to form the Yeoval Community Hospital Co-operative Limited. ‘People felt very strongly about trying to keep the hospital viable – everyone bought shares,’ Lynne said. Shareholders elected a board of nine volunteer directors. The town raised $100,000 through local charities and the federal government provided almost $300,000 under an aged and community care program. The NSW Co-operative Development League guaranteed bank loans and in July 1989, the renovated facility reopened with a seven-bed hospital including an Accident Assessment Unit and a sevenbed nursing home. Three years after it re-opened, a ninebed hostel was added at a cost of $450,000. In 1999 a $500,000 eight-bed special care unit for dementia residents was unveiled. The town and surrounding districts enjoyed services such as physiotherapy, optometry, X-ray, audiometry, dietary, podiatry and an early childhood and community nursing service. A team of five trained volunteers operated an ambulance. Politicians were quick to jump on the bandwagon of success. Senator Bronwyn Bishop, then minister for aged care in the Howard government, hailed ‘the vision and commitment of the Yeoval community’ and promised: ’The federal government supports community organisations that are prepared to take such a proactive approach to addressing their local needs.’

Morris, former co-op chairman who took over management of the hospital after the health services manager left. Mr Morris, a fourth-generation farmer born at Yeoval Hospital, said it had not had a permanent doctor since September last year, leaving acute and sub-acute private beds empty, with consequent loss of income. ‘When we asked Canberra for financial assistance to keep the hospital going they told us that we were a square peg for a round hole, that our co-operatively owned

Yeoval Community Hospital staff (from left) Elma Davis, Kathy Grimshaw, Lynette Theyers, Lynne Wirth and Darren Elliott.

The next year Senator Bishop presented the hospital with an award for excellence in staff training and development. In 2003 the NSW Minister for Rural Affairs, Labor’s Tony Kelly, stood in parliament to congratulate Yeoval Hospital on ‘a remarkable success story…The Yeoval community has generated $1.5 million in hospital funding over the past decade. As the largest employer in town, the hospital has provided an obvious flowon effect to other local businesses.’ The hospital traded in the black until November last year, according to Rex

building a house for a doctor who quit the hospital before he could move into the home. There was conflict between the doctor who replaced him and the health services manager. ‘Last July the board called a staff meeting to announce severe financial problems and asked staff if we had any suggestions to make the hospital viable. They wanted input from us all of a sudden!’ Lynne said the hospital’s conversion to a low-care facility was a huge blow

‘The board put doctors up on a pedestal and thought they could do no wrong, and were reluctant to listen to nurses.’ model did not fit any of the current funding models,’ he told The Lamp. Lynne Wirth, a 30-year veteran of Yeoval Hospital, said that despite their good intentions and hard work, board members lacked both financial and medical expertise. ‘The board put doctors up on a pedestal and thought they could do no wrong, and were reluctant to listen to nurses. ‘We asked for nurses’ representation on the board for several years but there was a lot of resistance and reluctance to keep staff informed. I was elected the first staff representative on the board only this year – after they got into financial problems – and the hospital folded before I could attend a board meeting.’ Lynne said the board spent $320,000

to Yeoval. ‘We will have no high-care residents, no emergency capability and no acute beds. The volunteer ambulance crew will go, as will the special care unit for dementia because remaining dementia patients will reside with low-care residents in the nursing home area. ‘The new owners say they will cut nursing hours by 50%-60%. Some staff will be forced to look for work in bigger centres like Parkes or Dubbo, but there is no public transport to these towns. ‘We realise that in this situation we have no power as individuals, but most of us are in the union and the union is doing a good job keeping us informed of developments and arguing for our entitlements.n

THE LAMP NOVEMBER 2007 15

• NSWNA RECRUITMENT INCENTIVE SCHEME •

WIN A FABULOUS

FIJIAN

HOLIDAY

For every friend or colleague you sign up, you’ll receive a David Jones gift voucher and also go into the draw to win a fantastic holiday for two. You could be jetting off from Sydney return with Air Paciﬁc to Denarau Island in Fiji for three luxurious nights at The Radisson Resort Fiji. After a relaxing stay in a Paciﬁc Lagoon Guest Room, you and your guest will then enjoy a Blue Lagoon Cruise aboard MV Mystique Princess for a 4-day, 3-night Gold Club cruise. All onboard meals, cruise entertainment and shore excursions are included in this exciting prize.

$10 David Jones gift vouchers For the period from 30 June – 30 December 2007, recruiters will receive a $10, instead of a $5, David Jones gift voucher for every new member they sign up.

Membership application forms Hurry! Call the Association now for your recruitment kits and recruitment incentive scheme details. Ph: 8595 1234 (metropolitan area) or 1300 367 962 (non-metropolitan area) or go to www.nswnurses.asn.au

Fiji tri p draw n 3 0 Jun e 200

16 THE LAMP NOVEMBER 2007

A G E N D A

Politics trumps maternity care g Abbott takes aim at states with hospital boards plan.

hy are so many pregnant women forced to go to hospital emergency departments rather than being cared for by alternative maternity-based systems? This obvious question was ignored by politicians who joined in the federalstate slanging match after Ms Jana Horska miscarried in the toilets at Royal North Shore Hospital after waiting for two hours to be seen. Funding a new model of care for pregnant women was apparently not even on the radar of the federal Health Minister, Tony Abbott.

‘Too many people get stuck in hospitals because of the shortage of aged care beds.’ He seized upon Ms Horska’s tragedy – and other stories of neglected patients at NSW hospital emergency departments – to score points against Labor state government-run health systems on the eve of a federal election. Abbott announced the Howard government would force state governments to re-establish local hospital boards, or lose federal funding. In contrast to Abbott’s opportunism, the NSW Nurses’ Association put forward suggestions to reduce pressure on emergency departments during talks with the NSW Director-General of Health, Debora Picone. Association General Secretary, Brett Holmes, said EDs were not the best places to deal with most maternity cases. ‘Pregnancy is a life event, not a disease. As midwives have been saying for years, it needs to be managed differently and all its up and downs, including miscarriage, should be dealt with in a maternity-based system, not the accident

and medical emergency system,’ Brett said. ‘Developing and properly funding such an approach will take pressure off the general hospital system and provide a more focused service for pregnant women and their families.’ Brett said there was also an urgent need to get registered nurses and GPs back into aged care to reduce hospital readmissions. ‘Too many people get stuck in hospitals because of the shortage of aged care beds,’ he pointed out. Prue Power, Executive Director of the Australian Hospitals and Healthcare Association, said Abbott’s plan ‘would be going back a couple of decades in our attempts to create an integrated system’. Brett Holmes agreed, saying Australia needed a better integrated approach to health care, not a plan to disconnect individual hospitals from the broader health system. ‘The fact is, for a variety of reasons not every hospital can provide every service. It is not in the interests of stronger health care to have individual hospital administrators deluding themselves and their local communities that they can. ‘Setting up 750 hospital boards competing for staff and resources would only worsen the current inequities in the health system, as those in wealthier areas would be more likely to attract funds and staff.’n

CHANCE TO MEDDLE WITH NURSES’ WORK CONDITIONS The NSWNA fears that the Howard government, if re-elected, will use proposed hospital boards to meddle in the employment conditions of nurses and other hospital staff. ‘The Liberals would take the opportunity to force WorkChoices and AWAs on public hospital nurses, just as the government has used funding negotiations to force AWAs on other sectors such as higher education,’ NSWNA General Secretary Brett Holmes said. He said if the Howard government succeeded in forcing its industrial relations laws onto public hospital nurses, it would spell disaster for the already severe nurse shortage. ‘Look at the low-wage culture and heavy workloads that have been encouraged in aged care by the Howard government’s funding and IR policies. ‘Aged care nurses in NSW earn up to $120 a week less than their colleagues in other sectors. ‘Between 1995 and 2004 there was a 21% fall in the number of nurses working in aged care, despite the number of aged care residents increasing by 23% in the same period.’ THE LAMP NOVEMBER 2007 17

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18 THE LAMP NOVEMBER 2007

ELECTION07 Choices for nurses this federal election

Your vote will make a difference to you and your family

ELECTION07

M E S S AG E F RO M T H E G E N E R A L S E C R E TA RY

A referendum on WorkChoices This federal election is a pivotal moment for Australian workers and their families. It is an opportunity for us to decide what sort of society we want our children to inherit from us. At stake is your right, and your children’s future right, to a good job with fair pay and decent workplace conditions. Before we vote we have to ask ourselves the question: do we want our kids to enter a workplace where they will have fewer rights then we have enjoyed and where they will be treated without any of the respect and dignity they deserve? WorkChoices, the radical industrial relations laws introduced by the Howard government after the last federal election, threaten the rights at work that generations of nurses have fought for. Rights, perhaps, we had come to take for granted. These laws have been roundly condemned by church leaders, academics, economists and community organisations. Unions, including the NSWNA, recognised early the threat to our members’ livelihoods that are posed by these laws. We have taken up our responsibility and fought them tooth and nail. The Howard government at various times over the past year has grudgingly conceded the unpopularity and unfairness of these laws. Instead of ripping up the laws, they have resorted to trickery and spin to keep them in place. First, they introduced a so-called ‘fairness test’ that has so many exemptions you could drive a bus through it. Then, they spent over $130 million of taxpayers’ money on advertising to promote them. Report after report has shown the falsehood of their claims. This election is clearly a referendum on WorkChoices. John Howard never mentioned these laws in the lead-up to the last election. He was never given a mandate by the Australian people to implement them. But this election is diﬀerent. You have an opportunity to vote out these laws.

party but we have never shirked from taking political positions in the interests of our members. Unfortunately, the Howard government has left us with no choice. The only way to get rid of these laws is to get rid of the government that made them.

Don’t forget the Senate The last federal election showed us the importance of the Senate. John Howard would never have been able to pass his IR laws without gaining control of the Senate. To reverse this position, which has had such a damaging impact on our democracy, it is vital that we change the composition of the Senate.

Your vote can help protect your penalty rates and other workplace conditions fought for by those nurses who came before us.

Both the ALP and the Greens have committed to ripping up WorkChoices and it is important that between them they have the numbers to pass fairer legislation that an incoming government would implement.

Historically, the NSWNA has been unaligned to any political

Please consider this closely when you cast your vote.

20 THE LAMP NOVEMBER 2007

Choices for nurses this federal election • e2

ELECTION07

INDUSTRIALRELATIONS

A clear choice on industrial relations The Liberal government has introduced radical and harsh industrial relations laws, designed to give employers greater freedom to unilaterally set wages and conditions. The laws also make the traditional job of unions to collectively bargain with employers very difficult. The government has stripped back the rights of workers and their unions to their lowest level in more than a century. Employers in most industries can now refuse to bargain in good faith – and there is little workers can legally do about it.

Key features of the Liberal’s industrial relations policy n WorkChoices removes protection from unfair dismissal

in workplaces with fewer than 100 employees. n Employers can refuse to bargain collectively with workers, even if all the workers want this. n WorkChoices reduces the power of the Industrial Relations Commission. n Workers can be put on Australian Workplace Agreements (AWAs) with just ﬁve minimum conditions.

e3 • Choices for nurses this federal election

n Employers can make signing an AWA or individual

contract a condition of employment. n Individual workers must negotiate conditions like

overtime pay, penalty rates, public holidays and annual leave entitlements. n By excluding unions, the health, safety and working conditions of workers are severely compromised. n WorkChoices makes many ordinary union activities illegal.

THE LAMP NOVEMBER 2007 21

ELECTION07

INDUSTRIALRELATIONS

Labor’s IR alternative Labor’s industrial relations policy promises to restore the fundamentals of a fair system ripped up by the Howard government. The right to collectively bargain, a decent safety net of 10 employment standards plus 10 awards provisions and a new body, Fair Work Australia, which will restore the role of the independent umpire, underpin Labor’s new industrial relations policy.

Key features of the ALP industrial relations policy n Workers are protected from unfair dismissal. In small

n AWA individual contracts will be abolished.

businesses with fewer than 15 workers, protection would apply after 12 months’ employment and after six months in larger businesses. n Workers have the right to bargain collectively if that is what a majority of employees in a workplace want. n A new and independent industrial umpire called Fair Work Australia will be created to maintain fairness in the workplace and set decent minimum wages and conditions.

n Penalty rates, overtime pay, and public holidays,

which have been stripped away under the Howard government’s IR laws, are protected by a safety net. n New rights to help working families balance work and caring responsibilities. n Workers have the right to join a union and participate in union activities if that is what they want. n Recognision of States’ rights to maintain an IR system for their employees.

‘FAIRNESS TEST’ – NEW NAME, SAME OLD LAWS The Howard government dropped the name ‘WorkChoices’ but has kept the same old unfair IR laws. The introduction of the ‘fairness test’ still fails to protect workers. Around 2.5 million workers are not even covered by the new ‘fairness test’ and receive no protection. The ‘fairness test’ does not guarantee workers get full financial compensation for the loss of pay and conditions under Howard’s IR laws, and only certain conditions are covered by the ‘fairness test’. Redundancy pay and a say on rosters are two conditions that are ignored by this so-called ‘fair’ test. AWAs are also only checked after they start to apply, which means employees can lose conditions before they undergo the ‘fairness test’. In the pre-WorkChoices ‘no disadvantage test’, workers’ agreements were tested before they were applied, to ensure people were not disadvantaged. The new ‘fairness test’ provides no role for the independent umpire to scrutinise AWAs.

22 THE LAMP NOVEMBER 2007

Choices for nurses this federal election • e4

ELECTION07

NURSES HAVE THEIR SAY Sarah Wallace, AiN, Abbey Nursing Home

‘Devastated by Howard’s workplace laws’ I feel devastated by Howard’s workplace laws. And when he says he’s listened and changed them I don’t trust him one bit. He’s lied too much and then let us down. I think the ALP’s policy will be good for us. I want to see fairness in the workplace. I do night shift and penalty rates are so important to make it worthwhile.

Anne Fletcher, NUM, Albury Wodonga Private Hospital

‘We’ll be wiser this time around’ I’ve been against the laws John Howard has brought in. I’ve seen how badly my kids have been treated in their jobs. It’s wrong. Howard has acknowledged that WorkChoices is not going to be an election plus. But I don’t trust him with his changes. It is disgraceful they are spending a whole lot of money on advertising to sell these changes. The ﬁrst time around they tried to sell something that was wrong. We’ll be wiser this time around.

Kathryn Cheney, RN, Justice Health

‘Labor’s IR policy is better than John Howard’s industrial laws’ Labor’s IR policy is better than John Howard’s industrial laws. We can see in aged care how AWAs have been disastrous for nurses. In Justice Health it is already diﬃcult to get staﬀ. If we had AWAs, without penalty rates, shift rates, or night shift loading, you wouldn’t get anybody. With Howard, it’s just lies, lies and more lies. His ‘fairness’ changes are just a pre-election stunt to soften people up. I’ve been a Liberal voter pretty well all my life. But this time I feel very strongly about not voting Liberal. Last year I went to the USA where they have these sorts of laws. I asked a young woman working at a checkout at Walmart – on a Saturday afternoon – what she was paid. Six dollars an hour! I thought at the time, that’s what Howard is trying to do here. e5 • Choices for nurses this federal election

THE LAMP NOVEMBER 2007 23

ELECTION07 HEALTH

Underfunding core of health crisis While Australia is among the healthiest of all countries with outcomes continuing to improve the need for health reform is widely recognised. Underfunding and understaffing have reduced public hospitals to crisis point. Every day the media carries stories of neglected patients and frustrated health workers. John Howard’s ‘solution’ to re-establish the old system of local hospital boards is a return to the past. There is no acknowledgement that the real problem is gross underfunding and the failure to invest in new models of care.

Liberals slash funding and bulk-billing n The federal government has steadily reduced its share of

the funding of public hospitals. n In 2000, the Howard government contributed 50% of the cost of maintaining and running public hospitals. By 2006, that share had dropped to 41%. n In dollar terms, this creates a shortfall of $1.6 billion a year, enough to fund an extra 350,000 public hospital admissions. n In 1996/1997 more than 80% of visits to a GP were bulk-billed. Fewer than 20% of people visiting a doctor had to pay anything out of their own pocket. The bulkbilling percentage dropped to 68% in the seven years

to 2003/2004 as federal government payments to GPs failed to keep pace with inﬂation. n The out-of-pocket costs of visiting a GP have risen due to the relative shortage of GPs and the decline in the federal government’s schedule fee, which has cut doctors’ incomes. This has made many GPs reluctant to bulk bill. n With a shortage of bulk-billing GPs, more people are using hospital emergency rooms to get the care they need. In NSW, the number of people attending emergency departments rose by 73,000 in the nine months to April 2007. (NSW Health ﬁgures)

COMMONWEALTH CUTS SHARE OF HEALTH COSTS A report by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare shows the federal government has steadily cut its share of hospital funding by 10% over the past decade. The Health expenditure Australia 2005-06 report shows that between 1996 and 2006, the Australian Government’s share of public hospital funding decreased from 45% to 41%. State and territory government funding during this period increased from 46% to 51%.

24 THE LAMP NOVEMBER 2007

If the government had maintained its share of public hospital funding, an additional $1.6 billion would be available to public hospitals, according to Labor Health spokesperson, Nicola Roxon. The decline in spending on public hospitals roughly equals the $3.2 billion a year the government spends on the 30% rebate for private health insurance. The report also revealed that private health insurance funds contribute a

declining sharing of health funding – from 11% in 1996 down to 7% today. Yet the contribution of health costs by individuals is escalating. There has been a 6% increase in expenditure by individuals between 1995 and 2006. In 2006, individuals spent an estimated $15.4 billion on health goods and services (17% of total health expenditure), compared to $9 billion in 1996. On average, Australians spend $750 out of their own pockets on health care.

Choices for nurses this federal election • e6

ELECTION07 HEALTH

Labor’s health alternative Labor leader Kevin Rudd has promised an extra $2 billion for health and put forward a plan to end the blame game between the federal and state governments.

Key features of Labor’s health proposals n A $2 billion National Health and Hospitals Reform Plan. n 2,000 additional transition care places. n A National Health and Hospitals Reform Commission to

develop a long-term health reform plan for the nation. n A commitment to seek an electoral mandate to take

over public hospitals if insuﬃcient progress is made on reforms within the next term of government. n A National Preventative Healthcare Strategy to bring a preventative focus to the health system. The strategy will be supported by a permanent taskforce of nurses, doctors, allied health professionals, academics, consumers, health insurers and specialists who would provide evidence-based advice. n Incentives for GPs to practise quality preventative health care with an increased focus on multi-disciplinary care from primary care teams. n Health care agreements would be broadened between the Commonwealth and the states to include preventative health care as well as hospital funding.

LABOR PROMISES TO END BLAME GAME Kevin Rudd has announced a new health policy with extra funding and incentives to state governments to reform the health system. While he is prepared to work cooperatively with the states, he will wield the stick – a federal takeover of public hospitals – if the states fail to reach agreed targets in the improvement of hospital services. Essentially, Labor’s plan promises to resource a new model of Integrated Primary Care, which will promote wellness and better care in the community. Labor believes this will reduce the demand for hospital services. The new policy also promises more transition beds to help discharge from acute care beds older patients who no longer need them. These initiatives, plus the extra two billion dollars, will be built into the next Australian

e7 • Choices for nurses this federal election

Health Care Agreement, which traditionally has only dealt with hospital services. These changes will be driven by a new National Health and Hospitals Reform Commission, strengthened by input from clinicians, including nurses, and consumers who will report to the federal government. The extra $2 billion will be invested in four key initiatives: n

New or enhanced primary care services, stronger preventative health care and better chronic disease management in order to reduce preventable hospitalisations and non-urgent accident and emergency presentations;

Reduced waiting times for essential hospital services such as elective surgery;

Improved facilities for transition care in order to reduce hospital stays for older patients;

Reducing non-urgent accident and emergency presentations by increasing access to medical and specialist services in the community.

Labor’s health reform will occur in three stages: n

A Labor government would invest $2 billion in a National Health and Hospitals Reform Plan;

Within 100 days of the election, a federal Labor government will help establish a National Health and Hospitals Reform Commission to develop a long-term health reform plan for the nation;

If the states and territories have not begun implementing a national reform plan by the middle of 2009, a Rudd government would seek a mandate to assume funding responsibility for the nation’s public hospitals.

THE LAMP NOVEMBER 2007 25

ELECTION07

NURSES HAVE THEIR SAY ‘The super clinics would ease the load on ED, which means we could oﬀer better service to people who require emergency care. This would also decrease the stress on nurses who are often hounded by patients who have had to wait a long time in emergency.’ Mark Constable, NUM, ED, Wyong Hospital

An initiative to create more transition beds for older patients is a fantastic idea. On the Central Coast, our patient demographic is much older so we have trouble with the number of patients who need transition beds but instead end up in acute hospital beds. John Alchin, Senior Nurse Manager Patient Flow, Gosford Hospital

LIONS NURSES’

SCHOLARSHIP

Looking for funding to further your studies in 2008? The trustees of the Lions Nurses’ Scholarship Foundation invite applications for scholarships for 2008. Nurses eligible for these scholarships must be resident and employed within the State of NSW or ACT. You must be registered or enrolled with either the NSW Nurses and Midwives Board or regulatory authority of the ACT, and must have a minimum of three years’ experience in the nursing profession in NSW or the ACT. Applicants must also be able to produce evidence that your employer will grant leave for the required period of the scholarship. Details of eligibility and the scholarships available (which include study projects either within Australia or

26 THE LAMP NOVEMBER 2007

overseas), and application forms are available from: The Honourary Secretary, Lions Nurses’ Scholarship Foundation 43 Australia Street, Camperdown NSW 1450 or contact Ms Glen Ginty on 1300 367 962 or gginty@nswnurses.asn.au www.nswnurses.asn.au

Completed applications must be in the hands of the secretary no later than 28 November 2007.

Choices for nurses this federal election • e8

Health costs are tough Karen Collins, an EN at Auburn Hospital, is a sole earner with two young kids, Sara-Jayne (7) and Daniel (5). She said the cost of health care can be tough on the family budget. ‘It can be pricey and I’m the only one earning. I pay $60 for my child to see a speech pathologist. Seeing a health specialist can be even dearer. If I go to a paediatrician it can

e9 • Choices for nurses this federal election

cost $200 to $300 a time,’ she said. ‘I’m not in a health care fund so I’m on a waiting list all the time.’ Karen has noticed that medical expenses have been rising and rising. ‘There’s not much I can do. I can’t aﬀord a health care fund for my family. The price is out of my range.’

THE LAMP NOVEMBER 2007 27

ELECTION07 SUPER

Liberals on super The Liberal government has made three major changes to superannuation.

Choice of fund legislation Choice of funds aims to sever the relationship between super and industrial arrangements. At present, super contributions are treated as deferred wages and entrusted to mutually owned industry funds, which act as collective savings vehicles for the sole beneﬁt of their members. The federal government’s laws open up the superannuation market to retail funds – primarily banks and insurance companies – which operate for proﬁt.

Voluntary co-contribution scheme Under this scheme, a low- or middle-income earner who earns up to $58,980 and puts up to $1,000 into super will receive an additional $1,500 from the government into their account. The ACTU says, while it is a positive initiative, the scheme should be extended to incomes up to $80,000.

Simpliﬁed superannuation Simpliﬁed superannuation was a government initiative that removed tax on any superannuation lump sum payout at age 60. Retirees who were receiving lump sum payouts

of $130,000 or less already got the tax-free beneﬁt. The main beneﬁciaries are high-income earners with large accumulated balances.

INDUSTRY SUPER UNDER THREAT While the federal government’s assault on workers’ rights through WorkChoices has been well documented, another war, less visible to the public, has been waged on another hard-won employee right. In July 2005, the Howard government implemented its ‘choice of funds’ legislation, with the aim of undermining the industry super funds. David Whiteley, CEO of Industry Funds Services, the peak body for industry super funds, said these ideological laws threatened what has been a remarkable union success story. ‘The commercial reality for industry funds is they face a hostile government and, in

28 THE LAMP NOVEMBER 2007

the banks and insurance companies, very well-resourced competitors,’ he said. ‘The ideology behind “choice of fund” is to treat super like any other financial service rather than an industrial right. The consequence is that rather than joining the common industry fund at their workplace, people are forced, over time, to seek financial advice and be sold a super product by a financial planner. This model delivers individuals less super and reduces national savings,’ he said. Undermining industry funds that have made super both accessible to a larger number of people and delivered enviable returns flies in the face of common sense.

According to SuperRatings – an independent superannuation analyst – for the five years to 31 December 2006, nine of the top 10 super funds were industry super funds. The same survey shows that nine of the bottom ten funds are retail (commercial) funds. According to David Whiteley, ‘The introduction of industry funds following union campaigns changed the face of national savings in Australia. ‘This year, less than 25 years later, there is over one trillion dollars in super. Over half the workforce is an industry fund member. The industry super funds manage around $180 billion of workers’ retirement savings.’

Choices for nurses this federal election • e10

ELECTION07 SUPER

Laborâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s super alternative Labor has provided bipartisan support to simplified superannuation, which removes tax on any superannuation lump sum payout, and has promised other initiatives to boost workersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; retirement savings.

Lost accounts

Salary sacriďŹ ce and employer contributions

Labor is proposing the rolling together of all lost accounts. There are now 5.7 million lost accounts containing $9.7 billion. Lost super is increasing signiďŹ cantly each year. Many people never collect their savings and /or pay multiple fees. Labor will introduce automatic rolling together of lost accounts into the memberâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s last active account using their tax ďŹ le number. A member will have the right to opt out of the process if he or she wishes. It will not apply to deďŹ ned-beneďŹ t funds or accounts with a signiďŹ cant exit fee.

Under Labor, the superannuation guarantee is to be based on presalary-sacriďŹ ce income. Currently, when an employee opts to salarysacriďŹ ce a contribution the employer can reduce the compulsory 9% super contribution by basing it on the new lower salary or wage. This will be prohibited under Labor. Labor has also undertaken not to increase the employer SG contribution.

Exit fees Exit fees will be prohibited.

Higher contributions Labor says it will stimulate higher contributions by providing account forecasts. Australians have little idea what their ďŹ nal beneďŹ t is likely to be at their access age of 55 to 60 or pension age of 65. Labor will introduce a universal forecast that will include what a memberâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s account is likely to be. It is based on UK and Swedish practice, where it has led to signiďŹ cantly increased contributions.

&IRST 3TATE 3UPER IS OPEN TO

EVERYONE

&IRST 3TATE 3UPER STRENGTH AND SECURITY ? .OT FOR PROl T FUND NO COMMISSIONS PAID ? ,OW ADMINISTRATION FEES OF A YEAR ? /VER BILLION IN ASSETS MEMBERS

-ORE INFORMATION 7EB

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ENQUIRIES l RSTSTATESUPER COM AU

/PEN TO ANYONE WHO IS ELIGIBLE TO BE A MEMBER OF A SUPERANNUATION FUND AGE RESTRICTIONS APPLY 0LEASE CONSIDER THE &IRST 3TATE 3UPER 0RODUCT $ISCLOSURE 3TATEMENT 0$3 HAVING REGARD TO YOUR OWN SITUATION BEFORE DECIDING WHETHER TO BECOME A MEMBER OR CONTINUE MEMBERSHIP ! COPY IS AVAILABLE BY CALLING US OR VISITING OUR WEBSITE 4HE INFORMATION CONTAINED IN THIS DOCUMENT IS CURRENT AS AT 3EPTEMBER 0REPARED BY &33 4RUSTEE #ORPORATION !#. !&3, 23% , THE TRUSTEE OF &IRST 3TATE 3UPERANNUATION 3CHEME 23% 2

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e2 â&#x20AC;˘ Choices for nurses this federal election

THE LAMP NOVEMBER 2007 29 +%9 /0%. ?

ELECTION07

EDUCATIONANDTRAINING

Lack of investment behind skills shortage Annual average productivity growth: Australia compared to the OECD average Changes in public expenditure (share of GDP) on tertiary education institutions 1995 to 2003

110

70 49

OECD Average 32

30 6

67 48

OECD Average

Ireland

USA

Hungary

Spain

Czech Republic

Mexico

Slovak Republic

Canada

Japan

Sweden

Italy

Denmark

Austria

Germany

Netherlands

-7 UK

-30

Australia

-10

Source: OECD Education at a Glance 2006 Table B2.2

Lack of investment in vocational education and training (VET) over the past 11 years is the primary cause of the severe skills shortages impacting on the economy, according to the Australian Industry Group. AIG says Australia will need 270,000 more skilled workers over the next 10 years. Most will have to be trained at TAFE colleges, yet over 300,000 people have been turned away from TAFE courses since 1998. Australia’s skills shortage has become critical across most sectors and nursing is one of the worst affected. Australia faces a potential national shortfall of 40,000 nurses by 2010.

Liberals’ record on VET

Labor plans an ‘education revolution’

A booming economy requires planning well in advance to cater for future workforce needs, yet the past 11 years have seen a serious decline in federal government support for education and training.

The Labor Party has ﬂagged that training and education will be a key pillar of their vision, promising what they call an ‘education revolution’. Kevin Rudd said his main aim was to make Australia ‘the best educated country, the most skilled economy and the best trained workforce in the world’. Labor promises to back this up with adequate funding. n Labor promises an ‘education revolution’ – a sustained investment in early childhood education, schools, TAFEs, universities and research as well as programs for mature age workers. n Labor says education needs to be seen as an economic investment and not just social expenditure. It says there is a strong link between investment in education and higher productivity growth. n Labor says this investment in education is necessary to turn around what it calls Australia’s woeful productivity performance, which dropped, relative to the US economy, from 85% to 79% between 1998 and 2005.

n The proportion of Australian adults with at least

upper secondary education is now below the OECD average. n Australia ranks near the bottom of the OECD in

terms of the annual growth rate of graduates with science and engineering degrees. n Since 1998, more than 300,000 people have been

turned away from TAFE. n Since 2001, almost 150,000 eligible applicants have

been turned away from our universities. n Since 1995, Australia is the only OECD country

to cut public investment in tertiary education. (by 7%). The average increase in public investment by other OECD countries since 1995 was 48%. 30 THE LAMP NOVEMBER 2007

Choices for nurses this federal election • e12

ELECTION07

NURSINGEDUCATION

The Liberal record on nursing education n In 2004 as part of its higher education reforms, the

Coalition recognised nursing as a national priority, increasing Australian government funding to higher education providers to support clinical training for nurses and maintaining a committed cap on HECS fees for nursing students. n Increases in funding for clinical education of nurses from $688 to $1,000 in 2007 for every Commonwealth-supported full-time equivalent nursing unit of study. n Despite an initial decrease in the numbers of registered nurses being educated, falling from 7,094 undergraduate nursing completions in 1995 to 4,857 in 2000, the Coalition has increased undergraduate nursing places by 2,854 since 2001, with an additional 1,000 places announced in 2007 and a commitment to a further increase of approximately 1,735 places by 2010. n 420 of new places announced in 2007 have been allocated for places in courses with a mental health major; with a commitment to a further increase of 728 places by 2010.

Labor’s plan to boost nurse numbers Kevin Rudd has pledged $81 million to fund a plan to put 9,250 new nurses into Australia’s hospital system. Within ﬁve years, Federal Labor’s plan aims to provide: n Around 1,500 new graduate nurses; and n Cash bonuses for 7,750 trained nurses to attract them to return to work in our hospitals. The plan comprises: n Cash bonuses of $6,000 to nurses who have been out of the health workforce for more than a year to return to our hospitals, which will be available to 7,750 nurses over a ﬁve-year period; n Nurses who re-enter the hospital system will be paid $3,000 after six months back on the hospital ward and a further $3,000 after 18 months; n A contribution of $1,000 to hospitals per re-entry nurse to assist with the costs of re-training and re-skilling; n More nursing places at universities – 500 new places in e13 • Choices for nurses this federal election

2008 and an extra 1,000 commencing students every year from 2009 – which will deliver an extra 1,500 nurses into the system within five years; and n Universities will be asked to offer at least a quarter of these new places to TAFE-trained enrolled nurses seeking to upgrade their qualifications. Labor’s incentives will be open to all nurses working in Australia’s hospital system – including midwives, mental health nurses, theatre nurses and emergency department nurses. NSWNA General Secretary Brett Holmes says the cash incentives to bring nurses back into the workforce are welcomed but there is still a need to ensure that some of the $2 billion promised to public health is used by the State Government to retain nurses already in the system. ‘That clearly means better wages and working conditions. State governments are already spending thousands of dollars to recruit overseas nurses to fill our shortfall. There is no sensible reason that similar amounts should not be used to get our own Australian nurses back into the health system.’ THE LAMP NOVEMBER 2007 31

ELECTION07

NURSINGEDUCATION

Hospital-based nursing schools won’t ﬁx a decade of neglect The federal government’s plan to establish new schools in hospitals is no solution to the nursing shortage. Responding to what he admitted was a ‘desperate’ shortage of nurses, Prime Minister Howard announced his government would fund 25 schools in public and private hospitals to train an extra 500 enrolled nurses a year. Howard said students with Year 10 school qualiﬁcations would be eligible for the courses, which would usually take about 18 months. The plan to return to hospital-based nursing schools represents ‘old time thinking from a worn-out government’, said Brett Holmes, NSWNA General Secretary. ‘Nurse training moved to the tertiary sector almost a generation ago because the profession understood it needed highly trained nurses capable of delivering the highest quality care,’ Brett said. ‘Australia needs more university trained nurses with on-the-job experience.’ Howard admitted his government failed to consult with the nursing profession before devising the plan which has been criticised by leading nurse educators. They include the Acting Dean of Nursing, Midwifery and Health at the University of Technology, Sydney, Denise Dignam, who accused the government of ‘attempting to play on the nostalgia of the public for hospital training.’ Her comments were supported by the Executive Director of the Royal College of Nursing, Rosemary Bryant, who said funds to pay for hospital-based schools would be better spent on more TAFE places for enrolled nurses, more clinical placements for student nurses or more places for nursing students at university.

Even if it goes ahead, the federal government’s plan to train an extra 500 enrolled nurses a year is a drop in the bucket compared to the health system’s unmet needs. Back in 2004, the Howard government was provided with an Australian Health Workforce Advisory Committee Nursing Workforce Planning Report which warned that over the next decade Australia will need up to 13,500 new registered nurses and 5,734 new enrolled nurses each year. Despite this report, 2,408 applicants were turned away from registered nursing courses at universities last year because there were not enough places. Federal underfunding of university places remains a core part of the problem.

‘There wasn’t consultation with the nurses’ federation, but … and I’m disappointed they’ve come out against it, although I noticed that the AMA has expressed its support and also the private hospitals have expressed their support.’ John Howard responds to questions about his nursing schools announcement. (14 September 2007) 32 THE LAMP NOVEMBER 2007

Choices for nurses this federal election • e14

ELECTION07

WHATTHEPARTIESSAY

The Australian Nursing Federation invited representatives from the Liberal and Labor parties, Australian Greens and Australian Democrats to explain their policies on nursing and health.

Liberals on health and nursing

Labor on health and nursing

By Tony Abbott, Federal Minister for Health

By Nicola Roxon, Shadow Minister for Health

The Howard government recognises the crucial role nurses play in Australia’s health system. The Commonwealth government’s role in supporting the nursing workforce is mainly through education-focused initiatives. The ‘Our Universities: Backing Australia’s Future’ (BAF) package and ‘Investing in Australia’s Aged Care: More Places, Better Care’ have created almost 3,000 new nursing places since 2005. We have also provided an additional $93 million for 1,000 general nursing places as well as 430 mental health nursing places to commence in 2007. Under Backing Australia’s Future, the government provided additional funding of $54 million over four years towards the costs of clinical placements. In 2006, the Prime Minister announced an increase in the Commonwealth’s contribution to the cost of nurses’ clinical training from about $690 to $1,045 a year per equivalent full-time student for all existing and new student places at a cost of $31 million over four years. The Howard government has supported the role of nurses in general practice through training and support measures including increases in Medicare rebates for services provided by practice incentive payments, assistance for practices to employ a practice nurse and scholarships to assist practice nurses to upskill or undertake postgraduate education. More than 2,000 practices around Australia are being supported through the practice incentives program to employ a practice nurse. Mental health nurses are being supported through measures totalling $209 million including postgraduate scholarships, support in providing clinical services in the community and by the mental health in tertiary curricula initiative. e15 • Choices for nurses this federal election

A Rudd Labor government is committed to establishing the position of Commonwealth Chief Nursing Officer. Nurses make up almost 50% of the health workforce and need a senior individual to ensure leadership at the national level. Labor recognises the importance of having a workforce strategy for nurses. Labor’s announcement on new health checks for children and our commitment to $261 million for child and maternal health services for Indigenous families are framed with nursing workforce issues squarely in mind. While nurses continue to face significant workplace challenges, including onerous shifts, inflexible rosters and often limited career opportunities, there needs to be action rather than blame-shifting. Government needs to ensure there is sufficient additional health workforce to remove extra work and allow nurses to get on with being nurses. We need to make sure nurses are looked after, that there is sufficient scope for retraining and skills development, and that nurses are provided with the working conditions they deserve to keep them in the workforce. In the area of aged care, the Labor Party recently committed to introducing minimum staffing levels in aged care facilities and improving conditions for nurses, care workers and other support staff. Much more can be done, and a Rudd Labor government is committed to doing it. THE LAMP NOVEMBER 2007 33

ELECTION07

WHATTHEPARTIESSAY

Greens on health and nursing

Democrats on nursing and health

By Bob Brown, leader of the Australian Greens

By Lyn Allison,leader of the Australian Democrats

The Australian Greens believe that nurses play a vital role in the health workforce but that a lack of strategic planning has resulted in a mismatch in the supply and demand for qualified registered and enrolled nurses. This lack of planning has resulted in insufficient placement opportunities for nursing students; a fragmented state-based approach to nurse education and a workforce that cannot meet the demand for nursing positions across the board. Our consultation with nurse organisations, community-based health groups and other stakeholders indicates strongly that a national workforce strategy to coordinate and plan future workforce issues is much needed. The Greens support opportunities to expand and strengthen the health workforce, with new graduates and continuous professional development of practising nurses. To build a sustainable health workforce into the future, appropriate funding must be provided for nurse education in undergraduate places and to encourage enrolled nurses to upgrade their qualifications, as well as for funded refresher and reentry education for registered and enrolled nurses. To that end, we support the new health training package and we recognise the funding implications that are required to ensure it is effective. Federal oversight over a national nurse workforce is a sensible approach to this important issue. It is important that policy development and decisions are made by people with skills and experience in the profession. The Greens would support the establishment of such an office.

Australia’s health system would not be able to function without the many and varied contributions that nurses make. The Australian Democrats were actively involved in the 2002 Senate inquiry into the nursing workforce shortage and supported the many recommendations that the committee identified as necessary. The Australian Democrats endorse the Australian Nursing Federation’s 2007 election statement. Government support for nursing as a career has declined alarmingly and nurses are leaving the workforce for many reasons including lack of autonomy, safety, limits to nurses’ capacity to function professionally as nurses with current staffing shortages, limited recognition of nurses’ skills and knowledge, lack of access to child care, shiftwork and conditions of pay. There is a critical need for debate about the structure, funding and delivery of health care in Australia. The development of new models of care, which are interdisciplinary and build on the strengths of nurses, and other health care professionals are necessary. In order to successfully attract and retain nursing staff, these models will need to appropriately integrate nurse autonomy and clinical decision-making, including extending Medicare rebates to nurse practitioners for more conditions and services. They will also need to take into account the changing needs of workers so that sufficient priority is given to salary levels, work schedule flexibility and personal and professional development opportunities. Long-range workforce planning and the provision of more funded university places for nursing students are also clearly necessary, as is financial support for upgrading qualifications and re-entry and refresher courses.

34 THE LAMP NOVEMBER 2007

Choices for nurses this federal election • e16

Q & A

ASK

JUDITH

WHEN IT COMES TO YOUR RIGHTS AND ENTITLEMENTS AT WORK, NSWNA ASSISTANT GENERAL SECRETARY JUDITH KIEJDA HAS THE ANSWERS.

Daylight savings and hours of pay I will be working a 10-hour night shift on Sunday, 28 October 2007, from 9.30pm–7.30am. Will I be paid my normal 10 hours or 9 hours due to the clock being put forward one hour?

You will be paid for a 10-hour shift with the appropriate shift penalties. In 1971 the Industrial Relations Commission stipulated that, as is possible and convenient, the same staff should be rostered on for both changeovers. So if you are rostered to work night shift on Saturday, 29 March 2008 from 9.30pm to 7.30am, clocks will be put back one hour at 3am. You will have worked 11 hours but will be paid for 10 hours ‘by the clock’.

Shift allowance entitlements for part-timers I have been employed full-time in the same public hospital for a number of years. Recently I changed my hours of work and am now employed in a permanent part-time position. I renegotiated my shifts with the NUM and I now start at 10am and finish at 4.30pm, with a half-hour lunch break. When I received my first pay slip, I discovered I was not paid the 10% shift allowance I thought I was entitled to as the shift commences at 10am. When I enquired with the pay office, I was informed I was not entitled to the shift allowance.

Can you advise me if this is correct or should I have been paid the allowance?

Yes, this is correct. You are not entitled to be paid the shift allowance as the award states that employees who work less than 38 hours per week are entitled to the allowance only if the shift commences before 6am and finishes after 6pm. This is in accordance with both public and private awards.

Travel time entitlements when redeployed to other hospitals I work in a public hospital, which is undergoing renovations. Half of our ward will be closed for a period of time and our NUM has advised us that we will be required to work at another hospital due to staff surplus. The other hospital is an extra half an hour drive each way. Am I entitled to be compensated for this? My NUM says this is not the hospital’s concern. Is she right?

No, your NUM is incorrect. The Public Health System Nurses’ & Midwives’ (State) Award states in clause 20. Mobility, Excess Fares and Travelling: (ii)(a) Where an employee is directed to report for duty to a place of work other than the employee’s accustomed place of work the employee shall travel to and from the alternative place of work in the employer’s time for those periods in excess of time normally taken to travel to and from the accustomed place of work. This means that if it usually takes you half an hour to drive to your normal place

of work, but due to being redeployed you have to drive for an hour, then the additional half an hour should be in work time at your employer’s expense. Excess kilometres can also be claimed.

Registered nurse requirements in aged care facilities Can a registered nurse leave a nursing home to attend to residents in other buildings on the grounds of an aged care facility? My employer says I can because I am employed by an aged care facility, which includes all premises. Is this correct?

No, this is not correct as the Nursing Home Act was repealed in December 2004 and replaced with the Public Health Act 1991. The Public Health Act 1991 incorporated certain definitions and conditions of the Nursing Home Act. Section 52 Nursing Requirements for Nursing Homes of the Public Health Act 1991 states: (1) A person who operates a nursing home must: (a) ensure that a registered nurse is on duty in the nursing home at all times, and (b) ensure that a registered nurse is appointed as a director of nursing of the nursing home, and (c) ensure that any vacancy in the position of director of nursing of the nursing home is filled within 7 days. Therefore, the employer has an obligation to comply with this legislation and local policy cannot override state legislation.n

Nurses helping care for children! As a professional in the nursing ﬁeld you have the knowledge and skills needed to provide care. You can utilise these skills as a foster carer whilst continuing in your career. Your commitment can range from caring for a child one weekend a month through to permanent care. For more information please call Centacare on 8709 9333 or visit www.fosterkids.com.au THE LAMP NOVEMBER 2007 35 Centracare.indd 1

13/7/07 12:44:48 PM

NU ER WS SE S I G NE TBT R I NI G E FA C T I V E

‘We all need to be aware of the risks nurses face under another Liberal government so we can vote consciously.’ Cherie Desreaux, RPA midwife and branch president.

Nepean, RPA hold meetings on WorkChoices

ith nurses standing to lose up to $284 a week in shift penalties under a re-elected Liberal government, health workers around Australia met last month to voice their opposition to Howard’s WorkChoices legislation. Sydney hospitals taking part in the ACTU’s ‘Workers who care day’ included Nepean Hospital and RPA. Unions NSW Secretary, John Robertson, spoke at nurses’ meetings and urged them to let Howard and Costello know that ‘their pay and conditions are not up for grabs in this election’. ACTU President, Sharan Burrow, also spoke at both hospitals, stressing the value of nurses and their role in our communities. ‘Nurses and health workers 36 THE LAMP NOVEMBER 2007

work extremely hard caring for our communities, and shouldn’t have to worry about their pay being cut,’ she said. Former Labor Prime Minister, Bob Hawke attended the Nepean event and was described by NSWNA Branch Secretary, Peter Mason, EEN, as ‘impressive’. ‘He challenged every nurse to talk to five colleagues about what they heard at the event and encourage them to make an informed choice,’ Peter said. Feedback to branches has been very positive, with nurses grateful for the opportunity to learn as much as they possibly can about what means for them. NSWNA General Secretary, Brett Holmes, said: ‘We want nurses to go to the polls on election day backed by knowledge and facts, so that they make the best possible choice for themselves, their families and their fellow workers.’ n

‘John Howard’s Coalition is a vote to push WorkChoices into hospitals and other workplaces.’ Unions NSW Secretary John Robertson

Sharan Burrow with staff and NSWNA members at Nepean Hospital.

Staff and community at Nepean Hospital send a message of protest against WorkChoices.

â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;We want nurses to go to the polls on election day backed by knowledge and facts, so that they make the best possible choice for themselves, their families and their fellow workers.â&#x20AC;&#x2122; NSWNA General Secretay Brett Holmes

EEN Peter Mason with ACTU President Sharan Burrow. THE LAMP NOVEMBER 2007 37

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38 THE LAMP NOVEMBER 2007 Authorised by Brett Holmes, General Secretary, NSWNA

A G E N D A

Commonwealth cuts share of health costs g Report reveals federal government cuts spending on health.

ederal Minister for Health, Tony Abbott, used the tragedy of a woman miscarrying in a public toilet in the emergency department at RNSH as an opportunity to conjure an intense political storm in the first weeks of the federal election campaign, repeatedly blaming the Labor State Government for what it described as crisis in public hospital emergency departments. Now a report by the government’s own Australian Institute of Health and Welfare shows the federal government has steadily cut its share of hospital funding by 10% over the past decade. The Health Expenditure Australia 2005-06 report shows that between 1996 and 2006, the Australian Government’s share of public hospital funding decreased from 45% to 41%. State and territory government funding during this period increased from 46% to 51%. If the government had maintained its share of public hospital funding, an additional $1.6 billion would be available

‘Oh, there’s no doubt that the States have been increasing their spending faster than the Commonwealth … our share of public hospital spending has not been growing as fast as the states share … Oh, the poor, poor darling states …’ Federal Health Minister Tony Abbott to public hospitals, according to Labor Health spokesperson Nicola Roxon. The decline in spending on public hospitals roughly equals the $3.2 billion a year the government spends on the 30% rebate for private health insurance. Abbott admitted on Channel Nine’s Today program: ‘Oh, there’s no doubt that the states have been increasing their spending faster than the Commonwealth … our share of public hospital spending has not been growing as fast as the states’ share. To which Julia Gillard replied: ‘Tony has spent weeks blaming state Labor governments for the condition of public hospitals and here we learn today that the Commonwealth’s share is going down; that the rate of growth in Commonwealth spending is far less than the states’. This report says that the share of the

Commonwealth funding is at the lowest level for 11 years. So with this blame game, we shouldn’t be playing it, we should be getting it fixed but it’s hardly fair for Tony to blame the states.’ ‘Oh, the poor, poor darling states …’ retorted Tony Abbott. The report also revealed that private health insurance funds contribute a declining sharing of health funding – from 11% in 1996 down to 7% today. Yet the contribution of health costs by individuals is escalating. There has been a 6% increase in expenditure by individuals between 1995 and 2006. In 2006, individuals spent an estimated $15.4 billion on health goods and services (17% of total health expenditure), compared to $9 billion in 1996. On average, Australians spend $750 out of their own pockets on health care. n

Labor plans to fix holes in Australia’s dental care

even Rudd has promised that a Labour government would inject $290 million dollars into a Commonwealth Dental Health Program. This would deliver up to one million additional dental consultations over three years for Australians in need of dental care. Labor’s Commonwealth Dental Health Program will also offer funds to the states and territories in order to reduce the backlog of Australians needing dental care, with the condition they meet new dental care standards.

According to the 2007 Australian Institute of Health and Welfare report, 30% of Australians have had to neglect dental care due to the cost and 20.6% were unable to afford specific recommended dental treatments. At the time of the program’s announcement, Kevin Rudd said: ‘Australia deserves a health care system where people can get their teeth fixed on time and affordably. Australia doesn’t have that kind of health care system at the moment.’ Since 2004 the Howard government made dental treatment available through Medicare, but only for people with chronic

and complex needs such as diabetes, that might benefit from dental treatment. Tony Abbott predicted that 200,000 people could benefit from the government’s Medicare-based system. This pales in comparison to Labor’s projected one million additional dental consultations over the next three years. Labor’s health spokesperson, Nicola Roxon, told the Sydney Morning Herald that Labor’s plan trumps the government’s messy approach to dental care. ‘They do not have a dental scheme, they have a shambles. This is a federal government that does not take dentistry seriously,’ she said.n THE LAMP NOVEMBER 2007 39

Australia & New Zealand

Community as Partner

Theory and Practice in Nursing

New

Karen Francis,Ysanne Chapman, Karen Hoare and Jane Mills Community as Partner is an invaluable resource for students, practicing community nurses and other health professionals. Up-to-date and rich in detail, this new textbook explores the World Health Organization’s policies and goals for health for all, and discusses and demonstrates how these policies are being implemented at a national and local level in Australia and New Zealand. The partnership approach taken in Community as Partner provides a framework for planning health promotion programs with local communities. A wide range of community groups are introduced and analysed. A variety of examples of actual health promotion programs and activities are provided to show effective partnerships can be forged to promote health and well-being of local communities.

Health Promotion in Partnership with Communities... November 2007 • ISBN: 9781920994044 • Pages: 420 • Illustrated (two colour) • Tables • Softcover

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INNE DWUSS TI R N I AB LR II SE SF U E S

Jobs but no pay g Nurses must work for free or risk everything.

taff at a condemned Melbourne nursing home were forced to work for a month without pay because, under WorkChoices, they risked prosecution and loss of accumulated entitlements if they left the job. Nurses and carers at the Belvedere Park Nursing Home received their last pay

on 21 August but stayed at work until 20 September when the home finally closed. The Aged Care Standards and Accreditation Agency failed the 30-bed facility on 42 of 44 care and hygiene standards, prompting the removal of all patients. The Australian Nursing Federation (Victorian branch) said the employer refused to make staff redundant. If they had have resigned they would have lost their right to a redundancy package. Victorian branch assistant secretary, Yvonne Chaperon, said staff had no choice but to work without pay or risk prosecution under WorkChoices and loss of redundancy pay, long service leave, superannuation and annual leave. Thirty-two staff are owed up to one million dollars in unpaid entitlements. Individual nurses are owed up to $40,000. Yvonne said the Howard government’s industrial laws effectively prevented the nurses from leaving their jobs. ‘Before WorkChoices came in, nurses who were not being paid would effectively have been terminated and would have been able to access unfair dismissal laws by taking the matter to the Australian Industrial Relations Commission,’ she said. ‘Under WorkChoices unfair dismissal laws do not apply in workplaces

with 100 employees or less, so the Commission no longer has the power to order that these nurses be paid.’ Yvonne said that under WorkChoices: c If the nurses walked out – they could be prosecuted for taking unprotected industrial action. c If they resigned – they would lose redundancy pay and accumulated benefits. c If they spoke up – they could be sacked. With no protection against unfair dismissal the nurses could be sacked for no reason.

‘The only way they can get their entitlements is if the company is wound up and liquidated.’ ‘The Workplace Ombudsman has been investigating the nursing home with the prospect of prosecuting them but this won’t help the nurses obtain any of their entitlements,’ she said. ‘The only way they can get their entitlements is if the company is wound up and liquidated. The nurses can then apply for relief under the General Employee Entitlements and Redundancy Scheme (GEERS) run by the federal government. ‘The Victorian branch is seeking advice from our solicitors about the union applying to have the company wound up.’ n

go further than you ever imagined www.nursing.usyd.edu.au

The Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery offers an amazing array of Graduate Certiﬁcate, Graduate Diploma and Master’s courses including Honours. There are also a number of research degrees, including professional doctorates that prepare nurses for leadership in research, teaching and administration.

MORE INFORMATION For entry requirements and more information visit our website at www.nursing.usyd.edu.au, phone +61 2 9351 0693 or email fon@nursing.usyd.edu.au

The University of Sydney

GO FURTHER go beyond THE LAMP NOVEMBER 2007 41

CAREGIVERS a change is as good as a rest

use your nursing background to work as a temporary live-in care giver Do you want to Work and Travel? Are you capable of providing housekeeping support, have some care-giving experience or have trained as a nurse and are you eligible to work in the UK? Then we can help you work and travel in the UK. Placements involve live-in care for older people in their own homes. Depending on experience the pay is between $1000 and $1200 a week. All placements are short-term and include free board and lodgings, making them a great way to augment your cash in between travel excursions. Visit our website for more information about this fantastic opportunity – not only the great pay and conditions but also the good time off, holiday pay, free training and professional friendly support. To be eligible to work for us in the UK you must have one of the following: • A valid British or European Union Passport • A Working Holiday Visa for commonwealth citizens aged 30 or under • An Ancestry Visa by virtue of having a UK grandparent Email us on: enquiries@oxfordaunts.co.uk or visit our website at: www.oxfordaunts.co.uk

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42 THE LAMP NOVEMBER 2007

OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY

Project investigates sharps injuries g A joint project by the NSWNA and University of Newcastle aims to investigate needlestick and sharps injuries among nurses.

he NSWNA is undertaking a research study with the University of Newcastle exploring needlestick and sharps injuries among nurses. The study aims to measure the occurrence of sharps injuries and the associated risks of nurses employed in NSW health care facilities. Previous research revealed that nurses have a higher risk of needlestick and sharps injuries than any other health

professional group. This new study aims to identify the perceived risks associated with such injuries and how they might be prevented. In early November, a selection of NSWNA members will be sent a survey. Nurses are encouraged to fill in the survey and return it in the reply-paid envelope provided. Participation in the survey is optional and anonymous. ‘This is a very important study and hopefully we can reduce the risks that members face and make the workplace safer for all nurses,’ said NSWNA Assistant General Secretary, Judith Kiejda. A summary of the results will be provided by the University of Newcastle in mid-2008 so the Association can provide members with feedback about the study. For more information about this study please email 07.sharps.study@ newcastle.edu.au n

P A I D

A D V E R T I S E M E N T

SHREDDING HOWARD’S WORKPLACE LAWS The Greens are committed to shredding all of John Howard’s unfair workplace laws. We believe workplace rights and conditions should not be compromised. We will abolish AWAs, restore unfair dismissal laws and allow union representation. We also strongly support, and will push for an expansion of, the public health system. So if you want to protect your rights at work and keep a Rudd government honest, vote 1 The Greens in the Senate

Vote 1 The Greens

THE LAMP NOVEMBER 2007 43

Authorised by Lesa de Leau 19 Eve St Erskineville

needs Greens in the Senate

Wound Care Monash University offers a range of postgraduate courses in wound care. The postgraduate programs are designed for health professionals seeking a formal award or unit of study in wound care. The postgraduate studies offered include a graduate certificate, graduate diploma and master of wound care. All courses are delivered via off-campus learning. Applications for Semester 1, 2008 close on December 14, 2007. Email woundcare@vcp.monash.edu.au or telephone +61 3 9903 9509. www.vcp.monash.edu.au/courses/woundcare

The Sydney Medically Supervised Injecting Centre (MSIC) Uniting Care’s licence to operate the MSIC was recently extended by the NSW Government to 31 October 2011. The MSIC is now seeking to recruit a committed and experienced health professional to join its Management team.

NURSING UNIT MANAGER, level 2 (32 – 40 hpw) As well as supervising the nursing staﬀ of this Unit, this position shares responsibility for policy development and implementation, and service planning, coordination and evaluation initiatives at the MSIC. It also has signiﬁcant direct clinical care component.

REGISTERED NURSES (List A) • Minimum 2 years post graduate experience. • Ability to work in a demanding and changeable environment. • Understanding of the health and social issues related to injecting drug use. • Knowledge of safe injecting practices. • Secondments from Area Health Services will be supported.

Applicants need to address all of the essential and desirable criteria outlined in the relevant job description in their applications. For a job description and information pack please email: traceyb@sydneymsic.com. Position enquiries: Ms Colette McGrath, Clinical Services Manager, (02) 9360 1191.

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ENROLLED NURSE SCHOLARSHIPS NSW Health is offering the following scholarships to Enrolled Nurses in 2008: • Enrolled Nurse to Registered Nurse/Registered Midwife Scholarships • Mental Health Enrolled Nurse to Registered Nurse Scholarships.

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Available to enrolled nurses employed in the NSW public health system working or seeking employment in a designated mental health role and undertaking a Bachelor of Nursing Degree in 2008. Must also have an intention to work as a registered nurse in mental health in the NSW public health system upon completion of nursing degree. $1,000 per subject available in 2008, to a maximum of $8,000.* Applications close 30 November 2007.

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For further information and application forms visit the Nursing and Midwifery Ofﬁce website www.health.nsw.gov.au/nursing/scholar.html or contact the Project Ofﬁcer Scholarships via email on nscholar@doh.health.nsw.gov.au

44 THE LAMP NOVEMBER 2007

L I F E S T Y L E

Conversations with my Gardener

Review by Elizabeth Fisher, RN at Inala Home, Cherrybrook The Lamp’s rating

g A hauntingly beautiful and enjoyable film about two school friends who meet again after 40 years – this time as gardener and employer.

wo men meet again after 40 years; one is employing the other to be his gardener. They realise that they had been good mates at primary school where they got into mischief together. After going separate ways, their lives followed very different paths. The landowner went to college and became a successful artist, while the gardener left school early and worked for the railways like his father. They call each other Dauber and Gardener throughout the film. This device serves to exaggerate the class differences. The retired railway man devotes himself to gardening, which had always been his passion in his otherwise mundane and circumscribed life. He stoically accepts his lot – never complaining or looking for more. In the year he spends working on his friend’s run-down garden, he has much to learn as well as teach. It reminded me of the story of Johnny Town Mouse by Beatrix Potter. Rural France in its glory is the setting of the garden, Paris in the rain,

BURT AND LINDA PUGACH, PREPARE TO

BE AMAZED.

with its chaotic traffic and trendy art gallery scenes give contrast, and finally some hospital appearances lend pathos. There is a dramatic scene of man battling an age-old foe, in this case a giant carp, with undertones of Ernest Hemingway. The artist is surprised to find that he can emulate his friend’s simple way of life. He comes to see things afresh and re-evaluates his life. The two main characters are veteran French actors Daniel Auteuil and JeanPierre Darroussin – both masters of their craft. As a nurse I watched helplessly as the artist became seriously ill. I found myself wanting to advise him to seek early medical help. I thoroughly enjoyed this film.n

In Cinemas 22 November

OBSESSION... THE DARK HEART OF AWAY!” “A FILM THAT UNCOVERS RESULT WILL BLOW YOU THE ELECTRIFYINGPeter Travers, SCREEN” THE T RIDES TO EVER HIT “ONE OF THE WILDES JAW DROP “AMAZING! LET YOUR AS LOW AS MINE DID.”

NOMIN ATED GRAND JURY PRIZE

WINNE R BEST DOCUMENTARY

Santa Barbara Film Festival 2007

E BY MUSIC BY DOUGLAS J. CUOMO SPECIAL PERFORMANC

David Edelstein,

Sundance Film Festival 2007

A FILM BY DAN KLORES

A LOVE STORY

FICTION STRANGER THAN

www.crazyloveﬁlm.com.au

ERS

KE BANDMAN

POST CO-PRODUCER JOHN MILLER-MONZON MUSIC SUPERVISOR BRIAN CHIN

Our reviewers & tipsters receive a delightful ABC Classics CD – for uplifting enjoyment! Gifts so good, you won’t want to give them away. There is an ABC Shop near you. For locations visit abcshop.com.au or call 1300 360 111. Ask about our rewards program.

TICKET GIVEAWAYS FOR NSWNA MEMBERS

CRAZY LOVE DIRECTED AND PRODUCEDBY DAN KLORES BY AND CO-PRODUCED BY DAVID ZIEFF PRODUCED AND CO-DIRECTED FISHER STEVENS PRODUCTIONSUPERVISOR ROBERT WARMFLASH EDITED

A FILMCRAZY LOVE ORIGINAL WITH EFF PICTURES AND MAGNOLIA PICTURES PRESENT DAN KLORES SHOOTTHE MOON PRODUCTIONS IN ASSOCIATION STEVENS/ZI

IF YOU’VE NEVER HEARD THE STORY OF

Conversations with My Gardener opens on 8 November.

Dan Klores’s Crazy Love tells the astonishing story of the obsessive rollercoaster relationship of Burt and Linda Pugach, which made international headlines during the summer of 1959. Burt, a 32-year-old married attorney and Linda, a beautiful, single 20-year-old girl living in the Bronx had a whirlwind romance, which culminated in a psychologically complex set of actions that landed the pair’s saga on the cover of endless newspapers and magazines.

Crazy Love examines the human psyche and the concepts of love, obsession, insanity, hope and forgiveness. It had its world premiere at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival and earned the Best Documentary award at the 2007 Santa Barbara Film Festival. The Lamp has 20 double in-season passes each to see Conversations with My Gardener and 20 double passes to see the preview screenings of Crazy Love. To enter, email lamp@nswnurses.asn.au with your name, membership number, address and contact number. First entries win! THE LAMP NOVEMBER 2007 45

ARE YOU AN RN (DIV1), AN EN (DIV2), A MIDWIFE, OR A NURSE PRACTITIONER?

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NOTICE

C O M P E T I T I O N

EASE YOUR FEET IN A PAIR OF

2007 NSWNA Election of Branch Alternate Delegates

ursuant to the Industrial Relations Act 1996, Robert Leslie Whyburn will be the Returning Officer for the election of branch delegates and alternate delegates to the Committee of Delegates of the NSW Nurses’ Association.

Nominations Nominations in writing are hereby invited for the following positions: Royal North Shore Hospital branch: delegates (5) & alternate delegates (6) NOTE: A person may nominate for one position only Candidates for election to the position of branch delegate or alternate delegate are required to be financial members of the Association at the opening of nominations i.e. 1 November 2007. Nomination forms may be obtained from Robert Leslie Whyburn, 43 Australia Street, Camperdown (telephone 8595 1295) or from the NSW Nurses’ Association, 43 Australia Street, Camperdown (telephone 8595 2174 or 1300 367 962).

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Nominations close at noon on 16 November 2007. They may be hand-delivered to R.L. Whyburn, 43 Australia Street, Camperdown; posted to PO Box 239 Camperdown 1450; or faxed to 9565 2747. If an election is contested: c A draw will be conducted to determine the order of candidates’ names on the ballot paper at 43 Australia Street Camperdown at 2.00pm on 16 November 2007. Candidates or their representatives are invited to witness the draw; c Ballots will be posted to all eligible branch members on 21 November 2007; c The postal ballot will close at 10.00 am on 12 December 2007; c The method of voting to be observed for this election will be first past the post. All members should ensure that they have advised the Association of their current residential address. No information in respect of candidates will be sent with electoral material. For full details please see ‘Branch Elections’ on the ‘Members’ page @ www.nswnurses.asn.au

• Improve posture and gait • Strengthen core muscles • Lessen the shock to joints • Tone and shape body.

Valued $369 a pair, The Lamp has 5 pairs to give away. To enter the MBT giveaway, write your name, address and membership number on the back of an envelope by 30 November 2007 and send to: MBT Competition PO Box 40, Camperdown NSW 1450 For more information on MBT physiological footwear: Phone (02) 9262 6899, fax (02) 92626 4150 Email: getfit@healthandimage.com.au Or go to www.healthandimage.com.au

Robert Leslie Whyburn – Retruning Officer for the 2007 NSW Nurses’ Association Election of Delegates to the Committee of Delegates THE LAMP NOVEMBER 2007 47

DIARY DATES

Conferences, seminars, meetings SYDNEY, HUNTER & ILLAWARRA Enteral Tube Feeding Workshop for Nurses. PEG care, replacing a g-tube, pumps, feeding formulas, troubleshooting 10 Nov, 8.30am –2pm, Westmead Hospital. Lecture Theatre 4. Cost: $25 (includes morning tea and lunch.) Contact: Sally Piggott CNC, 9845 6715, sally.piggott@swahs.health.nsw.gov.au Nurses Christian Fellowship Professional breakfast 10 Nov, 9am, Gardens-R-Us, Kingsgrove Contact: Jane 9449 4868 The Management of Adult Diabetes Symposium 12–13 Nov, Comfort Inn, Surry Hills. Contact: (03) 9375 7311 10th Annual Health Facilities Design and Planning Summit 20–21 November, Swissotel Sydney Contact: 9080 4307 The HIV Nursing Practice Workshop 19–22 Nov, Albion St Centre, Surry Hills

Closing date for applications: 9 Nov 07 Cost: $495 incl GST Contact: Albion Street Centre Education Unit, 9332 9720/1800 451 600, albeducation@sesiahs.health.nsw.gov.au NSW BFHI Seminar 21 & 26 Nov, Wollongong Hospital Contact: Elizabeth Steinlein, 9350 3192 Email: elizabeth.steinlein@sesiahs. health.nsw.gov.au Assoc. of Nurse Continence Advisors Workshop – Secret Men’s Business 23 November, St George Leagues Club Cost: $75 non-members. Contact: rhonda. brownlow@sesiahs.health.nsw.gov.au UTS Positive Birthing Seminar 29 Nov, 8.30am–4pm, UTS Building 6 Cost: $65-$115 Contact: Priya, 9514 4834 or email priya.nair@uts.edu.au EN Mothercraft/Parentcraft and Childcare Worker Seminar. A variety of topics on children 0-5 will be covered 30 November, 8.30am–4.30pm. Cost: $55 Contact: Anne Kulcsar, 9787 0869

Thomson’s Mental Health @ Work 2007 Conference Sydney: 30 Nov, Fraser Suites Melbourne: 23 Nov, Novotel on Collins Cost for early bird discount: $790 + GST Contact: Kathleen Peachey, (03) 9208 4530, kathleen.peachey@mail.thomson.com Nurses’ Conference 2007 2nd Annual Conference for All Nurses 3 – 4 Dec, 66 Goulburn St, Sydney. Cost $438.90. Contact: Samantha Steen, (03) 9375 7311, ausmed@ausmed.com.au Royal College of Nursing 2nd Annual National Conference 3–4 Dec, SMC Conference & Function Ctr (formerly Sydney Masonic Centre), Info: www.ausmed.com.au NSW Rural Mental Health Conf. 3 – 5 December, Batemans Bay Contact: 6550 9800, www.rmhconference. com, info@eastcoastconferences.com.au Basic High Dependency Nursing Study Day in Albury 3–6 December, Crown Plaza, Sydney. Contact: 9223 2600 Web: www.iqpc.com/au/patientsafety

4HE¬#OLLEGE¬O

F¬.URSING

CPD hours!

4 H E¬ #

P G E ¬ O F¬ . U R S

Continuing Professiona l Developme nt Handbook

July to Decem ber 2007

¬#

48 THE LAMP NOVEMBER 2007

LE G

4HE

P CPD hours! E¬O F¬ . U

Patient Safety & Quality Improvement Conference 7–8 Dec, 324 Wodonga Place, Albury. Cost: $299. Contact: (03) 9375 7311 The Renal Society of Australiasia Dinner 7 December, NSW College of Nursing Contact: Anna Lee, 9382 4453 page 44829, anna.lee@sesiahs.health.nsw.gov.au Asthma Educators Course 3–7 March 08, Children’s Hospital, Westmead Contact: Lucy Keatley, 0411 212 303 Email: edu@aarea.org.au, Web: www.aareducation.com NSW Operating Theatre Association Inc. Annual Conference 6–8 March 2008. Contact: ota@nursing.edu.au Web: www.nsw-ota.asn.au Cardiovascular CT at Concord Conf. 23–25 May 2008, Grand Pavilion, Rosehill Gardens Event Centre Web: www.cctatconcord.com Contact: Tara Montgomery, 9518 7725, taram@conexion.com.au

Diary Dates Diary Dates is a free service for members. Please send the diary dates details, in the same format used here – event, date, venue, contact details, via email, fax, mail and the web before the 5th of the month prior, for example: 5th of August for September Lamp. Send information to: Editorial Enquiries Email: lamp@nswnurses.asn.au Fax: 9550 3667, mail: PO Box 40 Camperdown NSW 1450

Please double-check all information sent is correct. The Lamp cannot guarantee that the issue will always be mailed in time for the listed event. Due to high demands on the page, some dates too close to publication or too far in the future may be cut. The dates that are to be printed are for three months in total. For example, in the March Lamp = March, April, May dates will be printed. Only Diary Dates with an advised date and contact person will be published.

INTERSTATE AND OVERSEAS 61st Annual Conference incorporating 3rd International Congress on Innovations in Nursing 13–16 Nov, Perth Exhibition Centre, WA. Contact: (08) 9389 1488 Web: www.icin2007.com Australian Assoc. of Gerontology 40th National Conference – ‘Beyond 2007, Ageing: Evolution & Revolution” 21 – 23 November, Hilton Adelaide, SA Contact: Jane Howarth, aag@eastcoastconferences.com.au, Web: www.aagconference.com Integrated Disease Management for Patients with Chronic Heart Failure Conference 21–23 November, Melbourne. Contact: (03) 9326 8544 Web: www.heartresearchcentre.org Surgical Nursing Seminar 22–23 Nov, Hotel Grand Chancellor, Melbourne. Contact: 9375 7311 or email ausmed@ausmed.com.au CAREX 2007 28–29 November, Adelaide Showground. Contact: (03) 9571 5606. ANF Victoria – Aged Care Nurses Conf. 30 Nov, 540 Elizabeth Street, Melbourne Contact: ANF Vic Branch, (03) 9275 9333. Australian Nurses Cardiovascular & Hypertension Assoc. 12th Annual Conf. ‘Managing Hypertension and Cardiovascular Disease In Rural Practice’ 7 Dec, 8am-5pm, Hilton Htl – Adelaide, SA Contact: Margaret Ross-Styles, (02) 9926 7201, mstyles@nsccahs.health.nsw.gov.au

the Australian Urological Nurses Society Inc 13th Annual Meeting 24–28 February 2008, Convention Centre, Hong Kong Contact: Karina So, Urology Support Services, Concord Hospital, 9767 5000 Email: kso@email.cs.nsw.gov.au Web: www.urologymeeting.com.au

Reunions Royal North Shore Hospital 50 year Reunion – ‘Members of 69 group to celebrate 35 years since Graduation’ 24 Nov, 11.30am, Gordon Social & Recreation Club Mandarin Centre, Chatswood Contact: Fran Hardy, 0409 468 789 or franhardy@bigpond.com Morisset Hospital Reunion 30 Nov, 2pm, Dora Creek Workers Club. Contact: Jaye on 0414 882 569/ Sharon on 0417 444 037 or email morisset hospitalreunion2007@hotmail.com Wollongong Hospital May 1977 PTS 22 December, TBA Contact: Margaret Robinson (Pentassuglia), 42378237 or 0413 214 754, bmrobbo@nsw.chariot.net.au Tingha Hospital Reunion 26 Jan 2008, New Valley Road, Tingha Contact: Nola Walker, 6723 3387 Sydney Hosp. Reunion 78-1 (Feb Group) 16 February 2008, TBA. Contact: Gay Morrison (Peters), 9949 2270/ Louise Linke, loul959@hotmail.com St Vincent’s Hospital 1986 March PTS 8 March 2008, TBA

Diary Dates are also on the web – www.nswnurses.asn.au Special Interest Groups Special Interest Groups is now part of Diary Dates. If you are a special interest group, you now must send information about your event as above.

Send us your snaps If you’re having a reunion, send us some photos and any information from the night, and we’ll try to publish them. Contact: Sue Monaro (nee Driscoll) Tel: 9767 5000 page 60255 monaros@email.cs.nsw.gov.au Sutherland Hospital Caringbah Graduate Nurses 28 March 08, Sutherland Entertainment Ctr Contact: Vicki Lamb, 9523 8028 Griffith Base Hospital. Date/ venue: TBA. Contact: Brenda Bowen, 6962 1656, bbo83891@bigpond.net.au

Other notices Call For Nurse Volunteers! North Ryde Community Aid Looking for nurse volunteers in the Ryde/ Hunters Hill area to help older residents in their own homes with laundry. Contact: Kaye Bracken, Linen Coordinator, North Ryde Community Aid (Mon–Wed) on 9888 3380 or email k.bracken@nrca.org.au Do you like to sing? Sydney Town Chorus, an award-winning women’s acapella group, invite women who love to sing to come along to their rehearsal evenings on Thursdays 7.30pm – 10pm. Learn four-part harmony singing. Further details can be obtained from Adrienne on 0412 705 564 or Linda on 0419 274 851.

cation program u d e a nswn

WHAT’S ON

IN NOVEMBER ‘07 s The Reality of Working Shift work 15 & 29 November, Camperdown, 2 x 2-hour sessions Why is working shift work so hard to manage? This seminar will look at the latest research on shift work and the findings of the Nurses Health Studies. Members $39.50 Non-members $85 Branch Officials $28 s Emotional Intelligence at Work – FREE OF CHARGE 7 December, Camperdown, 1 day This seminar is intended to heighten awareness of the mental health needs of nurses and provide useful exercises to assist nurses to understand and manage emotions at work. This seminar is a follow-up on the booklet Stress Management for Nurses published in conjunction with NSW Health last year.

Correction In last month’s issue we incorrectly attributed the film review of A Mighty Heart to Christine Merlino, RN. This review was actually written by Liz Mackintosh, NUM. We apologise for this oversight and thank Liz for her review.

For registration and more information: go to www.nswnurses.asn.au or ring Carolyn Kulling on 1300 367 962.

MIDWIVES!! HELP US EASE THE SQUEEZE DOWN UNDER!

Simply Midwifery

Call Kay Duckinson at Staffing Synergy Sydney on (02) 9575 3901 or visit us at www.staffingsynergy.com.au

10912

Staffing Synergy is Australia’s Number 1 midwifery agency. At present we have more work available than we can handle- and we need your help! We are looking for more experienced midwives to join our fantastic team and help keep up with our huge demand for quality staff. Synergy can offer you fulltime, part-time or casual across the Sydney metropolitan area, any day of the week. Our Melbourne and Brisbane offices are very keen to help out if you want to work and travel around the country. Rural and remote placements are also in great demand. With full indemnity insurance (including Delivery Suite and antenatal), an ongoing education program, great rates of pay and the flexibility to work when and where you want, why not call us today and bring some new life to your career?

THE LAMP NOVEMBER 2007 49

The Australian Nurse Diary 2008 Designed by and for Australian Nurses Handy pocket size, protective vinyl cover, ref material, language translations and more. 55,000 copies sold annually.

RRP $12 at newsagents, buy direct for $10 free postage. Full details and all payment types at www.nursediary.com.au or call Adrian 0407 701 556 or send cheque/money order to â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Hand Picked Booksâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; 52 Madden St Maidstone Vic 3012

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HnYcZn AZkZa '%! '%& :a^oVWZi] Hi! HnYcZn CHL '%%% E]dcZ/ %' .'+& &)-;Vm/ %' .'+& ((&CZlXVhiaZ AZkZa &! &,. 7gjc`Zg GY! 6YVbhidlc CHL ''-. E]dcZ/ %' ).*( .*%% ;Vm/ %' ).*( .*&& K^h^i^c\ D[Ă&#x2026; XZ/ Ldaadc\dc\ 7n Veed^cibZci# E]dcZ/ %' .'+& &)--

2 x Clinical Nurse Specialist Health Surveillance

(Psychotherapy) course â&#x20AC;˘ 2008 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 2010 â&#x20AC;˘ University of Sydney

Clinical Nurse Specialist, Sydney, Permanent Full-Time Position Numbers 740524 & 740526

The University of Sydney, through the Department of Psychological Medicine, Westmead/Cumberland Campus, is offering a 3-year part-time course of training in psychodynamic psychotherapy, leading to a Master of Science in Medicine (Psychotherapy) degree. For the ďŹ rst time this program is being made available to non-medical graduates in the health sciences. This course provides a unique opportunity to students to gain in-depth training in psychodynamic psychotherapy and an academic qualiďŹ cation that is recognised by major professional psychotherapy organisations in Australia.

Total remuneration package valued to $73,860 p.a. includes employersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; contribution to superannuation, leave loading and salary ($66,933). Conditions of employment are under the Public Service Conditions of Employment Award. Provide a range of health assessment & monitoring services for personnel, including pre-employment & hazardous material exposure screening to ensure optimal health outcomes & assist the NSWFB to comply with legislative requirements. Selection Criteria: Registered Nurse with current registration with the NSW Nurses Registration Board with relevant post basic health qualifications and minimum of twelve (12) months post basic registration experience in the field of health surveillance/monitoring or a minimum of four years post basic registration experience including three years experience in a relevant specialist field. Demonstrated advanced clinical knowledge and skill in health assessment and monitoring with the ability to provide quality client service and advice. Knowledge and understanding of the NSW OHS Legislation in relation to Health Surveillance and Hazardous Substances. Strong oral and written communication and interpersonal skills, with demonstrated ability to liaise and negotiate with staff at all levels including management and external service providers. Well developed computer literacy with MS applications and experience with spreadsheets and databases and ability to analyse data and reports. Proven commitment to quality clinical practice, education and professional development in a changing environment. Ability to undertake research, participate in policy and protocol development relating to health assessment and monitoring in order to respond to changing situations. Common selection criteria also apply. Notes: Candidates must possess a NSW Driver Licence and willingness to travel as required. Please contact the inquiries officer for full details of the position and Bev Davis for an Information Package. It is strongly recommended you respond to each of the selection criteria to maximise your chances of obtaining interview. Inquiries: Fiona Bell (02) 9265 2622 Email: fiona.bell@fire.nsw.gov.au. Information Packages: Bev Davis (02) 9265 2936 bev.davis@fire.nsw.gov.au. Applications Marked â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Confidentialâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; To: Marked â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Private and Confidentialâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; to Senior Recruitment Officer, PO Box A249 Sydney South NSW 1232. Closing Date: Friday 14 December 2007.

The course is open to Psychologists, Social Workers, Mental Health Nurses and allied practitioners with a basic degree in the health sciences who have clinical experience working in the mental health ďŹ eld and who are professionally registered with professional indemnity allowing them to practice in NSW. The number of places on the course is limited.

Course Fee: $4,300 per semester (approx.) Applications close deďŹ nitely on 17 December 2007 Interviews will be in late January 2008 Inquiries and application forms can be obtained from: Dr A. Korner 9840 3335 / Professor R Meares 9840 3335 Fax: 9840 3572 â&#x20AC;˘ Email: Anthony_Korner@wsahs.nsw.gov.au 50 THE LAMP NOVEMBER 2007

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52 THE LAMP NOVEMBER 2007