The Lamp August 2021

WHS

AGED CARE

SUPERANNUATION

REGULARS

Pressure leads to stronger guidelines over PPE

Botched vaccine rollout exposes neglect

Liberals’ war on super unites employers and unions

page 18

page 23

page 28

Your rights and entitlements at work p.32 Nursing research online p.41 Crossword p.43 Reviews p.45

THE MAGAZINE OF THE NSW NURSES AND MIDWIVES’ ASSOCIATION VOLUME 78 NO. 4 AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2021

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

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

VOLUME 78 NO. 4 AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2021

Hunter Office 8–14 Telford Street, Newcastle East NSW 2300 NSWNMA Communications Manager Janaki Chellam-Rajendra T 1300 367 962 For all editorial enquiries, letters and diary dates T 8595 1234 E lamp@nswnma.asn.au 50 O’Dea Avenue, Waterloo NSW 2017 Produced by Hester Communications T 9568 3148 Press Releases Send your press releases to: F 9662 1414 E gensec@nswnma.asn.au

8

Editorial Committee Brett Holmes, NSWNMA General Secretary Judith Kiejda, NSWNMA Assistant General Secretary O’Bray Smith, NSWNMA President Michelle Cashman, Long Jetty Continuing Care Richard Noort, Justice Health Liz McCall, Byron Central Hospital Diane Lang, South East Regional Hospital, Bega Valley

COVER STORY

NSWNMA members strike for patient safety Pressure from nurses, midwives and other public sector workers has forced the Berejiklian government to back down from its pathetic 1.04 per cent pay offer.

But the campaign for shift-by-shift ratios continues.

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

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

Authorised by B.Holmes, General Secretary, NSW Nurses and Midwives’ Association, 50 O’Dea Avenue Waterloo NSW 2017 Privacy Statement The NSWNMA collects personal information from members in order to perform our role of representing their industrial and professional interests. We place great emphasis on maintaining and enhancing the privacy and security of your personal information. Personal information is protected under law and can only be released to someone else where the law requires or where you give permission. If you have concerns about your personal information, please contact the NSWNMA office. If you are still not satisfied that your privacy is being maintained, you can contact the Privacy Commission.

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18

WHS

Pressure leads to stronger guidelines over PPE Campaigning and lobbying by nurses and midwives has led to more clarity over the importance of PPE and higher levels of protection.

20

AGED CARE

24

Aged care staff cop the blame for vaccine bungling The Morrison government has used aged care workers as scapegoats for low vaccination rates.

REGULARS

5 6 30 32 36 41

Editorial Your letters What’s on Ask Judith News in brief Nursing Research Online and Professional Issues 43 Crossword 45 Book Club 46 Your Health

NSWNMA NEWS

26

Retiring, but still battling for the underdog Assistant General Secretary Judith Kiejda retires in August after 27 years of service as a NSWNMA official.

WHS

AGED CARE

SUPERANNUATION

REGULARS

Pressure leads to stronger guidelines over PPE

Botched vaccine rollout exposes neglect

Liberals’ war on super unites employers and unions

page 18

page 23

page 28

Your rights and entitlements at work p.32 Nursing research online p.41 Crossword p.43 Reviews p.45

NSWNMA NEWS

28

Workplace organisation is vital, says new Assistant Secretary Incoming NSWNMA Assistant General Secretary, Shaye Candish, believes nurses and midwives have great untapped potential to influence their workplaces through collective action.

SUPERANNUATION

Liberals’ war on super unites employers and unions When employers join with unions to oppose government policy, you know the policy has to be on the nose.

THE MAGAZINE OF THE NSW NURSES AND MIDWIVES’ ASSOCIATION VOLUME 78 NO. 4 AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2021

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COVER: Photographed by Sharon Hickey

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THE LAMP AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2021 | 3

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4 | THE LAMP AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2021

EDITORIAL

BRETT

Holmes GENERAL SECRETARY

Stay the course and keep up the fight Our strike and rally actions for shift-by-shift ratios are on pause during the COVID-19 lockdown, but when it is safe we will step it up again.

We are eighteen months into the worst public health emergency the world has seen in a century and everyone from experts to politicians are learning new facts and dealing with the unknown.

Mistakes are being made at all levels.

A major mistake has been the vaccination of the aged care workforce.

The Commonwealth Government has failed aged care again. As usual its response to its failures has been to blame the workers. The leap to compulsory vaccination to fix their failure is unforgivable.

Our State Government and Ministry of Health have tried to step in and help by offering priority access in their vaccination hubs. This is welcome but clearly not enough.

I welcome that in a rare show of unity aged care employers and unions have jointly determined the necessary solutions and presented them to the Federal Health Minister with some success. The challenge now is to address the access to all vaccines as well as the communication failures around the Astra Zeneca vaccine.

There is no current NSW Public Health Order that confirms the announcement that COVID-19 vaccination will be compulsory for aged care workers. We will inform our members when that occurs.

It will not be unprecedented as we already have compulsory vaccination for flu and other illnesses. It will cause much concern for those who are hesitant or those who intend to refuse. I have warned the MOH of the consequences of such an order on the workforce.

My preference would be that our

members are allowed to make an informed decision based on best evidence available and take into consideration their duties to the patients and residents in their care to do no harm.

WE’RE FIGHTING FOR A SAFER PUBLIC HEALTH SYSTEM In the NSW Public Health System it is only thanks to strong campaigning and advocacy by our members that there is adequate access to P2/N95 respirators and fit testing.

Of course, the critical issue to be addressed to ensure the safety of patients and staff in our public health system is shift-by-shift ratios.

In the month leading up to the lockdown our members made their feelings well known with a wave of strikes throughout the state (see pp 8-14).

Our pressure has forced the government to backtrack on their previous position on pay and they will pay a 2.04 per cent increase to Public Health System members.

This is not nearly enough to appease nurses and midwives operating under the most challenging circumstances in what is an increasingly dangerous situation.

We will not stop advocating for shift-by-shift ratios until they are law.

A PILLAR OF OUR UNION RETIRES I am deeply saddened to say goodbye to our Assistant General Secretary Judith Kiejda.

A formidable nurse, midwife and trailblazing unionist, Judith has brought courage, passion, persistence and enthusiasm to her senior leadership role for 19 years.

Judith’s achievements are too numerous to mention but here are some: • Her advocacy to create the NursePower fund gave us the resources to run large-scale advertising campaigns in tandem with well resourced workplace campaigns • NursePower was used to to fight off WorkChoices, to push for ratios, to defend Medicare, to stop privatisations of our public rural hospitals and to improve aged care • She has positioned the NSWNMA as a significant contributor to international nursing through her involvement in Public Services International and Global Nurses United • She was a long time member of the ACTU Executive, ACTU Junior Vice President from 2013 and President of Unions NSW. Judith has played a critical role in helping to deliver outcomes for our members across all sectors. She has been a great union leader.

With Judith retiring I would like to welcome Shaye Candish to the leadership team as the new Assistant General Secretary. I look forward to working with Shaye as we go forward to meet the formidable challenges in front of us. n

We will not stop advocating for shift-by-shift ratios until they are law.

THE LAMP AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2021 | 5

YOUR LETTERS

Have your

Say

In our hearts we know we are doing the right thing The Waratah Mental Health Branch of the NSWNMA joined with Belmont and other hospitals in taking strike action against the NSW Government’s insulting pay offer and continuing refusal to agree to safe nurse-to-patient ratios.

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We had one of our largest branch meetings ever.

We held a secret ballot and the decision to strike for 24 hours was unanimous.

It was an extraordinary moment because many of the people who came are generally quiet and conservative.

For them to unanimously vote on strike action is an indication of just how deeply and widely felt this issue is.

We know that if the NSW Government can treat frontline workers with such disrespect during a time when such workers are vital to the survival of the state, then they have even more draconian measures up their sleeve.

We know in our hearts that we are taking action not only for our patients and ourselves, but for other workers, and for our children.

We will not stop until we win.

Niko Leka, EN

Respect for midwives is waning This profession has sucked the life out of my colleagues and me.

Despite this, there is very little acknowledgement, respect or financial recompense from the NSW or Federal governments to justify forgoing family time, weekends, days of no sleep whilst working nights, and the health implications of injuries to necks, backs and knees working in a female-dominated profession.

Over the past 10 years, I have seen a change in increasing workloads, an increase in quality creep, more “patient rounding”, and decreasing respect towards midwives.

I see this disrespect mostly from male partners of patients, who question everything we say, attempt to intimidate us, and treat midwives as handmaidens, requesting that midwives do everything from changing their baby’s nappy, to “taking their blood pressure”.

What more do midwives have to tolerate?

Excludes Littman Stethoscopes, Kits, Fashion Biz and Specials. Not valid in conjunction with any other offers or promotions. Offer valid until midnight 30 September 2021 for NSWNMA members. Competition opens 1 August 2021 and closes 30 September 2021. This prize is drawn 1 October 2021. If a redraw is required for an unclaimed prize, it must be held up to 3 months from the original draw date.

6 | THE LAMP AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2021

We are losing midwives in droves. Work one shift in any postnatal unit and you will know why. The load is overwhelming, and physically and emotionally exhausting.

Fathers and partners need to understand that they play a support role – not a patient role. Plus, babies need to be counted in our workload under our staffing models.

Rachel Bush, Midwife

SEND YOUR LETTERS TO: Editorial Enquiries EMAIL lamp@nswnma.asn.au fax 9662 1414 MAIL 50 O’Dea Avenue, Waterloo NSW 2017.

Please include a high-resolution photo along with your name, address, phone and membership number. Letters may be edited for clarity and space. Anonymous letters will not be published.

MAKE IT HAPPEN

LETTER OF THE MONTH Making our voices heard is how we win There were tears in my eyes as I stood against the tree outside Wyong Hospital during the recent strike, joining in the chants about ratios: “Four on the floor! Three in ED!” while listening to the honks of the horns from the community as they drive by.

The issue of safe staffing ratios is so important.

The emotional stress is a killer for nurses, as well as the impact on our patients. We are simply too busy with the current ratios.

Looking around me I notice I am the only old nurse here. So many older nurses have gone.

I reminisce about standing outside Bankstown Hospital with a placard shouting “Pay nurses a living wage!” during the strikes in the ’80s. I remember how poorly paid we were then.

I had been paid more as a teenager taking phone orders at a liquor company in the ’70s.

The camaraderie and support from the community was amazing.

I think of all the improvements nurses have brought about by being proactive and making our voices heard. Wins like maternity leave, patient-centred care, and the no-lift policy especially.

We need to get the community behind us now!

Get out there! Let them know that because of these ratios the nurses are overwhelmed. Take the fight to the people and they will support us as they have before. Politicians react to voter pressure and this creates results. Nurses unite and fight for our ratio right!

ANNUALCONFERENCE 22 JULY 2021

THANKYOU NSW Nurses & Midwives’ Association gratefully acknowledges the sponsorship provided by the following organisations for our th 76 Annual Conference held on Thursday 22 July 2021

Gail Rollinson, RN

Letter of the month If there’s something on your mind, send us a letter and have your say.

The letter of the month will WIN a gift card. The letter judged best each month will receive a $50 Coles Group and Myer gift card.

The NSWNMA also thanks the following organisations for their contribution and support: Dorset Cereals • DU’IT Tough Hands • Ferndale JILA mini mints • Lindt & Sprungli L’Occitane • Nurse & Midwife Support Ocean Spray • WaterWipes THE LAMP AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2021 | 7

COVER STORY

NSWNMA members strike for patient safety Pressure from nurses, midwives and other public sector workers has forced the Berejiklian government to back down from its pathetic 1.04 per cent pay offer. But the campaign for shift-by-shift ratios continues.

L

eading up to the most recent COVID-19 lockdown, NSWNMA members walked off the job, closed beds or held rallies at over 30 public health sites across NSW. As part of our campaign for shift-by-shift ratios and better pay and conditions, this industrial action bore its first fruit when the Berejiklian government backed down from its insulting pay offer in the state budget.

The government had responded to our pay and conditions claim with a 1.04 per cent pay offer. The government then backtracked and restored its previous wages cap of 2.5 per cent for public sector workers, including nurses and midwives working in the public health system.

8 | THE LAMP AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2021

This is still well below the 4.7 per cent increase claimed by the NSWNMA, which would make up the lost ground after nurses and midwives only received 0.3 per cent last year.

Even this paltry amount was only achieved when the Association pursued a 2.5 percent increase in the NSW Industrial Relations Commission after the government had completely frozen public sector wages.

NSWNMA General Secretary Brett Holmes said the revised pay offer was not nearly enough to satisfy the health workforce, and shift-by-shift ratios remained the overwhelming priority of our members.

“The wave of industrial action shows the frustration felt by nurses

and midwives at the refusal by the NSW government to improve staffing by implementing shift-by-shift ratios,” he said.

“Even before the latest COVID outbreak, our public health system was bursting at the seams and the pressure was increasing on the health workforce year by year.

“The number one priority of our members is, and always has been, to maintain safe patient care and deliver the best possible health outcomes. What more do they have to do for their voices to be heard by this government?

“We will continue to campaign for shift-by-shift ratios until the state government listens and acts,” he said. n

COVER STORY

“Members were saying: “Strike, strike now”

‘ We will continue to campaign for shift-byshift ratios until the state government listens and acts.’

O’Bray Smith, NSWNMA President “Our RPA members have been telling us they are stretched, having to staff several vaccinations hubs, the special health accommodation hotels, and the COVID screening stations.

Staffing those things has taken away from our casual pool and extra nursing hours, leaving our Emergency Department, Intensive Care and Midwifery reporting mass shortages at the hospital.

I know that each NSWNMA branch has met and held meetings and decided individually to go out on strike. A union is only as strong as its members. It’s important that we hear from our members about how strongly they feel about this issue.

At RPA 70 members came to our branch meeting to discuss the strike - in the middle of COVID to get 70 members is just incredible.

All the comments from the members were saying ‘Strike, strike now.’ It was a very strong and clear message from all the members involved that they wanted to take action. I haven’t heard that in a good ten years.

A motion was put up on 25 June to strike immediately, and members voted to walk out for two hours.

Several hundred nurses, midwives and supportive allied health staff assembled on the footpath on Missenden Road.

Whenever we are on strike, we make sure that there is skeleton staffing, and a plan to cover any dangerous situation.

The community was really supportive. People come into hospital and see how busy we are.” n

— NSWNMA General Secretary Brett Holmes

MORE THAN 400 NURSES, MIDWIVES AND OTHER HEALTH STAFF LINED THE STREET OUTSIDE ROYAL PRINCE ALFRED HOSPITAL (RPA)

‘ The community was really supportive.’ — O’Bray Smith, NSWNMA President THE LAMP AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2021 | 9

COVER STORY

ROYAL PRINCE ALFRED

‘It was my first strike and it was really empowering.’

“It was my first strike and it was really empowering. It was nice to finally get out there and show everyone we are understaffed, we are overwhelmed and overworked.

It was really exhilarating.

There were members of the community who asked: ‘What are you striking for?’ and wanted to know what our issues were. It was nice to share our concerns with members of the community and to really feel heard.

In the ICU, short staffing has been our major problem. There are points where people are being asked to fill two roles at once. People who are Clinical Nurse Educators have to fill

10 | THE LAMP AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2021

‘ A lot of us are stressed and others are burnt out.’

— Kaylene Pring, RN, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital

roles on the floor, so they are being taken away from supporting junior staff and facilitating education and training.

Half of the general beds in ICU – one quarter of our entire ICU – is devoted to COVID patients. The dedicated cardio thoracic unit and neuroscience unit in ICU are having to take on general ICU patients.

Staff are overwhelmed. The hospital is texting us with overtime work messages: there was one day when we had seven. It is hard to switch off from work. I was on a holiday recently, and the first text message when I turned on my phone was ‘Overtime available’.

You’re trying to look after yourself, and you want to help your colleagues at work, but a lot of us are stressed and others are burnt out.

Nurses who are on night shift can wake up to three overtime messages. They ask themselves ‘What am I walking into tonight? Is it going to be safe for patients?’ n

COVER STORY

OUTGOING NSWNMA ASSISTANT SECRETARY JUDITH KIEJDA ADDRESSES NURSES AND MIDWIVES AT THE SHOALHAVEN HOSPITAL WALKOUT.

SHOALHAVEN

‘The members are really unhappy’ “We had about 90 people attending (the branch meeting), and they unanimously passed a resolution for a four-hour walkout over the inadequate pay offer.

Our walkout was really successful because we had built a network of stewards throughout the hospital. We try to have one in every department, and they pass information onto the 500 members.

The members are really unhappy.

We’ve had a subsequent meeting rejecting the government’s further 2.5 per cent pay offer. These are people who are frontline healthcare workers in a pandemic, who were denied a suitable pay rise in 2020, and so I wouldn’t be surprised if they decided to take further action.

‘ Our walkout was really successful because we had built a network of stewards throughout the hospital.’

— Michael Clarke, President, Shoalhaven Branch

We’ve also had some cases of aggressive incidents from healthcare users. And through our workload committee, we saw data that showed the health service was breaching the Award by not meeting the NHPPD requirement.

We saw how inadequate that was and called for ratios to be implemented statewide.

Ninety people came to the action.

Some came in their own time, some were just finishing their shifts, and a small number walked off the job. We were really impressed with those numbers.

I’m really glad our branch had that walkout because it felt like we were involved in something that was potentially going to bring about some change. It was a really empowering thing to do. Those members who participated felt they were really engaged and wanted to make a change.” n

THE LAMP AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2021 | 11

COVER STORY

TWEED

‘We’re losing staff in droves’ “Nurses want to work in Queensland because they have real ratios: one to four on the ward and one to three in ED. We are one kilometre from the Queensland border: the John Flynn Private Hospital, Gold Coast University Hospital, and Robina Hospital are well within half an hour from the border.

We’re losing staff in droves.

Far too many of our staff are first and second year out, and our ED is full of them. They are exhausted and they are frightened. I think half

NSWNMA MEMBERS FROM TWEED HOSPITAL 12 | THE LAMP AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2021

‘ Nurses want to work in Queensland because they have real ratios.’

— Kristin Ryan-Agnew, President, Tweed Hospital Branch

of them are in shock. In 2019–2020, our ED had more presentations than St Vincent’s in Sydney, and only 1000 less than the huge Children’s Hospital at Westmead.

The hospital has always been really united, though. We’ve got a really good branch and everyone is really passionate.

We went out on 10 June. We had a secret ballot and it was 96 to two in favour of walking out. We had staff organised to take the resolution to management and we went out the front door. The feeling when everyone went out was thrilling.

The young ones had all the posters they had spent a lot of time making.

It was very uniting for them; they realised ‘We’re a group, there are a lot of us.” n

COVER STORY

THE WYONG BRANCH TOOK INDUSTRIAL ACTION FOR TWO HOURS ON 16 JUNE, OUTSIDE THE HOSPITAL.

WYONG

‘For us to walk out is pretty serious’ “We are experiencing huge nursing shortages. Staff are working two overtime shifts a week just to try and maintain staffing. We’ve had a ratio of 6 NHPPD for at least the past five years, but a few months ago it was taken down to 5.5. We fought for six to be reinstated, but for many days we weren’t even meeting the minimum.

Everyone is exhausted. Some of the nursing wards are short by 50–120 nursing hours a week, which is equivalent to a morning and afternoon shift.

The Wyong branch voted to take industrial action for two hours on 16 June, outside the hospital.

It was very hard to plan because there were a lot of scare tactics

‘ Members of the public passing by were tooting their car horns and clapping.’

— Kelly Falconer, President, Wyong Hospital Branch

used by management, as well as with the government telling us we will be fined if we fight for our rights and our patients. An email was sent out 15 minutes before our meeting and it basically said there have been orders put out – you are not allowed to do industrial action.

People were nervous, but we knew we were supported by the Association. Striking is not something we want to do; we do this because we’re not being listened to.

For us to walk out is pretty serious.

I don’t think we’ve done this for over ten years.

Staff who weren’t rostered on accompanied us out on the hill for the two hours in solidarity with those who took time off their shift, to make sure they were okay.

Members of the public passing by were tooting their car horns and clapping.

Members are angry. We would be more than happy to do this again, and hopefully it will be bigger next time.” n

THE LAMP AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2021 | 13

COVER STORY

Strong support for industrial action

WARATAH MENTAL HEALTH

“Violence is our biggest issue” “We have a MICU (Mental Health Intensive Care Unit) with complex, high-risk cases. We have to have a minimum staffing level. Patients in the unit are acutely unwell, some are suicidal, and violence is a big issue. We also have a PECC (Psychiatric Emergency Care Centre) where patients are funnelled through ED for an assessment.

Violence is our biggest issue. The amount of violence and injuries that we’ve had recently, at the end of last year and the beginning of this year, has been huge. One of our PECC managers lost two of his teeth in an incident.

Management says we have to remember we are working in mental health, but I don’t come to work to get my head smacked in, or my foot stomped on to the point where my toenail was pushed down to my bone.

‘I don’t come to work to get my head smacked in.’

— Michelle Birkett, Secretary, Waratah Mental Health Branch When we discussed the strike, all the staff wanted to walk out because of the safety issues at work. But for the safety of staff members who would have to stay on the wards during a walkout, members discussed amongst themselves who would stay and who would go. The people who were walking out were taking the financial burden as well.

Staff were very happy to take action. We just voted to wear the ratio button badges at work.” n

The following NSWNMA branches voted to either strike or close beds in support of our campaign for shift-by-shift ratios and better pay prior to the COVID-19 lockdown: • Wingecarribee Health Service • Springwood Hospital • John Hunter and John Hunter Children's Hospital • Blue Mountains District Hospital • Mental Health Centre Waratah • Belmont Hospital • Shoalhaven District Hospital • Yass District Hospital • Port Macquarie Base Hospital • Lismore Base Hospital • Tweed Hospital • Liverpool Hospital • Macarthur • Central Coast Mental Health Nurses • Wyong Hospital • Long Jetty Continuing Care • Urbenville Multi Purpose Service • The Manning • Royal Prince Alfred Hospital • Canterbury Hospital

IMAGES FROM TOP LEFT, CLOCKWISE: LISMORE, LIVERPOOL, PORT MACQUARIE, LONG JETTY 14 | THE LAMP AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2021

COVER STORY

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THE LAMP AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2021 | 15

COVER STORY

The pandemic strikes Strikes by nurses in the NSW Public Health System are part of a global phenomenon as an exhausted profession says enough is enough.

A

t the end of May this year, the World Health Organization estimated that “at least” 115,000 health workers had died from COVID-19.

Nurses make up a significant part of these fatalities, although the WHO says the exact number is unknown due to inadequate reporting.

The risks and dangers nurses face while providing fundamental services has led to a raft of strikes throughout the world, according to the New England Journal of Medicine.

“Many have argued that heroics were required only because of government neglect, underfunding, and lack of preparation for a pandemic we knew was coming.

“Many workers are justifiably angry. COVID-19 appears to have led to a substantial uptick in strike actions by healthcare workers,” the authors wrote.

Common demands underlying nearly all these actions relate to inadequate responses to COVID19 and inadequate protections for

‘ Many workers are justifiably angry.

COVID-19 appears to have led to a substantial uptick in strike actions by healthcare workers.’

— New England Journal of Medicine frontline workers; every group taking action has explicitly demanded more PPE, they said.

In the United States, the abysmal record of the Trump administration in response to COVID led to a surge in strike activity – predominantly in the health sector.

Of the eight major strikes in the United States in 2020, half involved nurses, including 7800 nurses who struck against Swedish Medical Centers in Washington – the largest strike in the country that year.

On May Day this year, members of the Massachusetts Nurses’ Association at St Vincent’s Hospital in Worcester marked the 55th day of strike action. It is believed to be the

NURSES FROM ST VINCENT’S HOSPITAL IN MASSACHUSETTS WERE PART OF THE LONGEST RUNNING STRIKE IN THE UNITED STATES IN NEARLY 30 YEARS.

16 | THE LAMP AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2021

longest running strike in the country for nearly 30 years.

Tenet Healthcare owns St Vincent’s. The company received over $3 billion in federal government stimulus money, yet actually put staff on leave without pay during the crisis. It was left to the nurses’ union to find thousands of dollars to buy PPE for its members, according to Nation magazine.

On 28 April, 4000 health workers announced a strike at Allina Health in Minnesota, as did 725 nurses at Kapiolani Medical Center in Honolulu.

National Nurses United told Time Magazine that its members engaged in more than double the

STRIKES BY NSW NURSES ARE PART OF A GLOBAL MOVEMENT

COVER STORY

NURSES AND OTHER HEALTH WORKERS, MEMBERS OF THE KOREAN HEALTH AND MEDICAL WORKERS’ UNION RALLY FOR AN EXPANDED HOSPITAL WORKFORCE.

number of actions compared to the previous year.

Asia, too, has seen strike activity from nurses and other health workers.

I n t he I nd ia n st ate of Maharashtra, 6000 nurses went on a two-day strike during June against low wages, long working hours and huge vacancies in hospitals.

In Sri Lanka, 30,000 nurses held a two-day national strike at the end of June over deteriorating work conditions since the pandemic began.

In South Korea, the Korean Health and Medical Workers Union has called for a general strike on 1 September, demanding the expansion of the hospital workforce and the strengthening of public healthcare.

In New Zealand, over 30,000 nurses and midwives walked off the job on 9 June for an eight-hour strike.

The New Zealand Nursing Organisation (NZNO) said its members were struggling under increasing caseloads with limited

staff. It said nurses were underpaid and burnt out, with conditions worsening since the arrival of COVID-19.

“Current pay rates do not attract people into the profession or retain people, and staffing levels have stretched them to breaking point, putting them and their patients at risk,” the NZNO said.

NZNO members voted for three more strikes in late July, August and September.

In Europe, more than 5000 Danish nurses – or 10 per cent of the nursing workforce – went on strike in June, while weeks earlier ICU nurses in France walked off the job.

Latin America has become the global hotspot of COVID. Collectively, the region’s death rate per capita is eight times the world rate.

Nurses, other health workers and unions there have been prominent in strikes and social actions protesting the lamentable records of their governments during the pandemic.

In Colombia, nurses and other health workers were at the forefront

of a national strike that rocked the country for more than five weeks during May and June. One of the main triggers for the national uprising was a health reform – the infamous “Law 010” – that would have seen almost total privatisation of the Colombian health system.

Colombia has already seen harsh neoliberal reforms introduced into health over past decades, including the casualisation of the health workforce. Nearly 30 per cent of the country’s nurses are on casual, fixedterm contracts.

According to Public Services International (PSI), Law 010 would have “handed over important sectors of the country’s health system into the hands of business groups”, creating a model similar to that of the United States.

A massive mobilisation led by the union movement – in the face of rampant COVID and a savage government response that led to at least 63 deaths during the protests – forced the government to eventually cancel its reforms. n THE LAMP AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2021 | 17

WHS

Pressure leads to stronger guidelines over PPE Campaigning and lobbying by nurses and midwives has led to more clarity over the importance of PPE and higher levels of protection.

S

ince the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, Association members have pressured NSW Health to provide access to P2/N95 respirators in any areas with suspected or confirmed COVID-19 cases. NSW Health has now finally adopted new infection prevention and control guides for health workers.

“From the first days of the pandemic, when the public health advice was focused on surface transmission and close contact transmission, the Association argued that it wasn’t possible to rule out airborne transmission of the virus,” says NSWNMA General Secretary Brett Holmes.

“We said precautionary principles should apply, and health workers should be given the highest level of protection.

“We cited the growing body of evidence pointing to airborne transmission in a variety of settings, not just during aerosol-generating procedures. We are pleased to see the guidelines have been updated, but it is now important that the changes are communicated and implemented throughout the health system.”

Airborne particles, which are usually less than 100 microns in diameter and can accumulate indoors, are now known to be an inhalation risk and source of transmission. In an article for The Conversation, Professor Raina MacIntyre and Dr Michelle AnandaRajah, two of Australia’s foremost experts in COVID-19 transmission, note that while more than 4000 Australian health workers were

18 | THE LAMP AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2021

‘ We said precautionary principles should apply, and health workers should be given the highest level of protection.’

— Brett Holmes, NSWNMA General Secretary infected by COVID-19 during the Victorian second wave, health authorities “denied the importance of airborne transmission and blamed clinical staff for ‘poor habits’ and ‘apathy’.”

ACCESS TO PPE NEEDED ACROSS PUBLIC HEALTH SYSTEM Victorian health workers felt abandoned, and Brett notes a similar sense of abandonment occurred in NSW. “During the early days of the pandemic, while the general public was told to wear masks indoors during periods of outbreak, nurses were told they couldn’t wear a mask unless they were caring for someone with suspected or confirmed COVID-19.

“When our members were caring for COVID-19 patients, they were initia lly provided with surgical masks, not airtight masks. When members were given P2/N95 respirators without proper fit testing, members were taping them to their faces.

“We engaged in long discussions with NSW Health, and last year we finally got to the position where they committed to fit testing P2/N95 masks,” he said.

NSW Health has purchased 20 machines to conduct the fit testing,

but Brett says the Association remains concerned about the slow rate of fit testing, and the shortened process to fit test masks to health workers.

“The recent exposures at Royal North Shore, Fairfield, Liverpool, Westmead, Bankstown and Campbelltown Hospitals sent hundreds of staff into isolation. They have also prompted the movement of vaccinated workers out of high-risk areas and unvaccinated workers into high-risk areas, highlighting the urgent need for access to PPE across the system,” he says. “We have also found that fit testing rates are still moving too slowly to protect members as the areas of exposure move within the system.” n

Find out more The guidance, COVID-19 Infection Prevention and Control Manual for Acute and Non-acute Healthcare Settings, is available online: https://www.cec.health. nsw.gov.au/keeppatients-safe/COVID-19/ COVID-19-IPAC-manual

WHS

More protection against psychosocial hazards Employers and managers now have a clear responsibility to protect workers from psychosocial hazards at work, thanks to a new Code of Practice developed by a working group that included the NSWNMA.

T

he working group was composed of representatives from Safe Work Australia, SafeWork NSW, unions, employers and academic experts.

The code provides detailed information about an employer’s obligations to eliminate psychosocial hazards (wherever practicable) or to minimise those hazards. It also provides case studies of key psychosocial hazards, including the example of an emergency department in a public hospital where aggressive and violent incidents regularly occur and are often considered part of the job.

The guidelines outline how a manager or employer is now expected to identify psychosocial hazards and risks, including a lack of staff to manage patient behaviour, rostering that is a poor mix of experienced and inexperienced workers, excessive workloads, the competing demands of caregiving and reporting systems, and the effects of cumulative exposure to traumatic events and risk of direct violence.

It also sets out the actions that managers and employers need to take to prevent and minimise risks, including providing adequate and appropriately experienced staff; providing appropriate supervision, suppor t a nd debrief ing a nd counselling; and reviewing all workplace incidents and feeding back findings into workplace systems and workplace design.

“I’m extremely pleased to see the introduction of the Code of Practice,” said Nick Howson, an NSWNMA member working in

‘ It is important that nurses are involved in things like this wherever possible, because often it is the realworld experience of workers that shape the understandings (of) politicians and public servants.’

— Nick Howson

mental health, who was part of an NSWNMA delegation that met with Kevin Anderson, NSW Minister for Better Regulation and Innovation, and urged him to adopt the code.

“It is important that nurses are involved in things like this wherever possible, because often it is the real-world experience of workers that shape the understandings that politicians and public servants use to write legislation and supporting documentation such as for this Code of Practice.” n

Find out more The full code, Code of Practice: Managing psychosocial hazards at work, is available online: https://www.safework.nsw. gov.au/resource-library/ list-of-all-codes-of-practice/ codes-of-practice/managingpsychosocial-hazards-at-work

THE LAMP AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2021 | 19

AGED CARE

Aged care staff cop the blame for vaccine bungling The Morrison government has used aged care workers as scapegoats for low vaccination rates.

A

ged care assistant in nursing Janine Quinn believes the Morrison government’s decision to make COVID-19 vaccination mandatory for nursing home staff was designed to shift attention away from the government’s own vaccination failures.

The government announced in June that all residential aged care workers must get at least a first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine by mid-September.

This was an exercise in “blame shifting” said Janine, who is president of the Mercy Place Albury Branch of the NSWNMA. “The COVID-19 vaccination rollout has been a classic case of “too little, too late”. The government is desperate because they know they’ve mucked it up,” Janine said.

“All the time, they are trying to shift the blame rather than take responsibility for what they have and haven’t done.”

In February, Aged Care Services Minister Richard Colbeck and Health and Aged Care Minister Greg Hunt jointly announced that the aged care vaccination rollout would take six weeks.

20 | THE LAMP AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2021

“Vaccination for residents and staff will be made available through residential aged care facilities where they live or work, and it will be administered through an in-reach workforce provider,” Minister Hunt said in a media release on 16 February.

TWO THIRDS OF AGED CARE STAFF UNVACCINATED Federal Department of Health data showed that as of 25 June, two thirds of aged care staff nationally had not received a single dose of vaccine.

“The government is putting the onus on individual workers to get vaccinated rather than supplying vaccines at the workplace as promised,” Janine said.

“It (COVID vaccination) is a big issue that aged care staff talk about all the time.

“We get our annual flu shots at work, usually just before starting a shift. The company arranges it and it’s convenient.

“Why couldn’t the government do the same with the COVID vaccine?

Some staff at my facility got residents’ leftovers but otherwise we have to make our own arrangements.”

She said nursing home staff

are “badly understaffed, burnt out and exhausted.”

“The last thing we want is to have to fight to get an appointment at a doctor or clinic when vaccines – especially Pfizer – are still in short supply.

“One of our members had to drive for an hour to get his first shot,” Janine said. The only day available for his second appointment was a day he worked so he had to take annual leave, which he’s not happy about.

“Members are asking whether they will get paid time off if the COVID vaccine makes them sick. A lot of people got sick from this year’s flu shot and some of them have used up all their sick leave.”

A SENSE OF ABANDONMENT With the NSW/Victoria border again closed, Albury workers like Janine who live in Victoria also have to cope with long traffic queues, which makes it even harder to arrange medical appointments.

She said members were asking why the government made COVID vac c i n at ion m a nd ator y for nursing home staff but not visitors, including contractors.

“In aged care across the board, you cannot come into a facility if you

AGED CARE

‘ The government is putting the onus on individual workers to get vaccinated rather than supplying vaccines at the workplace as promised.’

— Janine Quinn IMAGE: BORDER MAIL

haven’t had your flu shot. The flu shot treats everyone equally – why not the COVID vaccination?”

Janine said the public focus on unvaccinated aged care staff would likely make it even harder to attract workers to the sector.

“It’s always been hard to get enough staff and, now that we are more in the public eye following the royal commission, even less people want to work in aged care.

“We have had a lot of people leave the industry recently and management is finding it hard to replace them, which means we will have to work short.

“There’s a sense of abandonment: staff feel that the government is letting them down again and again on so many levels, including lack of staffing ratios and low pay.

“Aged care workers can walk into disability care and get paid $10 an hour more.”

Janine says that despite negative publicity there is strong community support for aged care workers in the Albury district.

“We’ve had a good response to ou r ca mpa ig n to w i n mandatory ratios for nurses in aged care – recently we collected

over 200 signatures on a petition in one day.” n

Vaccine pennypinching has cost us dearly The median age of residential care workers is 46 and Pfizer is the preferred vaccine for those under 60, according to the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (ATAGI).

It’s been revealed that the federal government met with Pfizer in July 2020 to discuss purchasing the Pfizer vaccine.

Australia was offered as many doses as needed to be delivered in January this year, yet government officials turned down the offer.

“The government should have purchased enough Pfizer when it had the opportunity last year, instead of relying solely on AstraZeneca because it was cheaper,” Janine Quinn said.

Commissioner shocked by vaccine delay Aged Care Royal Commissioner Lynelle Briggs said she was “shocked and dismayed” to learn that only one third of aged care workers had received even a single dose of COVID vaccine by late June.

“Has this been a mistake amongst officials? Was it a response to insufficient vaccines, or was it deliberate?

In which case it’s a scandal,” she told the ABC on 6 July.

“Either way, something serious must be done about it, and it must be done quickly.”

THE LAMP AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2021 | 21

AGED CARE

Employers, unions tell Morrison: don’t blame workers for your failures Aged care providers and the union movement have united to reject the Morrison government’s blame-shifting on COVID-19 vaccination.

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mployers and unions are u na n i mou s i n say i ng government failures – not workers – have caused low vaccination rates among nursing home staff.

The Australian Aged Care Collaboration – a coalition of aged care employer groups – joined with the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation (ANMF) and other unions to issue a joint statement on 8 July.

The statement pointed out that providers and unions have been calling for fast action on vaccinating aged care workers for at least six months.

“However, the government’s aged care vaccine program has too often led to disappointment, frustration, confusion and anger,” it said.

The statement demanded that the government implement five principles in a rollout strategy that would support aged care workers to be vaccinated quickly and safely using the Pfizer vaccine only.

The principles are: • Ensure client, resident and worker safety.

• Government-funded workplace vaccination and prioritised access to vaccination providers near workplaces.

• Paid leave to access vaccinations and recover from effects or reactions if needed.

• Targeted vaccine education

22 | THE LAMP AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2021

‘ The only way to improve vaccine pick-up is to make it easy for workers, not to shame them’ — Annie Butler • Transparency and accountability on vaccine data and supply.

listen to workers, their unions a nd prov iders, a nd act on our recommendations.”

A SMOKE-AND-MIRRORS STRATEGY

FEDERAL GOVERNMENT IGNORED SOLUTIONS

and communication.

ANMF Federal Secretary Annie Butler said the government told aged care workers at the beginning of 2021 that they were first priority and would receive easy access to the vaccine in their workplace. This did not happen.

“The only way to improve vaccine pick-up is to make it easy for workers, not to shame them,” she said.

“The government has not been able to deliver on its own strategy and is now using a ‘smoke-and-mirrors’ game to pin the responsibility on the worker.

“But as we’ve seen with the latest COVID outbreak in NSW, the vaccine rollout in privately run aged care facilities is not a game. It is completely serious.

“Workers are still not guaranteed access to vaccines, whether on or offsite, and there’s insufficient support or special leave provisions to manage possible side-effects or reactions and the need to take time off.

“The government must finally

Employer spokesperson Sean Rooney, CEO of Leading Age Services Australia, said provider groups have been calling on the government since January to work with the sector to ensure aged care residents and staff were vaccinated as efficiently, effectively and safely as possible.

Mr Rooney told Australian Ageing Agenda it was “extremely frustrating and disappointing” to have the government ignore solutions developed by the sector, including staff being vaccinated on site at aged care facilities.

The government said staff vaccinations would be completed by the end of March this year, but resident vaccinations have just been completed, only a third of aged care home staff have received theirs and it is unclear where home care workers stand, he said.

“The Department of Health has said that staff can get vaccinated at their local GP or a vaccination hub, but this has led to delays. This is not good enough.” n

AGED CARE

Botched vaccine rollout exposes aged care neglect Among comparable countries, Australia stands out for its high level of coronavirus-related nursing home deaths.

T

he Morrison government’s failure to get the COVID19 vaccine to most aged care workers is a reflection of its level of concern and regard for workers and residents in the sector, said Charles Sturt University Associate Professor Maree Bernoth.

Professor Bernoth, who is a registered nurse and NSWNMA member, said Australia stands out globally for its high level of COVID19-related nursing home deaths.

“The alarming impact of the virus in Australia’s aged care has been revealed in a report by the International Long Term Care Policy Network in London,” she said.

“According to the report, 75 per cent of all COVID deaths in Australia occurred in aged care, compared to 59 per cent in Canada, 49 per cent in Sweden and 34 per cent in the UK. “Aged ca re is a federa l responsibility, but the government took a long time to respond to COVID-19 infections in aged care facilities when they first occurred.

“Obviously, little has changed as we now have another slow response to the need to vaccinate aged care workers.”

Professor Bernoth said the government had previously promised to put systems in place by the end of March 2021 to make it possible for anyone working with vulnerable

‘If the government is mandating vaccination, which I support, then systems need to be put in place to ensure that vaccination can happen without penalising the workers.’ — Professor Maree Bernoth elderly people to get vaccinated as a priority.

mortgages so they often work across different facilities.

“Why weren't staff vaccinated at the same time as the residents?” she asked.

“What happens if a worker has an appointment for a vaccination but needs to go into work because the facility is short staffed? The onus should not be on the individual.

“The Victorian sector demonstrates the impact that government support can have on the level of vaccination.

“Almost all staff in Victorian government–run aged care facilities were vaccinated, compared to only one third of staff in private (not for profit and for profit) facilities being immunised by late June.”

She criticised the government for ma k ing vaccination t he responsibility and fault of the individual worker.

“Aged care workers are poorly paid and highly casualised. They need to feed families and pay

“If the government is mandating vaccination, which I support, then systems need to be put in place to ensure that vaccination can happen without penalising the workers.”

Professor Bernoth added that the government should also have made vaccination mandatory for aged care workers who provide in-home care under home care packages.

“In-home workers are visiting multiple homes, with various potential points of infection. If unvaccinated they are a risk to themselves and their clients.” n THE LAMP AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2021 | 23

NSWNMA NEWS

Retiring, but still battling for the underdog Assistant General Secretary Judith Kiejda retires in August after 27 years of service as a NSWNMA official. She tells The Lamp she’s still passionate about the causes that led her to unionism.

J

udith Kiejda’s life revolved around being a nurse, a wife and mother of three boys until she turned her hospital training into a nursing degree in the late 1980s.

Judith trained to be a nurse and midwife at Sydney’s St Vincent’s Hospital, learning from senior nurses on the job.

Her university study was “an eyeopener; I loved learning the theory and joining in the tutorials and group discussions among fellow students,” she remembers.

“People were always talking about how nurses were getting ripped off.

I could relate to that because I had always been concerned about justice and fairness. I started to learn about the role of unions.”

After gaining her degree, Judith went to work at St George Hospital and “got a little bit involved in the union”.

“Someone asked me to be a union delegate, and I said, ‘What’s that?’

They said, ‘Oh you’ve just got to hang up the meeting notices.’ I said, “Yeah, I can do that. Soon after I was president of the branch. I became a person that nurses would go to with

24 | THE LAMP AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2021

‘The organising model meant union officials had to hand over a lot of control to the membership, which was unheard of in our union.’ — Judith Kiejda their problems.”

A NEW WAY OF WORKING

In 1994, Judith accepted an offer to become an organiser for the then NSW Nurses’ Association.

Judith got a chance to put the new ideas into practice when she became the organiser for the Illawarra region.

“I started weekly wine and cheese nights for all branch members where we would have organising chats.

Simple changes like that showed me the potential to make valuable gains if you actually organised members and got them engaged in the work of the union.”

At that time the union was entirely “service oriented” she says. “It was focused on recruiting members and dealing with their individual issues. There were limited attempts to organise and empower members to achieve outcomes for themselves.”

In the late 1990s, Judith was attracted to the “organising model” of unionism pioneered by North American unionists.

“The organising model emphasised workplace organisation and mobilisation. It meant union officials had to hand over a lot of control to the membership, which was unheard of in our union.”

In 2002, Judith teamed up with Brett Holmes to run in union elections. Brett was elected General Secretary and Judith as Assistant General Secretary.

They were responsible for 88 FTE (full-time-equivalent) staff serving 48,000 members. Today the union has 200 staff and 73,000 members.

“Back then, the assistant secre-

NSWNMA NEWS

‘ I became a person that people would go to with their problems.’ — Judith Kiejda

tary’s job was to run the office,” Judith says. “Right from the start I said to Brett, I don’t think that’s the best use of resources, and he agreed he wanted us to work as a partnership.”

In an address to the union’s state council, Brett said he and Judith shared an understanding that “the old world of being able to use industrial tribunals was disappearing and that we would have to get our members comfortable with the understanding that politicians made the decisions. If you did not like their decisions then you had to get your members to be political.”

He said Judith’s achievements included the creation of the NursePower campaign fund to pay for advertising and other costs of winning community and political support on issues: “Judith convinced me such a fund was essential to what we wanted to achieve.”

members $2 a week – the cost of a cup of coffee back then.”

NursePower is now well funded.

It allows the union to campaign on issues without sacrificing its other work – and provides returns on investment while waiting to be put into use.

PUT NSWNMA ON WORLD STAGE Brett said Judith led the suc c e s sf u l rat io s c a mpa ig n that persuaded the state Labor government to set Nursing Hours Per Patient Day in 2011.

“The outcome had its weaknesses and now desperately needs fixing but at the time it delivered 1500 more nurses as well as pay rises,” he said.

“Judith also had carriage of the BirthRate Plus staffing model for midwifery services which delivered more midwives and at least some staffing standards but is now also in need of repair.”

Judith says, “After the Howard government brought in its WorkChoices legislation I thought we needed a fund to pay for the campaign to defeat WorkChoices, and future campaigns.”

Along with organising and empowering members, Judith’s other main goal was to “put the union on the international scene” so it could draw on the knowledge and strength of unions around the world.

“Annual conference unanimously supported the proposal to levy

She led the move to join Public Services International (PSI) – which

has seven million health workers, mostly nurses – and has held a range of senior positions with the PSI. Judith then worked to create Global Nurses United in 2013, which has grown to encompass a coalition of 30 national unions that collaborate on joint projects.

In Australia, she has held senior positions on the Australian Council of Trade Unions including vice president.

Judith was elected President of Unions NSW in 2016 and she has agreed to remain in the role until her term expires in 2024.

She is retiring from full-time work because, “I’ll be 70 next birthday; my body is tired though my mind isn’t.

I’m still passionate about the causes I believe in.”

She is “incensed” by the Morrison government’s inadequate response to the aged care royal commission and has taken an honorary position on the council of National Seniors Australia.

“I want to try to help seniors in residential aged care who have no voice. We cannot let aged care continue to be neglected.” n

THE LAMP AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2021 | 25

NSWNMA NEWS

Workplace organisation is vital, says new Assistant Secretary Shaye Candish takes over from Judith Kiejda as NSWNMA Assistant General Secretary in August. Shaye believes nurses and midwives have great untapped potential to influence their workplaces through collective action.

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u r si n g wa sn’t Shaye Candish’s career goal when she began studying for a nursing degree at the University of Western Sydney.

She wanted to be a speech pathologist but the course wasn’t offered within commuter distance of her home in Liverpool, where she grew up in a single-parent family.

“I decided to go into nursing thinking it might give me an oppor tunity to transfer into speech pathology later. But once I started the course I really loved it,” Shaye says.

She joined the NSW Nurses’ Association on graduating in 2008.

“I didn’t have any real awareness of unionism. My mum worked really hard but wasn’t politically minded; joining the union was just a thing most new grads did when they got their registration.”

Shaye’s first placement was in the emergency department of Campbelltown Hospital. “I loved the variety of the work and the talented team who were keen to share their knowledge. It was a wonderful development opportunity for a young nurse,” she says.

26 | THE LAMP AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2021

“My values aligned with those of the union, but I had almost no interaction with the union for the first few years of my career. There were delegates on my unit but we didn’t have a visible branch.

“That experience has made me think a lot about the way we interact with members. How many potential members are out there now who don’t know much about what we do?

“It’s critical that we continue to build good union leadership in the workplace.”

Her first contact with the union came a decade ago. Amid a “current of discontent” over inadequate staffing, management tried to resolve staffing issues by moving to abolish 12-hour shifts.

Shaye called the union office and got information which allowed her and her colleagues to craft a collective response incorporating the latest research on 12-hour shifts and management’s legal and industrial obligations. Management dropped the proposal.

Shaye later contacted the union for advice on how to achieve another goal: getting an additional nurse in the resuscitation area, where a lone

nurse was responsible for four beds.

The ED nurses collected data, benchmarked against similar-size departments, and showed that the staffing was unsafe, below standards of similar hospitals and against departmental policy.

“Management’s response was blasé, but when we put up posters advertising a planned protest rally, management folded and agreed to appoint a new position on night shift.”

A DIFFERENT CHALLENGE EVERY DAY With a growing appreciation of the work of the union, Shaye successfully applied for a job as Association organiser eight years ago.

Since then, she’s represented aged care workers in western NSW, public sector nurses in the Murrumbidgee and southern NSW regions and southeast Sydney.

Before becoming Assistant General Secretary, she was a lead organiser, the coordinator of the Public Health Sector 2018 ratios campaign and one of two co-managers overseeing the work of

NSWNMA NEWS

‘ It’s critical that we continue to build good union leadership in the workplace.’

— Shaye Candish, Assistant General Secretary, NSWNMA

the aged care and private hospitals organising team.

As ratios campaign coordinator in the year leading to the 2019 state election, Shaye directed and coordinated the work of organisers, delegates and members to develop a united approach across NSW. Members collected thousands of signed pledges to support ratios and the union educated members on the importance of how politics impacts public health. Due to this work, the Association achieved a comprehensive policy on shift-byshift ratios from the Labor party.

Nurses and midwives held rallies across the state, addressed public meetings, lobbied politicians, called other members and spoke to the community and media.

future public sector campaigns.

“Many of those new-found activists are still involved today and have taken the skills they learnt into their workplaces.

“At NSWNMA, the variety of work has been fabulous – a different challenge every day that keeps you connected to the profession,” Shaye says.

“It’s been exciting to work with so many incredibly skilled nurses and midwives who are at the peak of their speciality.”

Nurse/midwife union activists have always found it difficult to arrange face to face meetings for a 24/7 workforce.

SHIFTING POWER IN THE WORKPLACE

“The campaign achieved a strong swing in marginal seats towards parties that supported ratios and raised the political awareness of many hundreds of members who got involved,” she said.

Shaye says the pandemic led the NSWNMA to new ways of working, such as videoconferencing, that have given members new ways to be involved in their union – including online voting.

“We went into the campaign with a real intention to develop local union leaders, give them good structures in their workplaces and a lasting capacity to be involved in

“COVID-19 has also seen the NSWNMA successfully advocate to protect nurses and midwives with appropriate PPE. “We were calling for adequate

masks and fit testing before Delta was heard of.

“In general, I want our members to win and part of that means we have to start to shift the power relationship in the workplace.

“We need members to realise they have the ability to influence their workplace by collective action.

“We know they have tremendous community support but we have to get better at actually exercising their power.

“When we use that power we can have a significant impact on the care we provide to our patients and we can also improve our own working conditions.”

Shaye, who lives in Wollongong, says she’s grateful to have had a supportive workplace environment while raising her sons aged six and two.

“When we support women and fully accept that kids are part of their life, we give them the opportunity to thrive – and the loyalty an organisation gets from them is incredible. I would love to see that attitude in all our members’ workplaces.” n THE LAMP AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2021 | 27

SUPERANNUATION

Liberals’ war on super unites employers and unions When employers join with unions to oppose government policy, you know the policy has to be on the nose.

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ustralia’s biggest employer organisation, the Australian Industry Group (AIG), sided with the union movement in opposing the Morrison government’s latest superannuation changes.

‘ The bill was disproportionate, ineffective and intrusive and would do more harm than good.’ — Innes Willox, Australian Industry Group

The government’s Your Future, Your Super bill was designed to weaken industry super funds – such as the health sector’s HESTA and Aware – and exert greater government control over them.

Industry funds are jointly managed by employer and union representatives, who work together to improve the retirement prospects of working Australians.

AIG chief executive, Innes Willox, joined ACTU president, Michele O’Neil, in writing a joint letter to Senate crossbenchers urging them not to pass the Your Future, Your Super bill.

In a separate statement, Willox said the bill was “disproportionate, ineffective and intrusive”, would “do more harm than good” and “leave

to successfully oppose aspects of the bill.

For example, the government was forced to remove a controversial power that would have allowed it to ban certain types of investments by superannuation funds.

INNES WILLOX, AIG CHIEF EXECUTIVE

more people in poor-performing funds for longer”.

Willox said the bill would “create new compliance burdens that would add new costs and risks, and would divert management and board attention away from improving retirement incomes of fund members.”

It would also “set a dangerous precedent” by giving the federal treasurer “arbitrary powers”, and would “add a new and unpredictable source of sovereign risk to the investment process”.

COMMUNITY OPPOSES GOVERNMENT CHANGES ACTU PRESIDENT, MICHELE O’NEIL 28 | THE LAMP AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2021

Broad community opposition helped to persuade the crossbench and even some government MPs

The Morrison government claimed that “activist” industry funds were using their financial clout to “pursue political objectives at the expense of members’ interests”.

For example, some funds are ditching their investments in fossil fuels and looking at divesting from firms with poor environmental or industrial relations records.

However, i ndu st r y f u nd s routinely deliver far better returns for workers than the bank-owned retail super funds, which are politically close to the Liberal Party.

The rorts and rip-offs of retail super funds were exposed by the banking royal commission in 2018–2019.

Bank-owned funds were found to have charged fees to the dead, duped people into losing their life savings, and had broken the law thousands of times. n

SUPERANNUATION

Retail funds escape scrutiny Industry super funds and unions fear millions of workers will be “stapled” to a dud fund.

T

‘ The government has given poor super products a leg-up.’ — Bernie Dean, Industry Super Australia

Those that fail will be required to inform members. Persistently underperforming products will be prevented from taking on new members.

fund, which would follow them from job to job.

he Morrison government’s latest superannuation law changes will require most superannuation products to meet an annual performance test.

However, not all funds will face the performance test, with industry funds subjected to higher scrutiny than bank-owned retail funds – at least in the initial stages.

The government claims it intends to extend the performance test to retail funds in the future.

But Industry Super Australia (ISA) Chief Executive, Bernie Dean, said more than $500 billion of members’ savings are shielded from performance tests – including products that were savaged during the banking royal commission.

“ISA will be pushing the government to ensure the funds they carved out – which are some of the worst in the system – are quickly included,” he added.

AUSTRALIANS NEED TO ENGAGE WITH THEIR SUPER ISA is also worried that workers will be permanently tied to underperforming funds.

In its superannuation law changes the government has sought to “staple” employees to a single

From 1 November 2021, when an employee starts a new job but does not nominate a super fund to receive contributions, their employer is required to make contributions to their existing super fund, if they have one.

The government says this will reduce the number of people with multiple accounts – each with a set of fees.

However, Dean says this means at least 2.6 million super fund accounts are locked in funds that could fail performance tests.

“ISA pushed for sensible amendments that would have mandated that Australians can only be stapled to funds that pass the performance test,” he says.

“Instead, the government has given poor super products a leg-up at the cost of the workers they are fleecing with their high fees and lousy performance.

“This means it is even more i mp or t a nt t h at Au s t r a l ia n s engage with their super and find a high-quality fund with low fees and good returns.

“We will monitor the impact of the bill and may press future parliaments to mandate that Australians can only be stapled to the best performing funds and not the worst ones.” n

Stapling risks inadequate insurance Industry funds are concerned that “stapling” will mean a person who starts off in one industry will stay with a super fund that isn’t the most appropriate for a future job, for example, because it lacks appropriate insurance cover.

For instance, a young worker who starts out in hospitality or retail and later gets a job in construction.

Independent senator Rex Patrick moved an amendment to exempt dangerous occupations from the stapling provisions but the government succeeded in getting the amendment rejected.

THE LAMP AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2021 | 29

PROFESSIONAL EDUCATION

AUGUST – NOVEMBER 2021

SYDNEY METRO

NSW REGIONAL

Blacktown

HUNTER NEW ENGLAND Newcastle

Dementia Management Training, Wed 8 September, 9am–5pm, 7 CPD Hours

Waterloo

Wound Care Essentials Thu 12 August, 9am–4.30pm, 6 CPD Hours Law, Ethics and Professional Standards in nursing and midwifery, Fri 20 August, 9am–4pm, 6 CPD Hours Clinical Communication and Documentation, Wed 15 September, 9am–4pm, 6 CPD Hours Introduction to Palliative Care, Fri 1 October, 9am–4pm, 6 CPD Hours The Deteriorating Patient, Mon 11 October, 9am–4pm, 6 CPD Hours Medications: How we do it better, Thu 28 October, 9am–4pm, 6 CPD Hours Basic Counselling Skills for nurses and midwives, Wed 10 November, 9am–4.30pm, 6 CPD Hours Introduction to Suicide Assessment and Management for nurses and midwives, Mon 15 November, 9am–12.30pm, 3 CPD Hours Law, Ethics and Professional Standards in nursing and midwifery, Thu 18 November, 9am–4pm, 6 CPD Hours Numbers in all face-to-face courses are strictly limited. Lunch and/or refreshments are provided at all courses.

COST: Education sessions 5+ hours $95 (members) $190 (non-members), 4 hours or less $50 (members) $100 (non-members).

Go to the Education page of our website to search all face-to-face and webinar CPD education options.

REGISTER ONLINE

bit.ly/educationNSWNMA 30 | THE LAMP AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2021

Medications: How we do it better, Wed 11 August, 9am–4pm, 6 CPD Hours

East Maitland

Basic Counselling Skills for nurses and midwives, Fri 17 September, 9am–4.30pm, 6 CPD Hours

ILLAWARRA SHOALHAVEN Wollongong

Wound Care Essentials, Fri 15 October, 9am–4.30pm, 6 CPD Hours

MURRUMBIDGEE Wagga Wagga

Law, Ethics and Professional Standards in nursing and midwifery, Wed 8 September, 9am–4pm, 6 CPD Hours Know Your Annual CPD Obligations, Thu 9 September, 9am–12.30pm, 3 CPD Hours

NORTHERN NSW Lismore

Law, Ethics and Professional Standards in nursing and midwifery, Wed 4 August, 9am–4pm, 6 CPD Hours

Tweed Heads

Clinical Communication and Documentation, Thu 14 October, 9am–4pm, 6 CPD Hours

WESTERN NSW Orange

Law, Ethics and Professional Standards in nursing and midwifery, Wed 6 October, 9am–4pm, 6 CPD Hours

The NSWNMA has released a series of free webinars on a range of subjects relevant to nursing and midwifery practice, with topics such as medications, communication and documentation, professional obligations and more.

We also arrange one-off webinars facilitated by external presenters on interesting and topical subjects. Keep an eye on our education emails for updates and additions to both face-to-face and webinar education opportunities.

Do you have an interest or area of expertise in…

Aged Care Drug & Alcohol Midwifery Mental Health Environmental Issues CALD Issues The NSWNMA is seeking expressions of interest from members to join these Reference Groups Each group meets between 4-6 times per year* to discuss practice and professional issues relevant to each area.

Members provide vital advice and assist the Association to accurately represent the interests of our members.

To submit an Expression of Interest please email your details and brief outline as to why you would like to be involved, and what you believe you could add to the Reference Group to education@nswnma.asn.au.

*Virtual / online attendance is available for members who are non-metro or not able to attend meetings in person.

THE LAMP AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2021 | 31 We encourage non-metro members to join to provide a regional perspective to each group.

YOUR RIGHTS

Ask

Judith A last hurrah ...

Well members, this is my very last edition of ‘Ask Judith’ prior to my retirement from the Association this week. There is sadness, for sure.

I have some mixed feelings about things not quite done, but more a sense of contentment and pride that, in harness with you, our wonderful members, I gave it my all and we achieved so many things.

Wins on a grand scale. Smaller ones for individual members facing adversity every day, or unjust pursuit by their employer.

All so very important.

Dealing with your workplace questions over so many years has always provided me with a real sense of understanding as to the issues you face, the threats you confront and the all-too-often impulse by some to trample on your rights. Rights that have been hard fought and are often achieved by those who came before us. I have always felt a real sense of responsibility that by defending workplace rights – your rights – we are protecting a sacred legacy left by previous generations of nurses and midwives; a legacy that I proudly feel we have added to over the last couple of decades.

It is now time for the next generation to take up the cudgels, to defend and keep pushing ahead for better and more improved rights. I will certainly look forward to receiving my edition of The Lamp in retirement, scouring its contents to see the latest, read with pride the most recent demonstration of your strength and conviction. Certainly, the new ‘Ask Shaye’ will be one of the first pages I turn to, with a mix of nostalgia and pride when reading about your rights at work.

My absolute thanks, admiration and best wishes to you all.

32 | THE LAMP AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2021

SPECIAL EDITION Single-site employment in aged care The Commonwealth Government has made specific funding available during the COVID-19 pandemic to activate single-site employment arrangements for workers in residential aged care facilities (RACFs) in particular, and Local Government Areas (LGAs) when the Commonwealth Chief Medical Officer declares them to be a hotspot.

Single-site employment is designed to minimise the potential risk of workers unintentionally transmitting COVID-19 by working across multiple sites. The aim is to reduce the overall risk of an outbreak at any given site, as well as reducing the health risk for individual residents and workers in NSW RACFs located in hotspots.

The objective is to ensure that neither the worker nor RACF is out of pocket with the implementation of this risk mitigation strategy. It is fully funded by the Commonwealth and remains in place for the duration of the hotspot declaration.

The worksite where you work the most hours will generally be your primary workplace and will then become the single site at which you will work all your shifts. That worksite will employ you for at least your total normal hours by providing additional hours equal to or greater than the hours you were working at other sites.

The primary employer can then make a declaration to the Commonwealth Government for reimbursement of the additional hours worked/ supernumerary paid hours.

Single-site only during hotspot Why can’t I keep working at my usual two nursing homes – we take precautions?

Single-site employment in RACFs is triggered in a locality when the Commonwealth Chief Medical Officer declares it a hotspot. While appropriate PPE may well be in place, it is designed to reduce the risk of transmission to residents and aged care workers by moving to a single place of work arrangement for the duration of the hotspot. It is an additional level of protection for the most vulnerable and those who care for them.

Casuals are covered I work as a casual at a number of aged care facilities.

Am I covered?

Yes. If you are employed directly by the facility (and not through an agency, for example) you are covered.

You will have your average working hours across all sites maintained at the facility you remain at. The previous six weeks of hours worked can be used to establish your baseline of hours to be maintained.

Not worse off Won’t I be worse off if I am only working at one site?

The single-site employment arrangements are based on the principle of no net disadvantage to the aged care worker from working at only one site. In other words, you should not be financially disadvantaged. The total hours you would have worked

YOUR RIGHTS

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

across all sites will be maintained/paid by the single site you remain working at.

Different sites, but same employer I work at several sites but all with the same employer. Am I included?

Yes. Whether the same provider operates all the sites you work at, the principle to be applied is that during the singlesite employment arrangements being in place, you remain working all your hours at a single site.

Hours paid How will my hours be maintained at the single site?

The single site you remain at will usually be the one in which you work the most hours. In turn they will provide you additional hours at that site, which matches those you would have worked elsewhere. If they are unable to provide such hours for you to work, they are to be treated as supernumerary and still paid to you as part of your wages that fortnight.

Overtime provisions still kick in What if the extra hours I work at the single site exceed 38 hours per week?

If the extra hours

allocated to you are worked, and exceed 38 hours per week, then the relevant overtime provisions of the agreement/ award will kick in.

Commonwealth funding reimburses wage costs My employer says they can’t afford to maintain my hours, so I will need to take annual leave from my other place of work.

That is incorrect. All providers will be able to make application to the Commonwealth to be fully reimbursed for all additional wage costs incurred from maintaining hours of work – whether actually worked or paid as supernumerary – along with overtime and shift penalties arising from applying these arrangements.

Employers can contact the Aged Care Support Hub that was established to provide advice and assistance on 1800 491 793. They can also provide advice on the grant application process.

duration. Your accrued leave is preserved, and they must keep your job open for your return at the conclusion of the single-site employment arrangements. This absence will also be treated as service for long service leave purposes.

There are precedents Has this happened before?

Yes. A few times in Victoria. It also occurred in NSW with the Northern Beaches cluster in late 2020/

early 2021. While each had a few hiccups, as by definition these arrangements often need to be implemented very quickly and with no notice, the coordination between the Commonwealth, employers, employer associations and unions have been able to ensure a cooperative and productive approach, with very positive outcomes.

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Taking leave My other employer is saying that I have to take leave if I only work at another site. Or even resign. Is that correct?

No. Your other employer is obliged to put you on unpaid single-site leave for the

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Support the 2021 Union Aid Abroad-APHEDA Solidarity Raffle to stand with workers around the world striving for justice and decent work!

THE LAMP AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2021 | 33

AGED CARE REFERENCE GROUP

Are you a registered nurse, enrolled nurse or assistant in nursing currently working in the aged care sector?

Are you a member of the NSWNMA? The NSW Nurses and Midwives’ Association is seeking members to join the Aged Care Reference Group. The group meet every second month to discuss current issues and challenges in the aged care sector. Meetings are held in a blended Zoom/face-to-face format to allow members to be involved regardless of geographical location.

Current NSWNMA members working in the aged care sector are invited to join.

Being a member of the Aged Care Reference Group gives you the opportunity to: be a voice for the issues impacting nurses in the aged care sector provide feedback to the NSWNMA Professional Issues Committee assist in the development and reviewing of policies be a link between members and the Association

MORE INFORMATION + EXPRESSION OF INTEREST: Dean Murphy • EMAIL: dmurphy@nswnma.asn.au • PHONE: 0417 567 374

QACAG NEEDS YOU! QACAG Quality Aged Care Action Group Incorporated

The Quality Aged Care Action Group (QACAG) was established to advocate for quality aged care. We are a small group of like-minded individuals who meet every two months to campaign for quality aged care, including safe staffing. We lobby Government, make submissions and collaborate with other consumer advocacy organisations.

Meetings are usually held every two months in Sydney and concurrently via Zoom to allow those in regional areas to be involved. However, you do not have to attend the meetings to be an active member. Most members are aged care nurses, people who have experiences of aged care, or who live in aged care themselves.

Membership costs $20 a year for individuals and $50 a year for organisations.

If you would like to join us please contact us in any of the following ways: 50 O’Dea Avenue, Waterloo NSW 2017 0417 567 374 dmurphy@nswnma.asn.au

34 | THE LAMP AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2021

GRADUATE CERTIFICATES

FEE-HELP is available

Apply now for an online graduate certificate to pursue your passion, become a specialist in your area of practice and increase your earning potential.

Choose from: • • • • • •

Acute Care Nursing Aged Care Nursing Breast Cancer Nursing Cancer Nursing Child and Family Health Nursing Community and Primary Health Care Nursing • Cosmetic Nursing • Critical Care Nursing

• • • • • • • • •

Dermatology Nursing Drug and Alcohol Nursing Leadership and Management Neonatal Care Orthopaedic Nursing Paediatric Nursing Studies Palliative Care Perioperative Nursing Stomal Therapy Nursing acn.edu.au/study THE LAMP AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2021 | 35

13.07.21

NEWS IN BRIEF

CHINA / US

China, US go into vaccine overdrive China reached a milestone of administering a billion doses in June, while in the US some states have reached a 70 per cent vaccination rate.

China has administered a third of all doses given globally according to the BBC and was on target to fully vaccinate 40 per cent of its 1.4 billion population by mid-year.

China’s National Health Commission said it had taken just five days to administer 100 million doses during June. It says it aims to have fully vaccinated 70 per cent of the population by the end of the year.

China’s vaccine drive started slowly, with some initial reluctance from some parts of the population after the country had successfully suppressed virus cases.

But an outbreak of the Delta variant in the southern province of Guangdong convinced many Chinese to be vaccinated.

Meanwhile, the vaccination drive in the United States, initiated by President Biden, has also produced impressive results.

By mid-June, two of the most populous states – New York and California – hit their 70 per cent vaccination goal, leading to a lifting of restrictions imposed during the worst of the pandemic.

Nationwide, 64.5 per cent of US adults had been at least partially vaccinated.

At the same time, Australia had only administered 7.4 million doses, 19 per cent of the population had had one jab, and only 4.8 per cent had been fully vaccinated (29 June).

‘ At the same time in Australia, only 4.8 per cent had been fully vaccinated.’

WORLD

The media contributes to vaccine hesitancy: experts Media reporting on COVID vaccines should be careful to contextualise the benefits alongside the risks, say experts.

Vaccine hesitancy has been a notable hurdle in Australia’s troubled vaccine rollout and the media has played a role in fuelling fears, say experts.

Two Griffith University academics – Heather Green, a senior lecturer at the School of Applied Psychology, and Joan Carlini, a lecturer from the Department of Marketing – say reporting on vaccine hesitancy must be handled carefully.

“In a global study, three of 13 national and state-level immunisation managers interviewed said negative information conveyed in the mass media contributed to vaccine hesitancy in their countries.

“On the flip side, media reports about influenza and vaccination can also increase vaccination uptake,” they wrote in the online magazine The Conversation.

A Griffith University survey conducted in the middle of 2020 found that 68 per cent of people would take a COVID-19 vaccine if one was available.

“Any reporting on Australians’ inclination to vaccinate should reinforce what is in fact the social norm – the intention of the majority to receive a COVID vaccine,” the academics say.

They say the government also needs to act quickly to reverse the hesitancy trend.

“People are looking for reasons to have the jab; they are desperate for a national roadmap out of COVID-19.”

‘ In a global study, three of 13 national and state level immunisation managers interviewed said negative information conveyed in the mass media contributed to vaccine hesitancy.’

36 | THE LAMP AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2021

NEWS IN BRIEF

UNITED STATES

Latin American breakthrough on vaccines The tiny Caribbean island of Cuba has developed a vaccine equally effective as the Pfizer and Moderna shots and superior to AstraZeneca or Sputnik V. According to the Spanish daily El País, the “Abdala” vaccine is 92.28 per cent effective against COVID-19 after three doses, while a second Cuban vaccine, “Soberana 02”, has 62 per cent efficiency after two doses, with greater efficiency after a third dose.

The Abdala results were obtained in the third phase of trials with a group of 48,000 volunteers conducted by the Cuban Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology.

The vaccine is now being considered by the World Health Organization as part of its Covax program.

This compares with 40 infections per day per million of population in North America, 59 in Europe and 29 in Asia.

“This is excellent news and fills us with optimism in the region, where there is still a large deficit of vaccines,” Peruvian epidemiologist José Moya, from the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), told El País.

Trends paint an even bleaker picture. While mass vaccinations in North America, Europe and Asia have reduced the infection rate considerably, in South America there has been a relatively constant rise in infections, fuelled by new variants and a shortage of vaccines.

The development of a Latin American vaccine is an important breakthrough, as South America has become the global epicentre of the pandemic.

CROSSWORD SOLUTION

At the end of June, the region was registering 323 new infections per day per million of population.

‘ This is excellent news and fills us with optimism in the region, where there is still a large deficit of vaccines.’

— Pan American Health Organization

Quality legal advice for NSWNMA members • Workers Compensation Claims • Litigation, including workplace related claims • Employment and Industrial Law • Workplace Health and Safety • Anti-Discrimination • Criminal, including driving offences • Probate / Estates • Public Notary • Discounted rates for members including First Free Consultations for members

Call the NSWNMA on 1300 367 962

and find out how you can access this great service

Offices in Sydney and Newcastle with visiting offices in regional areas (by appointment) THE LAMP AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2021 | 37

NEWS IN BRIEF

WORLD

Vaccine crumbs Wealthy countries are offering low- and middle-income countries vaccine “crumbs”, so that they can protect their billionaires, their pharmaceutical lobbies and their campaign contributions, argues a prominent American economist.

At the recent G7 Summit of the richest industrialised countries, the United States and its European allies promised a billion vaccine doses for use in low- and middle-income countries by 2022.

But a host of prominent critics have cast doubts on the sincerity of the offer.

According to Agnès Callamard, Secretary-General of Amnesty International, even if all one billion come in over the course of 2022, it would be a “drop in the ocean”, made of “paltry half-measures and insufficient gestures”.

James K. Galbraith, a prominent US economist from the University of Texas, says instead of “getting the hoarded stockpile into arms all around the world”, the West is protecting the vested interests of its corporations.

“Today, Africa and India have vaccinated barely 3 per cent of their combined populations of about 2.5 billion people. Why is that? The US alone is reputed to have the capacity to produce 4.7 billion doses by the end of 2021 – four billion more than America needs,” he said.

“Where are those doses going? Apparently, to wealthy customers. This includes 1.8 billion doses committed to the EU for ‘booster shots’.

“The US and Europe are offering crumbs, protecting their billionaires, their pharmaceutical lobbies, and their politicians’ campaign contributions”.

‘ Africa and India have vaccinated barely 3 per cent of their combined populations of about 2.5 billion people.’

AUSTRALIA

Minimum wage rises 2.5 per cent Unions have won a 2.5 per cent increase for a quarter of all workers through the Fair Work Commission’s annual minimum wages case, despite hard-line opposition from the federal government and big business.

Unions had pushed for a 3.5 per cent increase, while employer groups, including the Australian Industry Group and the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, had advocated for a 1.1 per cent rise.

The pay rise will raise the annual minimum wage to $40,175.20 and the hourly rate to $20.33, and will lift the wages of 2.2 million Australians or one in four workers.

Workers in the aviation, tourism and fitness sectors will have to wait until November for the increase. Those on the retail award will receive the increase in September.

The ACTU had argued that the increase in the minimum wage would offer similar benefits to the one-off stimulus payments made during the pandemic.

“The increase in the minimum wage and modern award minimum wages will raise household spending and demand for goods and services in the Australian economy,” the ACTU said in its submission to the annual review.

ACTU Secretary Sally McManus said the wage increase came through union action.

“The Morrison government and big business wanted pay cuts or freezes,” she said.

Sally said it was disappointing that the Commission had delayed increases for some workers, “especially those who have worked throughout the pandemic and whose employers have posted record profits.”

‘ The Morrison government and big business wanted pay cuts or freezes.’

— ACTU Secretary Sally McManus

38 | THE LAMP AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2021

NEWS IN BRIEF

UNITED STATES

US FDA approves new Alzheimer’s drug A tortuous history and uncertain benefits have led to controversy over its approval.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted conditional approval to a new drug, aducanumab (marketed as Aduhelm) for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease.

Aducanumab is a monoclonal antibody that reduces the amount of beta-amyloid in the brain. Beta-amyloid is a protein, which many researchers believe is, at least, a partial cause of Alzheimer’s.

In early trials by the manufacturer, US biotech company Biogen, aducanumab had been shown to reduce levels of beta-amyloid in the brain but without clear-cut evidence that it slowed the progress of cognitive degeneration.

Biogen later claimed, after “a fresh look at the data”, that patients experienced “significant benefits on measures of recognition and function such as memory, orientation and language”.

The price of aducanumab is prohibitive at approximately $A72,000 per year.

Many specialists remain deeply sceptical about aducanumab and the amyloid hypothesis more broadly. Ten out of the 11 members of an expert advisory panel appointed by the FDA voted against approving the drug on the basis of the research presented. The 11th was undecided.

Paradoxically, the incidence of Alzheimer’s in rich countries has been falling at a rate of 16 per cent per year since 1988, according to a study by the University of Harvard, thanks to improved lifestyle factors such as education and cardiovascular health.

‘ The incidence of Alzheimer’s has been falling at a rate of 16 per cent per year since 1988 in rich countries thanks to improved lifestyle factors.’

WORLD

One in 100 deaths is by suicide

The World Health Organization aims to reduce suicide rates by a third by 2030.

Suicide remains one of the leading causes of death worldwide, according to a new WHO report Suicide worldwide in 2019.

The new research found that every year, more people die as a result of suicide than HIV, malaria or breast cancer, or war and homicide. In 2019, more than 700,000 people died by suicide worldwide: one in every 100 deaths.

Among young people aged 15–29, suicide was the fourth leading cause of death after road injury, tuberculosis and interpersonal violence.

More than twice as many males die due to suicide as females (12.6 per 100,000 males compared with 5.4 per 100,000 females). Suicide rates among men are generally higher in high-income countries (16.5 per 100,000).

Globally, the suicide rate is decreasing but in the Americas, it is going up.

Suicide rates fell in the 20 years between 2000 and 2019, with the global rate decreasing by 36 per cent. But in the Americas, rates increased by 17 per cent in the same period.

Meanwhile, a British charity found that more than 220 nurses across the UK tried to end their life during the pandemic, reports Nursing Times.

The Laura Hyde Foundation said that, according to its own investigations, at least 226 nurses across all settings had attempted suicide between 1 April 2020 to 30 April 2021.

‘More than twice as many males die due to suicide as females.’

THE LAMP AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2021 | 39

There are some things you shouldn’t handle alone.

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

Call us on 8595 1234 (metro) or 1300 367 962 (non-metro) Email gensec@nswnma.asn.au www.nswnma.asn.au 40 | THE LAMP AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2021

NURSING RESEARCH AND PROFESSIONAL ISSUES It’s becoming clear that vaccination of enough of the population is our pathway out of the pandemic. Effective vaccines were developed successfully earlier this year. Unfortunately, it hasn’t been as straightforward as we might have hoped.

Letter from Australian College of Nurse Practitioners to Chief Nursing and Midwifery Officer 2 July 2021 I am writing today to request an update from you that I can share with our members as a matter of urgency.

Since March of this year, I have been raising my concerns with you and the Minister for Health in relation to the Federal Government’s exclusion of nurse practitioners from the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines.

I was advised almost immediately that you had been tasked with resolving the situation, and I have remained in touch with you and your office on a regular basis, despite no further information being available to date.

Unfortunately, it seems that there has been no progress, and this remains an issue that is affecting access to the COVID-19 vaccine, particularly in rural and remote areas where there is often only a nurse practitioner available, and in clinics where there is only a GP for very short periods of time.

Additionally, this has stopped nurse practitioners from being able to deliver vaccines in aged care facilities unless they are engaged by the states to do so. https://www.acnp.org.au/acnppresidents-update

Medico-legal considerations of mandatory COVID-19 vaccination for high-risk workers Dev AS Kevat, et al. 5 July 2021 Med J Aust 2021; 215 (1): 22-24 Is a policy of mandatory vaccination for healthcare workers permissible under Australian law?

A multipronged strategy of

education, and financial and social incentives has contributed to Australia’s historically widespread uptake of vaccines.

Mandatory vaccination, however, constitutes a greater degree of government direction than customary policies. It is therefore worthy of discussion in the context of the advent of effective vaccines against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), which causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), a disease of substantial morbidity and mortality.

SARS-CoV-2 infection of high-risk workers constitutes a transmission risk to other staff, consumers and the community at large. This article provides a legal analysis of mandatory vaccination for high-risk workers, focusing on those working in health care as a pertinent example. Where vaccination is considered an inherent requirement of an employee’s role, an interesting question arises as to whether mandatory vaccination is legally permissible. https://www.mja.com.au/ journal/2021/215/1/medico-legalconsiderations-mandatorycovid-19-vaccination-high-riskworkers

The importance of credible information Department of Health Australians are encouraged to rely on reputable sources of information to help them make informed choices and stay up to date on the latest information about COVID-19 vaccines.

With new vaccine developments every day, it’s normal to have questions or concerns, and possibly feel hesitant about getting a vaccine. This is a new

vaccination program and these are new vaccines.

Sometimes it's hard to discern misunderstandings or false information from the facts.

Usually people are simply seeking more information to answer questions or allay any concerns they may have.

This information can help people to make informed decisions – and get information from a trusted source. https://www.health.gov.au/ initiatives-and-programs/covid19-vaccines/is-it-true#main-navdefault

COVID-19 News and Resources Hub Australian Academy of Science The Rapid Research Information Forum (RRIF) is a forum for rapid information sharing and collaboration within the Australian research and innovation sector. It is convened

by Australia’s Chief Scientist, Dr Cathy Foley AO FAA FTSE, and its operations are led by the Australian Academy of Science.

RRIF provides a mechanism to rapidly bring together relevant multidisciplinary expertise, to address pressing questions about Australia’s response to COVID-19 as they emerge. RRIF enables timely responses to be provided to governments based on the best available evidence. RRIF also informs the Chief Scientist’s interactions and collaboration with other national chief scientific advisers.

RRIF demonstrates the critical value of research and innovation in driving societal as well as economic progress now and into the future. https://www.science.org.au/ covid19/news-and-resources

THE LAMP AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2021 | 41

LIONS NURSES’ SCHOLARSHIP Looking for funding to further your studies in 2022?

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

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

and working within the nursing profession in NSW or the ACT, and must have a minimum of three years’ experience in the nursing profession – the last 12 months of which must have been spent in NSW or the ACT. Details of eligibility and the scholarships available (which include study projects either within Australia or overseas), and

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

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

Scholarship

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

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

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

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

Applications open 1 July, closing 30 September 2021

To apply go to bit.ly/RozNormanScholarship 42 | THE LAMP AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2021

further enquiries: email gensec@nswnma.asn.au METRO: (02) 8595 1234 • RURAL: 1300 367 962

CROSSWORD

test your

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ACROSS 1. A potentially life-threatening condition caused by drinking too much water (5.12) 10. Make in excess (11) 11. The embedded part of an organ or structure (5) 13. A confusion of sounds or voices (5) 14. Papules (7) 15. Introduced as settlers (10) 17. A type of spice (6) 18. Towards (2) 19. Cold-blooded (11) 20. Coagulated (7) 22. Visual purple (9) 24. Micturition (9) 27. Excessive sweating on one side of the body (17) 30. Symbol for neon (2)

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31. Pes (4) 32. A mucous membrane eruption (9) 35. Holds or carries in equilibrium (8) 36. An agent causing vomiting (8) DOWN 1. Pertussis (8.5) 2. The movement or growth of an organism toward or away from heat (13) 3. Repulsive (9) 4. Hidden or secluded spots (5) 5. The third pair of cranial nerves, control most of the muscles that move the eyeballs (10.5) 6. Intoxication with alcohol (11) 7. Carried by air (8) 8. Object of worship (4)

9. A drug that decreases nose congestion (5.12) 12. Symbol for oersted (1.1) 15. Isothiocyanate (1.1.1) 16. Swells (8) 19. A hospital ward (1.1) 21. Electroshock therapy (1.1.1) 23. Oophoritis (8) 25. Continuous pain (4) 26. A sudden pushing or driving force (7) 28. A filovirus that causes acute disease in humans and primates (5) 29. Within a boundary (5) 33. Not (3) 34. The 7th letter of the Greek alphabet (3) THE LAMP AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2021 | 43

INSURANCE BENEFITS

For NSWNMA Members

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

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

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

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

Unsure if you are financial?

It’s easy!

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

www.nswnma.asn.au 44 |

IMPORTANT NOTE From 1 December 2018 the insurance benefits have changed as follows: • Journey Accident Insurance: the waiting period for benefits is now 14 days • Professional Indemnity Insurance: the limit per claim is now $5 million THE LAMP AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2021

REVIEWS

book club

All books can be ordered through the publisher or your local bookshop. Call 8595 1234 or 1300 367 962, or email library@nswnma.asn.au for assistance with loans or research.

Books are not independently reviewed or reviewed using information supplied by the publishers.

Fully Human: A New Way of Using Your Mind Steve Biddulph Pan Macmillan Australia RRP $34.99 ISBN 9781760789770

A mother of small children trusts her ‘gut feeling’ and it saves her life.

A young dad is able to grieve for his lost baby – using a song.

What if there were parts of our minds that we never use, but if awakened, could make us feel so much happier, connected and alive?

What if awakening those parts could bring peace to the conflicts and struggles we all go through?

The Eighth Wonder Tania Farrell Penguin Random House RRP $32.99 ISBN 9781761040733

A sparkling debut that will take you on a journey through New York in 1897 – from Fifth Avenue mansions to Lower East Side tenements and the carnivals of Coney Island. The Eighth Wonder follows a young feminist and aspiring architect, who must fight against the rules of society in order to find her place in the world.

At the heart of The Eighth Wonder lies a moving love story about a man, a woman, and the circus elephant that brings them together.

T AL

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Shabnam Ighani Ocean Reeve Publishing: RRP: $29.95 ISBN 9781922532541 Discover through one woman’s memoir detailing how a happy and carefree life was shattered following the Iranian 1979 revolution.

Trapped in a marriage, ruled by a government that denied her dream as a female to study at university, and discriminated against for her Bahá’i faith, she made a harrowing attempt to cross the Turkish border through the mountains with her two young sons.

Captured and imprisoned back in Iran only made her more determined to escape her confinement. Follow her journey and understand the obstacles she overcame that helped her formulate 10 self-made rules to merge into a new society, reach her dreams and fight for a better future.

INTE IAL

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Fighting for a Future: Trapped Behind the Border

We have four copies of Fighting For A Future to give away thanks to Ocean Reeve Publishing.

Email your name and membership number to lamp@ nswnma.asn.au by 30 September to be in the draw to win!

Thursdays at Orange Blossom House Sophie Green Hachette Australia RRP $32.99 ISBN 9780733646126

Far North Queensland, 1993: At 74, former cane farmer Grace Maud is feeling her age, and her isolation, and thinks the best of life may be behind her. Elsewhere in town, high school teacher Patricia has given up on her dreams of travel and adventure and has moved home to look after her ageing parents, while café owner Dorothy is struggling to accept that she may never have the baby she and her husband so desperately want.

THE LAMP AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2021 | 45

YOUR HEALTH

fitness+wellbeing

3

winter warmer recipes that will heal you from the inside out

With winter well and truly set in, it’s definitely time to opt for foods that warm you from the inside out! Karl from Vitruvian Health has picked his top three winter warmer recipes to provide you with some cooking inspiration. Each of these recipes has been crafted with ingredients that aim to provide you with both the macro and micro nutrients your body is craving, particularly during the winter months when the sun is low.

Chicken Broth

Ingredients • 2kg of chicken wings • 4L of water • 1 onion • 1 leek • 4 carrots • 1 bunch of kale or spinach leaves • 2 cloves of garlic • 1 lemon •S pices – we recommend cumin, coriander powder, cardamom and nutmeg Method • Fill a large pot with water •A dd all of the above ingredients to the pot •P ut a lid on the pot and turn up the head, bringing the pot to boil •O nce boiling, reduce the heat to a simmer so there are little bubbles rippling across the surface of the water

46 | THE LAMP AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2021

• Leave pot simmering for 4–6 hours (the longer the better, though keep an eye on water level as it will reduce over time as the goodness from the ingredients leak into the water) • When the pot has reduced to ¾ or ½ full and the water is a white cloudy colour, turn off the heat and leave to cool •O nce cool, drain the remnants out of the broth using a strainer (broth will be thick and jelly like consistency once cool) • Separate into small containers to save some for later • Add a couple of scoops to a mug or bowl, add some hot water, and a sprinkle of salt and pepper.

If you prefer a plant-based broth, feel free sub out the chicken for extra veggies.

Chicken mince stir fry

Ingredients • 500g chicken mince • 1 bag of frozen veggies (green beans, capsicum, mixed veg) • 1 dollop of sweet chilli sauce (low sugar) • 1 cup of black rice, or a bag of microwave rice Method • Put a fry pan on low to medium heat, adding a little butter or coconut oil to prime the pan • When pan is warm, add the chicken mince • Using a wooden spoon, break apart the mince into small pieces • Prime a second fry pan (or your air fryer!)

• Add the bag of veggies •C ook both the chicken and the veggies until both are slightly browned •W hile this is cooking, add your rice to your rice cooker, or add the bag of rice to the microwave •O nce brown, add the veggies into the same pan as the chicken, mix together •A dd a dollop of sweet chilli sauce to the chicken and veggie mix and stir through • Ladle into your bowl •P ack the rest into containers for your meals the next day!

Raspberry and apple crumble

Ingredients • 200g frozen raspberries • 2 green apples • ½ lemon juice • Cinnamon • Nutmeg • Coconut yogurt • 100g almonds Method • Add the raspberries and diced apples to a small pot over a low heat • Cover with a lid, bringing the raspberries and apples to a simmer •O nce simmering, sprinkle with cinnamon and nutmeg

• Simmer away until the apple and raspberries have separated into small pieces •A dd a generous scoop to a bowl, along with a dollop of coconut yogurt • Sprinkle with a handle of almonds and another pinch of cinnamon.

Optional – if you want to indulge yourself, add a couple of squares of dark chocolate to the raspberry and apple mix so that it melts through and coats the almonds.

THE LAMP AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2021 | 47

Winter

ESSENTIALS Keep warm in NSWNMA favourites which are not only stylish and comfortable, but also affordable and sold at cost to members.

Red or Navy Hoodies $50.

Active Soft Shell Navy Jacket $55.

Poly/spandex, micro polar fleece lining, breathable fabric.

80% cotton/20% poly brushed fleece, kangaroo pocket with full lining hood.

Snowy Puffer Jacket $55.

380T nylon outer, poly fill padding.

Two zippered pockets and elasticated cuffs.

ORDER VIA

MEMBER CENTRAL

LOGIN @ WWW.NSWNMA.ASN.AU

$10 postage for orders under $60

48 | THE LAMP AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2021

Spend $60 and over to receive

FREE POSTAGE

NOTICE

NSWNMA FEE WAIVER for members on parental leave DID YOU KNOW,

if you’re going on parental leave, paid or unpaid, we’ll waive your Association fees until you return to work?

You’ll still be entitled to access advice and receive The Lamp.

Contact the Association and let us know when you plan to take parental leave so we can set up your waiver.

PHONE 8595 1234 • 1300 367 962 EMAIL gensec@nswnma.asn.au

www.nswnma.asn.au

Authorised by B.Holmes, General Secretary, NSWNMA THE LAMP AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2021 | 49

RECRUIT A NEW MEMBER AND GO INTO THE DRAW TO WIN A REJUVENATING HOLIDAY AT THE SEBEL SYDNEY MANLY BEACH

1/

THE 2021– 22 NSWNMA MEMBER RECRUITMENT SCHEME PRIZE Enjoy a stylish retreat just steps from the water in Sydney’s vibrant seaside suburb at The Sebel Sydney Manly Beach. Located a short 30-minute ferry ride from Sydney CBD, Manly offers laidback vibes and plays host to one of Sydney’s most stunning beaches.

Stay in a recently refurbished Studio Ocean View room, offering a stylish furnished balcony – the perfect spot for morning coffee. You’ll be within walking distance of Manly’s many restaurants, cafés, bars and shops and the area’s picturesque coastal walks. You and a friend will experience: • 4 nights’ accommodation in a Studio Ocean View Room 3/ • Welcome bottle of wine • Daily a la carte breakfast for two adults • Complimentary parking • Complimentary WiFi • The NSWNMA will arrange return flights for two to Sydney (if flights are required)

PRIZE DRAWN 1 JULY 2022 RECRUITERS NOTE: Join online at www.nswnma.asn.au Every member you sign up over the year gives you an entry in the draw!

If you refer a member to join online, make sure you ask them to put your name and workplace on the online application form, so you will be entered in the draw.

Conditions apply. Prize must be redeemed by 1 July 2023 and is subject to room availability. Voucher must be presented upon request. Voucher is not transferrable nor redeemable for cash. Block-out dates may apply. The5/ prize will be drawn on 1 July 2022. If a redraw is required for an unclaimed prize it must be held up to 3 months from the original draw date.

50 | THE LAMP AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2021

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NEW MEMBER BENEFIT

Access to online Professional Education ers!

b m e FREE for NSWNMA m Meeting your Continuing Professional Development (CPD) obligations* is now even easier with this great new offer for NSWNMA members. As a financial member you’ll have access to 61 online courses absolutely free.

FEATURING Access to over 20 hours of FREE CPD* 61 topics including those modules that are deemed mandatory annual competencies by large health organisations and nursing agencies* Free professional development portfolio to provide evidence to the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia (NMBA) of participation in CPD annually Access free webinars on a range of topics

LOGGING ON MEMBERS: New users create a ONE-TIME login to the website.

NON-MEMBERS: Join the union at www.nswnma.asn.au and receive access to your 20 hours of FREE CPD!

bit.ly/NSWNMAMemberCentral * Nurses and midwives have various obligations in relation to CPD, which you can read more about on the NMBA website or here. The NMBA outlines that CPD must be relevant to your context of practice, and recommends nurses and midwives complete a range of CPD activities, e.g. – face-to-face, simulation, interactive e-learning, self-directed learning. The ANMF Education is developed for nurses and midwives working across Australia. For nurses and midwives practicing in NSW, it is important to ensure you follow relevant governance and legislative requirements.

Search “Ausmed” in the app store.

Authorised by B. Holmes, General Secretary, New South Wales Nurses and Midwives’ Association, 50 O’Dea Ave, Waterloo NSW 2017