The Lamp December 2011 - January 2012

The magazine of the NSW Nurses’ Association

volume 68 no.11 December 2011 — January 2012

Print Post Approved: PP241437/00033

NURSES ACT TO END SHORTAGES

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

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CONTENTS

The

Contacts NSW NURSES’ ASSOCIATION For all membership enquiries and assistance, including Lamp subscriptions and change of address, contact our Sydney office.

SYDNEY OFFICE 50 O’Dea Avenue, Waterloo NSW 2017 (all correspondence) T 8595 1234 (metro) 1300 367 962 (non-metro) F 9662 1414 E gensec@nswnurses.asn.au W www.nswnurses.asn.au HUNTER OFFICE 8-14 Telford Street, Newcastle East NSW 2300 ILLAWARRA OFFICE L1, 63 Market Street Wollongong NSW 2500

lamp Volume 68 No.11 December 2011 — January 2012

NSWNA Communications Manager Janaki Chellam-Rajendra T 8595 1258 For all Lamp editorial enquiries, letters and diary dates: EDITORIAL ENQUIRIES T 8595 1234 E lamp@nswnurses.asn.au M 50 O’Dea Avenue, Waterloo NSW 2017 PRODUCED BY Hester Communications T 9568 3148

COVER STORY

12 | Nurses acts to end shortages A decision by Goulburn Base Hospital nurses to close beds in the interests of patient safety has wrung concessions from management.

Sharney Fleming, Jane Cotter, and Lorraine Emerton are determined to get results.

REGULARS

5 5 6 6 8 8 35 39 37 41 37 42 42 45 45 47 47 49 48 50

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

NURSE UNCUT

41 | Nurse Uncut turns two!

THE YEAR IN REVIEW

20 | 2011 started with a bang!

After a hard-fought campaign NSW nurses won nurse-topatient ratios and funding for the 1400 additional nurses required to meet the extra staffing levels.

PSI

28 | Nurses on the move

Consistent with an increasingly globalised world millions of nurses find themselves on the move.

COMPETITIONS

26 | Great Christmas prizes to be won

AGED CARE

25 | Flying squad stars at aged care forum

110 nurses attended the NSWNA Annual Aged Care Nurses Forum last month.

PRESS RELEASES Send your press releases to: T 9662 1414 E gensec@nswnurses.asn.au EDITORIAL COMMITTEE • Brett Holmes, NSWNA General Secretary • Judith Kiejda, NSWNA Assistant General Secretary • Coral Levett, NSWNA President • John Lyons, Baradine MPS • Roz Norman, Tamworth Base Hospital • Elsie May Henson, Barraba Multi Purpose Service • Peg Hibbert, Hornsby & Ku-Ring-Gai Hospital • Michelle Cashman, Long Jetty Continuing Care • Richard Noort, Justice Health ADVERTISING Patricia Purcell T 8595 2139 or 0416 259 845 or 9662 1414 E ppurcell@nswnurses.asn.au RECORDS AND INFORMATION CENTRE – LIBRARY To find old articles in The Lamp, or to borrow from the NSWNA library’s nursing and health collection, contact: Jeannette Bromfield, RIC Coordinator T 8595 2175 E gensec@nswnurses.asn.au

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

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

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

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

THE LAMP DECEMBER 2011 — JANUARY 2012 | 3

INTERESTED IN PARTICIPATING IN THE NSWNA’S 2013 INTERNATIONAL NURSES’ DAY FILM FESTIVAL? If so, you may be interested in attending one of these NIDA workshops.

Like to attend?

Get your application in

EDITORIAL

BY BRETT HOLMES GENERAL SECRETARY

Victoria’s secret plan to cut nurse numbers Victoria once led the way in safe staffing in our public hospitals. It was the first state in Australia, and one of the first in the world, to adopt nurse-to-patient ratios.

It was an inspiration for our own ratios campaign in NSW.

‘The strategy is strikingly similar to that adopted

by Qantas management when it grounded its fleet during pay talks with its unions.’

Now it has been revealed that the Liberal government of Ted Baillieu, barely a year in office, has a mendacious plan to roll back these gains won by Victorian nurses over more than a decade.

The Victorian Government has chosen a path of deliberate and premeditated confrontation in its pay talks with nurses, with a plan to provoke industrial unrest, escalate a crisis and force Fair Work Australia to step in to end industrial action.

The strategy is strikingly similar to that adopted by Qantas management when it grounded its fleet during pay talks with its unions.

The Victorian Government strategy is revealed in a cabinet-in-confidence submission signed off by health minister David Davis in May, and leaked to the Sunday Age last month.

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

This is a shocking revelation.

The Baillieu Government plan has several components that should ring alarm bells for NSW nurses. The Victorian cabinet paper details a plan to: • cut the annual nursing budget by $104 million • make nurse-to-patient ratios more ‘flexible’ • replace RNs with low-paid, low-skilled ‘health assistants’ • introduce shorter shifts and split shifts.

The government estimates these cuts would deliver 4 per cent in savings. In return it would agree to a 3.5 per cent pay rise. By comparison,Victorian police recently received a 4.7 per cent pay rise.

The level of planning and deceit in the government’s strategy was reinforced by correspondence between the Australian Nursing Federation (ANF Victoria) and the Department of Health.

In September, the ANF accused the Victorian Department of Health of dragging out negotiations.

The department’s Director of Industrial Relations replied: ‘I note with disappointment and incredulity your statement … that the department … is not genuinely seeking negotiated outcomes.’

It is not hard to draw the conclusion, after reading the government’s strategy paper, that the negotiations have been a sham rather than conducted in good faith as required by law.

A CAUTIONARY TALE FOR NSW There are lessons here for us in NSW. Firstly, we can’t take our wins for granted.

In 2013, when our Award for the public health system comes up for renegotiation, members will need to be engaged and prepared to put pressure on the government, if we are to win improvements and defend what we have already won.

The NSW Government has already legislated a cap on public sector pay rises at 2.5 per cent unless there are employee-related savings.

We need Victorian nurses to win this battle. If they lose the NSW Government will likely get advice from the NSW Treasury to follow the Victorian strategy.

Before last November’s state election, the Victorian Liberals pledged they would not change nurse-to-patient ratios. Now they are talking about ‘local flexibility’.

We have been given similar assurances but the Victorian experience gives us food for thought and reminds us of the necessity of being prepared and vigilant.

THE LAMP DECEMBER 2011 — JANUARY 2012 | 5

LETTERS LETTERS

LETTER OF THE MONTH You are needed

Marriage good for health, discrimination not We are writing in support of the NSWNA in regards to same sex marriage, not on an equality basis but on a health basis. It is well studied that marriage confers many health benefits to those who engage in it and, in the reverse, that discrimination and exclusion have multiple negative health effects. As nurses are we not concerned with the health of populations as much as the health of individuals. We see that the NSWNA is doing the correct thing by attempting to improve the health of a minority within Australia by advocating for marriage. Portraying the move as an ‘agenda’ is insulting to the foundations of nursing as a profession and our aim of improving health to all people.

Kurt Andersson-Noorgard (CNC Mental Health) & Kerrie Cooper CNC (Mental Health)

LETTER

OF THE MONTH

The letter judged the best each month will be awarded a $50 Coles Myer voucher courtesy of Moore Equipment. ‘Clever carts to help clever nurses.’

For details on the range of clax carts please call (02) 9519 5540 or visit www.moore equipmentcom.au

Every letter published receives the Sydney Morning Herald and Sun Herald delivered 7 days a week for 26 weeks.

Subscribe to the Herald today to save 41% off the newsstand price and enjoy the convenience of the paper delivered to you each morning. Visit www.subscribe.smh.com. au/lamp for more details.

6 | THE LAMP DECEMBER 2011 — JANUARY 2012

In nursing we are always confronting challenges and trying to fight for the best outcomes for our patients. Our work is regularly tiring, sometimes frustrating and often unacknowledged by those to whom we give the most. As the year draws to a close and we start to think about the issues confronting our profession in 2012, I wanted to share a ‘feel-good’ story, as an example of when appreciation comes from the most unexpected quarters.

It had been one of those weeks. On Monday, I had a hectic shift in delivery suite, culminating in the birth of a beautiful new person. On Tuesday, I nursed five very sick cardiac patients, including one who was dying. On Wednesday evening, I was present when this patient passed away and supported the family in their anguish, while trying to keep an eye on four other patients. By Thursday, the emotional and physical strain of such intense work was starting to show and I was tearful and exhausted.

As I tried to continue to care for another group of five very unwell patients, I was stopped in the corridor by one of the hospital porters who asked if I was OK. After I vented my exhaustion all over him, he said the following words, which have stayed with me ever since: ‘Think about the best part. You are a nurse. Do you know how cool that is? You look after everyone. It doesn’t matter what kind of person they are; anyone from a beggar to the richest person in the world. Even the Prime Minister will have to come to you one day for sure. You are needed by everyone even the doctors themselves. You guys are doing a great job, you know, and there is heaps of good karma for nurses. Trust me!’

The generosity of these words, from someone to whom I had given nothing, and the impact that they had on me at that moment cannot be expressed. It is so important that nurses are acknowledged for the work they do as it gives us the strength to carry on at times when it seems easier to throw up our hands and walk away. As this year draws to a close, there will be many nurses and midwives out there feeling discouraged, burnt-out or just plain exhausted. I hope that in reading these words, you too will feel acknowledged for your efforts and reassured that your life-changing work is appreciated by those who witness it.

Elizabeth Matters RN/RM

‘Think about the best part.You are a nurse. Do you know how cool that is?You look after everyone. It doesn’t matter what kind of person they are; anyone from a beggar to the richest person in the world.’

LETTERS

Response to Needless Hurdles I’ve just read Needless Hurdles in the November edition and am absolutely horrified, appalled, extremely concerned, and furious about the retrospective application of the recency of practice rule, that such a rule was implemented without the prior notification to currently registered nurses and finally, that The Lamp have presented such a significant issue to your membership and readership half way through the edition. With the majority of nurses being women and a significant number of these being of childrearing age, I can’t believe this law was allowed to be implemented in the first place without greater consideration for the demographic it would most affect. In regards to the retrospective nature specifically, I’m amazed it was implemented without flexibility built in (at least in the short term), and without greater consideration for how currently registered, not practising nurses, would be able to meet re-training requirements in a timely, cost effective and accessible manner (in the short term) while training programs are developed and established by at least more than one party in NSW. I appreciate that much changes in the dynamic profession of nursing in 10 years and why the recency of practice law has been implemented, however I do not agree with the retrospective nature of the law with a lack of flexible processes and attitudes to manage the issue in the short term, and the failure of previous and current registration bodies to inform nurses of the retrospective application and what it could mean for their careers.

What I would like to know is who was fighting for the rights of nurses and women during the drafting and establishment of this law, who made the decision not to advise currently registered nurses (NSWNA members or not) during the transition to national registration of this law and it’s potential effect on careers, AND importantly where was the NSWNA and what are you going to do about it NOW? Catherine Sutton, RN Editor’s response Dear Member The Association began communicating impending changes to National Registration through The Lamp and on our website in April 2009, with an article titled National Registration of Nurses and Midwives.We followed this in December 2009 in Professional Issues with an article titled Progress on National Registration; again in April 2011 with National Registration Update, and in July 2010 National Registration Comes on Board: outlining new

obligations for nurses and midwives. In August 2010, we published National Registration Standards Approved and in September 2010 National Registration: period of grace for renewals. In March 2011 we began a new series online at www.nurseuncut.com.au highlighting the frustration over national registration.Through reports to Committee of Delegates each branch has been provided with bi-monthly updates on all developments as well as synopses of our submissions to AHPRA (the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency).

Nonetheless, we are aware that many nurses and midwives are only now learning that they are not eligible for registration due to their lack of recency of practice.The Association continues to lobby AHPRA and the Nursing and Midwifery Office (NaMO) on behalf of nurses and midwives.The process of setting up a system of national registration for 520,000 doctors, nurses and allied health professionals was complex, with many competing interests and stakeholders. NSWNA worked hard to achieve the best outcomes from this process for our members. However, we are disappointed that so many nurses and midwives have been caught out with the retrospective application of the recency of practice standard, and we have written to AHPRA in this regard.

We have also communicated our concerns about the lack of accessible options for refreshers to NaMO and we welcome NaMO’s announcement of a number of scholarships, although clearly the number of scholarships falls well short of what is required. NSWNA will continue to advocate on behalf of nurses and midwives who have been disadvantaged in this way.

Get even, not mad I sympathise with Janelle Atkinson’s story (The Lamp, November 2011) regarding the recency of practice laws, having been through the same process last year.

Like her I cried for a week, feeling as shocked as if someone had told me I was no longer a mother. Like her I had four children, lived a long way away from an Australian city, and did my best to keep up with nursing through volunteering, First Aid teaching etc. Like her I could not risk spending $10,000 to find that I still did not meet requirements.

In the end I decided not to get mad, but to get even. I applied to do a Bachelor of Nursing, and was accepted by several Universities with HECs help. I commenced my course in 2011 and every High Distinction I get shows me that I was not wrong to believe that if only there was a comprehensive, flexible, accessible and affordable refresher course I would by now be a valuable member of the nursing workforce.

The irony is that the people who make these decisions have not touched a patient for years and remain ‘on the register’.

Mature Student Nurse, (ex-RN and RM). (name withheld)

Social issues a health concern I commenced nursing in 1978 at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital. I was 20.

From that time I was confronted with an enormous range of social issues, as all nurses are, on a daily basis.

As nurses we need to be prepared for ‘anything that comes through the door’ so to speak. We ethically cannot choose who we want to treat. From this I would like to comment on the readers’ response to Charles Linsell’s letter (August 2011 Lamp) on same-sex marriage. He did say that the NSWNA supports the rights of people other than those in a traditional male or female relationship to marry their partner.

I am glad that the Association passed the motion at its conference and I did not find Charles’ article offensive. By wanting marriage, gay people do not have a political agenda – it was the government in 2004 that had the political agenda by passing ‘the marriage act’ a vicious piece of legislation that was designed for an election victory.

This sort of government interference into personal lives has an impact on mental health and is an issue that should concern nurses.

I don’t want the NSWNA and The Lamp to confine articles to industrial issues. I appreciate articles on climate change, immigration policy etc., because they discuss social impacts of government legislation. Broad social issues should be a concern for all nurses and we should avoid being offended by modern day realities.

Brian Coates, RN, Lithgow Community Health

SAY

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

Please include a photograph along with your name, address, phone and membership number.

Letters may be edited for clarity and space.

THE LAMP DECEMBER 2011 — JANUARY 2012 | 7

NEWS IN BRIEF

Australia

Australia

Have your say on insecure work

‘For profit’ aged care nurses get ready The majority of enterprise agreements in the ‘for profit’ aged care sector are up for renewal in the first half of next year and the NSWNA is beginning the preparations necessary to get a good outcome.

The NSWNA will send a survey to all members in the ‘for profit’ aged care sector to get feedback on how their current agreement is going and what they want in the new agreement.

A log of claims committee will be selected at the Committee of Delegates meeting on 15 November.

Delegates are encouraged to nominate for positions on the committee.

Training for bargaining for fair wages and conditions will be held on 1 February 2012.

‘This inquiry will shine a light on the situation of insecure workers in Australia.’

The ACTU (Australian Council of Trade Unions) has commissioned Australia’s first formal investigation into the rise of insecure work and its effect on families and communities.

The inquiry is being chaired by former Deputy Prime Minister Brian Howe, with Paul Munro, a former senior presidential member of the Australian Industrial Relations Commission, as deputy chair.

The inquiry will analyse the increase in casual, contract, labour hire and other forms of insecure work in Australia in recent decades, and the impact this has had on workplace rights, household finances and wider society.

ACTU President Ged Kearney (pictured) says workers in insecure work make up about 40 per cent of the workforce and many Australians are being asked to choose between insecure employment and no work at all.

‘This inquiry will shine a light on the situation of insecure workers in Australia, and work out what government, employers and unions should be doing to help them.’

Ged said the inquiry panel would prepare a report and recommendations for the ACTU Congress in May next year.

Submissions can be lodged until 16 December, and public hearings will be held across Australia in February and March next year.

The full terms of reference and more details about the inquiry are available at www.securejobs.org.au or by phoning 1300 362 223 (toll free).

Australia

New practice nurse contract delivers 3.8% NSWNA General Secretary Brett Holmes said ‘If we start early, plan well and members get involved we can achieve excellent outcomes. Aged care nurses have an opportunity to get involved in the Campaign through the Bargaining Organising Committee. I also invite nurses to attend Bargaining for fair wages and conditions Training at the NSWNA in Waterloo on 1 February 2012. Please rsvp to NSWNA to register your attendance at the training by contacting Alicia McCosker on 1300 967 362.

I would encourage them to do so.’

The NSWNA and the Australian Medical Association (NSW) have reached agreement to renew a model contract for practice nurses that delivers a 3.8 per cent wage increase per year over two years.

The contract is underpinned by the Nurses Award 2010, which provides a minimum safety net.

Extra benefits include: • a 3.8% pay increase effective from 1 July 2011 with another 3.8% increase effective from 1 July 2012 • annual review of hours for part-time employees • recognition of continuing professional development • inclusion of new relevant courses for continuing education allowance.

NSWNA General Secretary Brett Holmes says the pay increases and improved conditions are in recognition of the role practice nurses play in enhancing the scope and quality of primary care services in NSW. ‘Practice nurses tend to work in small, dispersed workplaces. We believe that the joint contract provides a fair option for the employment of practice nurses and we look forward to more employers electing to adopt it in their workplaces in NSW. ‘While the Association is clearly supportive of this approach, it is always our preference for nurses to have fair access to collective bargaining arrangements.’

A copy of the model contract can be found in the members section of the NSWNA website.

8 | THE LAMP DECEMBER 2011 — JANUARY 2012

NEWS IN BRIEF

United States

US spends more on health than French on ‘everything’ GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT OF FRANCE

$2.6

trillion

HEALTH CARE SPENDING OF UNITED STATES

$2.6

trillion

Former White House health policy adviser Zeke Emanuel has hit on a staggering comparison to illustrate the inefficiencies of the predominantly privatised American healthcare system compared with the publicly funded European health care systems.

‘The United States spends on health care alone what the 65 million people of France spend on everything: education, defence, the environment, scientific research, vacations, food, housing, cars, clothes and health care. In other words, our health care spending is the fifth largest economy in the world.’ (France has the fifth largest economy in the world, with a gross domestic product of nearly $2.6 trillion. In 2010, the United States spent $2.6 trillion on health care.)

For more than 30 years, US health care costs have been growing 2 per cent faster than the country’s overall economy.

Emanuel says that if this rate of growth is maintained, health care will be roughly one-third of the entire economy by 2035 — one of every three dollars will go to health care — and nearly half by 2080.

‘The United States spends about a quarter more than countries with some of the best health care systems in the world, like Germany and France.’

‘In 2035 — 1 of every $3 will go to health care.’

Canada

STOP PRESS

The New South Wales Nurses’ Association (NSWNA) offers its condolences to family and friends of the residents who died in the Quakers Hill Nursing Home fire.

Our members in hospitals and aged care facilities are working hard to care for residents who were injured and displaced.

The NSWNA continues to offer assistance and support to our members at Quakers Hill Nursing Home.

Our discussions with the employer, Domain Principal, have been positive regarding their employees, who have been traumatised and displaced as a result of this tragedy.

We will continue to work with our members and Domain Principal to assist, where we can, with the long-term consequences of this tragic event.

When waiting kills The longer a patient waits in Emergency Department the higher the risk of death, according to a massive Canadian research project.

The British Medical Journal says researchers gathered data from everyone who visited any ED in Ontario over a five-year period. This gave them data on a staggering 22 million visits.

Fourteen million of these patients were seen and then sent home. These patients were followed up to see what happened to them – especially if they had died.

Internal hospital data also gave the average waiting time in the ED when patients arrived. This allowed researchers to measure the odds of death for patients discharged when the average wait in ED was less than four hours, compared to patients discharged when the wait was less than one hour.

Patients sent home when the average wait in the ED was more than six hours, were twice as likely to die as those sent home after a wait of less than one hour. The odds ratio was similar for patients measured as high or low urgency at triage.

The clear trend in the data showed each step up in waiting time resulted in a higher risk of death.

The study has been praised as an excellent example of effectiveness of good quality computerised health records and the knowledge they can yield.

THE LAMP DECEMBER 2011 — JANUARY 2012 | 9

NEWS IN BRIEF

Australia

United States

ANF grows 21% in two years

Harm and benefit in cancer screening

The Australian Nursing Federation continues to grow, with its membership nationally now standing at 214,000.

ANF Federal Secretary Lee Thomas (pictured) unveiled the new membership figures at the ANF’s Biennial National Conference 2011 in Canberra.

Lee said ANF membership had risen from 169,000 at the last National Biennial Conference in 2009, to the current membership of 214,000 – a 21 per cent increase.

‘Our new membership figures prove that the ANF is one of Australia’s fastest-growing unions.

‘Since our last National Conference, we’ve experienced unprecedented growth in membership across a full-range of health settings, including private and public hospitals, aged care facilities, medical practices and community medical centres across the country.

‘This is a reflection of the very successful campaigns we’ve run both nationally and by our state and territory branches, working on behalf of all of our existing and new members.

‘Our continued growth in membership, defines the ANF as a health union leader and a major stakeholder in the health, aged care and industrial and professional arenas.’

US health experts are proposing less screening for prostate, breast and cervical cancer and warn that screening comes with harm as well as benefits, according to the New York Times.

‘Our new membership figures prove that the ANF is one of Australia’s fastestgrowing unions.’

United Kingdom

Climate change ‘catastrophic’ to health

‘Rising sea levels, floods and droughts cause loss of habitat, water and food shortages, and threats to livelihood.’

An unusual coalition of influential health and military experts has called on politicians to take urgent action on climate change, at a recent London conference on the health and security implications of climate change.

The health experts included Dr Fiona Godlee, editor in chief of British Medical Journal, Dr Hamish Meldrum, chairman of the British Medical Association, Dr Richard Horton, editor-in-chief of The Lancet and Dr Hege Gjessing, president of the Norwegian Medical Association.

The group says climate change ‘… poses an immediate, growing and grave threat to the health and security of people in both developed and developing countries around the globe.

‘Rising sea levels, floods and droughts cause loss of habitat, water and food shortages, and threats to livelihood. These trigger conflict within and between countries. Humanitarian crises will further burden military resources through the need for rescue missions and aid.

‘Mass migration will also increase, triggered by both environmental stress and conflict, thus leading to serious, further security issues. It will often not be possible to adapt meaningfully to these changes, and the economic cost will be enormous. As in medicine, prevention is the best solution.’

10 | THE LAMP DECEMBER 2011 — JANUARY 2012

The United States Preventive Services Task Force, which evaluates evidence and publishes screening guidelines, says that women in their 40s do not appear to benefit from mammograms and that women ages 50 to 74 should consider having them every two years, instead of every year.

Two recent clinical trials of prostate cancer screening cast doubt on whether many lives, if any, are saved. And they said that screening often leads to, what can be, disabling treatments for men whose cancer otherwise would never have harmed them.

Cancer experts told the NY Times they cannot ignore evidence, mounting during the past 10 years, that while early detection through widespread screening can help in some cases, those cases are small in number for most cancers. At the same time, the studies are more clearly defining the harm of screening.

Dr Otis Brawley, chief medical officer of the American Cancer Society, says clinicians need to be more cautious in their advocacy of screening tests.

‘I think people are actually starting to understand that we need to be a little more rigorous in what we accept about screening,’ he says.

NEWS IN BRIEF

United Kingdom

Hollow pledge to protect NHS British Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron’s grandstanding promises to protect the National Health System, made before last year’s election, are looking hollow. New statistics show that spending on health fell in real terms during the government’s first year in office.

An independent analysis from the House of Commons Library showed that NHS spending fell by £800m in 2010–11 in real terms, when inflation was taken into account.

Prime Minister Cameron (pictured) has made great fanfare of his promise to protect the NHS. In June he launched five NHS ‘guarantees you can hold me to and that I will be personally accountable for’ – including ‘not to cut spending on the NHS, but to increase it’.

Christina McAnea from Unison – a British healthcare union – told The Independent: ‘We have a reality gap between what the government is saying about cuts and what patients and staff in hospitals are experiencing on the ground. Hospitals have already closed, waiting lists are getting longer and jobs are being cut. We have warned time and time again that the government’s agenda has been to cut spending in the NHS.’

South East Asia

Hands Across the Water Forensic scientist Peter Baines personally witnessed the devastating impacts of the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami, working as part of the Australian response team helping to identify victims.

During his time in Thailand Peter worked with British police officer Gill Williams, who introduced him to the needs of a number of Thai children who had lost both parents and were living in tents. Sadly, many had also lost members of their extended families and their homes and villages had been destroyed.

Touched by the plight of these children, Peter and Gill set up Hands Across the Water Australia and UK, charities that have since gone on to build two orphanages and provide other aid to Thai children. Hands has since raised more than $5 million, all of which has been spent on helping Thai children, with Peter and other board members absorbing all administration costs of running the charity.

The Hands Across the Water Big Ride is an 800 km journey from Bangkok to Khao Lak, held each year in January to raise funds. Riders commit to raise $10,000 and fund their own expenses to travel to Thailand and take part. To sponsor a rider or learn more about the work being done by Hands across the Water, visit www.handsacrossthewater.org.au All donations to Hands Across the Water are tax deductible.

THE LAMP DECEMBER 2011 — JANUARY 2012 | 11

COVER STORY

GOULBURN

Action pledged on nurse shortage Management of Goulburn Base Hospital offers to bring forward nurse-to-patient ratios

A DECISION BY GOULBURN BASE Hospital nurses to close beds in the interests of patient safety has wrung concessions from management, aimed at addressing nurse shortages.

The hospital’s NSWNA branch agreed not to close any beds for three weeks in order to test management’s proposals.

Goulburn Hospital has been plagued by nurse shortages for many years and local nurses were ready to defy management and reduce bed numbers to more safely align them with nurse numbers.

The NSW Nurses’ Association branch at the hospital had resolved to close beds from 7 November unless management took steps to recruit more nurses and, where necessary, restrict admissions to ensure patient safety.

Hospital and Southern NSW Local Health District management offered eight initiatives in response.

These include bringing forward the implementation of nurse-to-patient ratios /Nursing Hours Per Patient Day and 10hour night shifts in the medical and surgical wards, and postponing elective surgery where necessary (see box p14).

The government agreed to the ratios earlier this year following statewide industrial action, which began late last year.

The ratios were not due to be implemented in Goulburn until March 2012.

Management also offered to close two intensive care unit beds for one month until a nurse is recruited.

NSWNA general secretary, Brett Holmes, said the nurses and midwives at Goulburn had achieved a significant breakthrough.

‘The Goulburn community is entitled to safe patient care and the determination

Lorraine Emerton

‘What happens if someone dies as a result of the understaffing?’

12 | THE LAMP DECEMBER 2011 — JANUARY 2012

of the nurses and midwives has finally got some sensible action on the heavy workloads at the hospital, which were putting safe patient care at risk,’ Brett said.

NSWNA Branch Secretary Lorraine Emerton said bed closures would be ‘back on the table’ if management’s proposals did not work.

‘There will be no third chance. Some nurses wanted to go ahead with the bed closures as planned, but the majority decided to accept a three-week trial as a gesture of good faith,’ she said.

‘Over the past 10 years we have been working in very stressful and tiring situations with enormous expectations to do overtime. There is no casual pool so no one to cover for absences due to sickness and the like.

‘Staff are simply unable to keep up with current workloads, overtime is through the roof and simply not sustainable.

‘Meanwhile, non-urgent elective surgery goes ahead despite having insufficient staff.

‘We put forward a number of proposals to address the issues but management’s initial response gave us no choice but to develop a plan for closing beds to ensure safe patient care for our community.

‘Regional communities such as Goulburn deserve the best of care, just like city people.

‘We love our hospital, it’s a fundamental part of our community, but things got to the stage where we could no longer carry on. It’s been bubbling away like a volcano and now its finally erupted.’

Lorraine said it could often take months to authorise the recruitment of nurses to rural hospitals.

‘How many nurses can afford to hang around for months waiting for a decision? … to page 14

Sharney Fleming, Jane Cotter and Lorraine Emerton are determined to get results for the Goulburn community.

THE LAMP DECEMBER 2011 — JANUARY 2012 | 13

COVER STORY

GOULBURN

… from page 12

Management’s 8-point offer to Goulburn nurses

1

Assess staff and bed availability daily and, if necessary, postpone elective surgery.

2 3

Investigate the way operating theatre cases are managed.

4

Bring forward, to 30 November 2011, the implementation of nurse-to-patient ratios (based on mandated nursing hours) in the medical and surgical wards, along with 10-hour night shifts for these two wards. Management will also consider implementation of 10-hour night shifts for the rest of the hospital.

5

Provide dedicated clinical nurse educator support for the emergency department.

6

Two intensive care unit beds to be closed for one month until a nurse is recruited, and they are not to be reopened in a surge situation without staffing being provided.

7

Discussions to occur between the Director of Nursing and Midwifery and the After Hours Nurse Managers, regarding management of the intensive care unit workload, and cancelling of operating theatre cases if no beds are available.

8

Separate Nurse Unit Managers for the emergency department and intensive care unit.

Undertake a clinical redesign of the emergency department, to start at the end of November, with an outcome to be provided to the NSWNA branch in December 2011.

‘We employ 14 agency nurses but we don’t have an agency in Goulburn. They have to come from Sydney or elsewhere on short-term contracts, so it’s costing an absolute fortune.’

Lorraine said the branch welcomed management’s offer to look at staff and bed availability daily and cancel elective surgery when necessary as a short-term solution.

‘We don’t want to affect local people and local doctors but we have to do something. It’s very hard to see your workmates so tired that they’re distressed and in tears – that’s not patient safety as far as we are concerned.

Lorraine Emerton and Jane Cotter

14 | THE LAMP DECEMBER 2011 — JANUARY 2012

‘And driving home after a 17-hour shift – how safe is that?

‘What happens if someone dies as a result of the understaffing? We would all have to live with that, and that’s not fair.’

Lorraine said ED nurses would welcome the offer to undertake a clinical redesign of the emergency department.

‘The ED has been renovated and two beds added but with no extra staff. The throughput there is such that they are on code red most of the time. The people in there have my greatest admiration because they work so goddamn hard.’

GRIFFITH

More staff for Griffith Public campaign takes ED off critical list

Skye Vagg

‘We got to the point where we had to go out to the community to let them know what was going on.’

GRIFFITH NURSES HAVE given their hospital and community an early Chr istmas present by winning more per sonnel for the dangerously under-staffed emergency department.

A short public campaign by the NSW Nurses’ Association branch at Griffith Base Hospital achieved a guarantee of an extra registered nurse (RN) and a 24-hour ward clerk.

The community campaign against unsafe staffing resulting in unreasonable workloads came after many years of unsuccessful submissions and requests to management.

‘Once we went public it took less than three weeks for management to agree to additional staff,’ said branch president Skye Vagg.

The 114-bed Griffith Base Hospital in southwest NSW is the referral hospital for residents across the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area.

Skye said the Murrumbidgee Local Health District agreed to employ an RN on an eight-hour swing shift seven days a week, to cover the peak period, and employ a night clerk to provide 24-hour clerical support.

‘This will make a huge difference and take a lot of pressure off nurses who have struggled to cope with a big increase in ED presentations in recent years. It means patients will be admitted in a safer environment.

‘The amount of sick leave in ED had almost doubled, they were having trouble keeping staff and the current skill mix had forced the in-charge nurses to do triage. People were frequently unable to take meal breaks.

‘In the past year the ED had 941 additional presentations with a significant increase in category 1-3 presentations. ED patients are staying

longer, which means nurses are expected to do much more.’

Skye said nurses had been pushing for more staff in ED since 2004, including via the Reasonable Workloads Committee.

‘But we got to the point where we had to go out to the community to let them know what was going on,’ she said. ‘We drew up a petition, everyone took a bundle and put them around their local shops. The union printed some eye-catching flyers that we letterboxed, and we put up two big banners on the road near the emergency ambulance entrance saying, “Better Care for Griffith Emergency Department”.’

The union helped branch officials with media releases and speakers’ notes while television and the local newspaper covered the dispute. The branch sent a deputation to meet the local state MP and cabinet minister Adrian Piccoli.

During the campaign the local paper reported that a nine-year-old girl with near-fatal appendicitis was twice sent home from the ED. A Griffith councillor said many locals had come to him with ED horror stories.

Skye said strong community support for the nurses’ campaign helped achieve a quick result.

‘There is new management at the district level and they also deserve credit for helping to find a quick solution,’ she added.

Under the agreement with the union, management will employ agency nurses if it cannot quickly recruit a RN. Skye said the branch was still concerned that enough nurses would be rostered on the weekend shifts.

‘We will have a trial period and review the situation in three months.’

THE LAMP DECEMBER 2011 — JANUARY 2012 | 15

COVER STORY

MUSWELLBROOK

Members act on chronic understaffing Bed closure plan gets results at Muswellbrook MUSWELLBROOK DISTRICT HOSPITAL

has secured an extra nurse and an urgent review of staff levels thanks to a move by nurses to shut beds due to chronic understaffing.

The hospital’s NSW Nurses’ Association branch decided to close 10 beds — about one third of the general ward — so they could more safely care for patients in the emergency department (ED) and high dependency unit (HDU).

The decision brought swift concessions from Hunter New England Local Health District management after eight months of fruitless requests and talks.

Following a hearing before an Industrial Relations Commissioner in Newcastle, management agreed to roster an extra nurse on the ED for four hours on weekday evenings as a six-month trial.

Management also began an urgent twoweek review of night shift staff levels and workloads.

In reply the NSWNA branch voted to withdraw their industrial action but also launched a campaign to enlist community support for improvements to the hospital, the largest in the Upper Hunter. A group of seven nurses has volunteered to get flyers and a petition to the community.

Branch secretary Adrian King RN said the hospital urgently needed an extra RN on both evening and night shifts.

‘At first management said no to any more staff, but later offered an enrolled nurse or registered nurse Year 1 or 2,’ Adrian said.

‘Members were concerned that nurses working in ED needed to be able to triage and work independently and not be thrown in to learn at the deep end. The extra staff rostered should be an RN. ‘The branch decided to stop discharging people from the computer, which got negotiations going, but it wasn’t until we decided to close beds that management made some serious offers.

‘Members were angry that their concerns were being ignored and were ready to act.

Nurses were discussing closing beds in a way that would not compromise patient care.

Management’s record of inaction Only one registered nurse is rostered on to Muswellbrook’s emergency department and high dependency unit, which are separated by a corridor.

Between April and June this year 2005 people attended the ED – an average of more than 20 a day or nearly one every hour. Of these more than 500 presentations involved conditions that were imminently, or potentially, life threatening. More than 200 had to be admitted to hospital.

‘It is hard to see how one very busy ED nurse can also be responsible for patients in the HDU,’ said NSWNA General Secretary Brett Holmes.

‘The ED would be demanding constant attention and clearly requires a full-time nurse.

‘The nurses, on all shifts, have been forced to juggle their patient responsibilities to cope with an ever changing and unpredictable patient environment. That is not safe for the patients or the nurses and midwives.

‘Nurses and hospital management are also trying to cope with more than 3.5 full-time nursing vacancies at the moment, which adds to stress levels.’

Brett said hospital management had been regularly warned about under-staffing.

‘As far back as 2005 a staffing review at Muswellbrook recommended an extra nurse on the evening and night shifts. Management did not act on that recommendation.’

Adrian King

‘On night shift, an endorsed enrolled nurse is often left to care for 10-20 patients on the ward by themselves.’

16 | THE LAMP DECEMBER 2011 — JANUARY 2012

‘We needed to close 10 beds to bring us into line with the nursing hours per patient day (NHPPD) ratio we are supposed to be working towards.’

The 33-bed general ward currently has four nurses on the evening shift and two on the night shift.

But an RN is often forced to leave the ward area to assist the lone RN in ED/ HDU — which then leaves the ward unsafely staffed.

‘On night shift, an endorsed enrolled nurse is often left to care for 10-20 patients on the ward by themselves,’ Adrian said.

He said the escalation plan also needed an urgent review.

‘The person we call in is usually a full time staff member, which means we start taking staff away from the next shift.

‘And if we need help in the ED we need someone there now, not in half an hour after someone gets out of bed and drives into work.’

Adrian said the hospital’s antiquated layout made working conditions even more difficult.

‘Every single member of the public we speak to agrees we need a better hospital with more staff. Now we are engaging with the community and asking our local MP for support.’

WESTMEAD

Strong support for Westmead bans Members unanimously endorse bed closures in a campaign for safe staffing at one of NSW’s biggest hospitals.

WESTMEAD HOSPITAL NURSES have called off scheduled industrial action following a last-minute management offer to roster more staff.

A meeting of the hospital’s NSWNA branch, attended by more than 140 nurses, had voted unanimously to start industrial action on November 15.

Management’s offer to adequately staff the maternity unit and a surgical ward came on the same day.

The nurses’ scheduled action included closing five beds in the B3C colorectal and upper gastrointestinal surgical ward.

They also had voted not to accept any more bookings for the maternity ward from women outside the hospital’s designated catchment area, which includes the Parramatta, The Hills and Holroyd local government areas.

The assistant secretary and delegate of the union’s Westmead/Parramatta branch, Leigh Bergan, said the hospital’s top management offered to get enough staff to fill rosters for the next four weeks.

‘Therefore we agreed to suspend our planned action and we are continuing to monitor the situation,’ Leigh said.

Meanwhile management is seeking to recruit more nurses and has written to the Ministry of Health outlining the number and status of current vacancies.

Leigh said the huge turnout at the recent branch meeting (more than 140 members) showed nurses were determined to ensure the hospital — one of Sydney’s busiest — was adequately staffed.

‘The unanimous vote in favour of closing beds shows people are really jacked off, because the problem is not being dealt with,’ he said.

He said the branch had concerns about unsafe staffing levels throughout the hospital, with the maternity unit and B3C surgical ward the current focus of attention.

NSWNA General Secretary Brett Holmes said the Westmead maternity unit has only 135 FTE nurses and midwives when it should have 152 to meet the safer

‘The unanimous vote in favour of closing beds shows people are really jacked off.’

Leigh Bergan.

staffing ratios agreed between the union and the state government.

‘The situation is made worse by the fact that 18 of those 135 positions are currently vacant and the roster is constantly struggling to fill them,’ Brett said.

He said the 37-bed B3C ward had 11 FTE nurse vacancies, which are filled, often at the last minute, by casual and agency nurses.

‘This busy and complex ward had to rely on more than 230 hours in paid overtime and a lot of unpaid overtime in the last month to fill the many holes in the roster. I am told the morning shift can’t

always fill all vacancies, with the nursing unit manager and clinical nurse educator often having to fill in.

‘And this is with a staffing establishment of one nurse to nearly five patients on the morning and evening shifts, when it really should be at one to four and will go to one to four when the new, safer staffing arrangements, agreed between the NSWNA and state government, are fully implemented.

‘That will require an extra eight FTE nurses in addition to the current 11 vacancies. So they really need to find 19 nurses for this one ward alone.’

THE LAMP DECEMBER 2011 — JANUARY 2012 | 17

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

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

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

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

18 | THE LAMP DECEMBER 2011 — JANUARY 2012

COVER STORY

CUMBERLAND

Nurse attack Nurses at Cumberland psychiatric hospital drew a line in the sand against unsafe staffing when a patient knocked nurse Ariel Guzman unconscious.

WITH ARIEL HOSPITALISED FOR 12 days with a brain haemorrhage — including five days in a high dependency neurotrauma unit — his fellow members of the NSW Nurses’ Association acted to reverse dangerously low staffing levels.

They threatened to shut four beds at the Yaralla intensive care unit where the assault took place, unless management agreed to reduce bed numbers and roster more staff.

Within a week management had agreed to close two beds, down from 16 to 14, and put an extra nurse on the morning and evening shifts. This raises Yaralla to a 1:2 staffing ratio, matching other psychiatric intensive care units in NSW. NSWNA General Secretary, Brett Holmes, said management had kept Yaralla staffed at one nurse for every three patients despite the obvious risk to staff and patients.

‘Inadequate staffing contributed to a series of assaults on nurses. The attack on Ariel Guzman, in which two security guards and another patient were also assaulted, was the latest and very serious example,’ Brett said.

The NSWNA wants a further two beds in the unit closed and has given the Sydney West Area Mental Health Service 30 days to reply to the request.

The secretary of the Western Sydney Mental Health Nurse Manager’s branch, Debbie Malcolm, said: ‘If we don’t receive an appropriate response within that time frame we will go ahead and close two more beds.’

‘The members are pretty determined.

This has been an issue for several years and we’ve basically been ignored.’

She said two more beds need to be shut because of the acuity of patients and the size and layout of the unit, which was not purpose-built.

‘The facility is not appropriate to be used as an ICU – it is very old and falling apart. We don’t have areas to separate patients to give them time out and space away from other patients.’

Cumberland Hospital nurses have been voicing concerns about staffing since 2005, when Yaralla began to take patients from three other hospitals, as well as Cumberland, as a result of Area Health Service amalgamations. While the number of admissions and seriously ill patients increased, staffing did not.

‘It was beyond a joke, we didn’t have the space and we certainly didn’t have the staff to accommodate 16 patients at that level of acuity,’ Debbie said Nurses repeatedly raised concerns and made requests about staffing, including through the NSWNA branch and Reasonable Workloads Committee. It took the late September assault on Ariel Guzman for senior management to take them seriously ‘We had always been given the response that there was no funding for extra staff or a rebuild but, at end of day, senior management have an obligation under the Occupational Health and Safety Act to ensure our safety,’ she said.

‘It was beyond a joke, we didn’t have the space and we certainly didn’t have the staff…’

THE LAMP DECEMBER 2011 — JANUARY 2012 | 19

YEAR IN REVIEW

2011

2011 started with a bang!

The year in review AFTER A HARD-FOUGHT CAMPAIGN NSW nurses won nurse-to-patient ratios and funding for the estimated 1400 additional nurses required to meet the extra staffing levels.

As the year rolled out we were reminded time and again of the need to be vigilant if we are to maintain what we have already won and to be resolute if we are to improve on what we have got.

The dust had barely settled after the NSW state election in March when the new O’Farrell Government declared war on the pay and conditions of public sector workers.

‘On top of the ratios we won good pay rises of 3.9%, 3% and 2.5% over the next three years.’

Strong action was required at the local level in the public health system to ensure management matched staff to increasing demand in our hospitals.

Despite these challenges the commitment, organisation and creativity of NSWNA members paid rich dividends with more funded nursing positions in our public health system and better pay and conditions throughout the sectors.

The year ends with more challenges to be met. We need to ensure that the new nursing positions are deployed and filled with the appropriate staff. The wages gap in aged care needs to be addressed. There is ample evidence that employers and the Liberal Party are once again preparing an assault on workers rights.

20 | THE LAMP DECEMBER 2011 — JANUARY 2012

Sarah: ‘It’s really important to have ratios in acute mental health because, if you’re short-staffed, you risk putting patients, staff members and visitors at risk.’

Left to right: Sarah Neas, CNS, Medical and Surgical Ward, Aoife O’Mara, Inpatient Adult Acute Mental Health, RNBarbara Daly, ED, Nurse Manager.

public health system We didn’t get everything we wanted in our public health system pay and conditions campaign but our achievements were momentous nonetheless.

In many areas the nurse-to-patient ratios/Nursing Hours Per Patient Day achieved were better than those existing in Victoria, which had been our benchmark.

On top of the ratios we won good pay rises of 3.9 per cent, 3 per cent and 2.5 per cent over the next three years.The first pay rise was backpaid to July 2010.

The second began in July this year.

Midwives finally got the breakthrough they had long been waiting for with their own tool for controlling their workloads – Birthrate Plus. As the year draws to a close phase 1 has been implemented. …continued overleaf THE LAMP DECEMBER 2011 — JANUARY 2012 | 21

YEAR IN REVIEW

2011

Healthscope Private hospitals achieved a 3.80% increase per year over two years.

defend public services campaign

12,000 rallied outside parliament on a rain drenched day.

The O’Farrell Government had barely unpacked their boxes in their plush new offices following the March state election when they set about attacking public sector wages and conditions.

The government passed new laws that cap wage increases at 2.5 per cent — effectively a cut in real wages. These new laws shift power massively towards management during negotiations for public sector wages and conditions.

They reduce the IR Commission to a rubber stamp for government wages policy.

Nurses in NSW disability services were immediately affected, but all nurses in the public health system will be impacted when the award comes up for renewal in mid-2013.

12,000 rallied outside parliament on a rain drenched day immediately after the laws were passed. The government was given notice that this was merely a start to a longer campaign when nearly 40,000 turned up for a second rally in the Domain on 8 September.

22 | THE LAMP DECEMBER 2011 — JANUARY 2012

40,000 turned up for a second rally in the Domain on 8 September.

Ariane Ferey: ‘We were not happy with the situation and frustrated that the employer had not made a decent offer.’

private hospitals In February, NSWNA members working for Healthscope private hospitals won a two year agreement with pay rises of 3.8 per cent per year bringing their pay in line with the Public Health system over the course of their agreement. The agreement covers 2000 nurses at 12 facilities in New South Wales.

Calvary Private hospital in Wagga Wagga achieved a 3.85 per cent increase per year over, two years along with improved maternity leave and other conditions. St John of God Private Hospital members also celebrated a 3.8 per cent pay rise and a three year agreement.

In March, Shellharbour Private Hospital members won a 13.5 per cent pay rise over three years – their first pay increase in three years.

In August, nurses at Macquarie hospitals took industrial action – a first for private hospital nurses – against a particularly recalcitrant employer.

NSWNA Nepean Private Hospital branch: (front left) Nicole Thomas, (front right) Jacqueline Michelle Wurst. (back left to right) Shelley Laffin, Yamana (Marnie) Bradford, Jan Wernery, Kathleen Denbrok.

aged care

450 signatures were collected at Centro Westside in Broken Hill

There was good news and bad news for nurses in the Productivity Commission’s report on aged care. Finally there was recognition of the need to fix the wages gap between aged care and public hospitals and improve staffing and skill mix in the sector. The timeframe to fix these issues was disappointing however.

Aged care nurses and supporters shifted their focus to the federal government and piled on the pressure with visits to federal MPs asking them to sign a pledge to support aged care reform. Postcards were send to the Prime Minister and the community were involved through stalls, petitions and the Because We Care website.

A new agreement struck with Aged Care Services representing employers in the not-for-profit aged care sector, gave nurses a minimum 3 per cent wage increase. For the first time the agreement states that Assitant in Nursing wages be at least 3.5 per cent above the Nurses’ Award minimum rate.

‘We would just like the government to be aware of the need for more funding for aged care.’

THE LAMP DECEMBER 2011 — JANUARY 2012 | 23

YEAR IN REVIEW

2011

nswna film festival The NSWNA Film Festival was, again, a showcase for budding nurse filmmakers. This year’s festival threw up a number of interesting, and often moving, short films that provided insight in to the world of nursing.

Carolyn: ‘I’m having the time of my life.

I want to thank the NSWNA for introducing me to film.’

NSWNA Nurses’ Short Film Festival winner Carolyn Guichard plans to make a full-length feature film by the time she is 60.

Katrina Wilczek, an RN from the RPA Hospital in Sydney starred in the ad

television advertising Finding the nurses to fill the new positions in our public health system is a challenge and in August the NSWNA promoted the new jobs in a television advertisement. RPA RN Katrina Wilczek was the star that promoted nurse-to-patient ratios and invited nurses back to the profession.

24 | THE LAMP DECEMBER 2011 — JANUARY 2012

Katrina: ‘When I found out what the ad was about I was interested because I want more nurses to come back and make it easier for all of us.’

AGED CARE

Flying squad stars at aged care forum MOST OF THE 110 NURSES attending the NSWNA Annual Aged Care Nurses Forum last month were from the residential care sector and the majority were registered nurses (RNs).

The program included presentations from aged care nurses in clinical leadership roles, as well as sessions about aged care reform, industrial and campaigning matters, and regulation in aged care.

Presentations included falls prevention, nursing and medication management in people with delirium, better liaison between aged care and the acute sector, and quicker interventions to prevent unnecessary hospital admissions.

GERIATRIC FLYING SQUAD Amanda Klahr, (pictured) a clinical nurse consultant, spoke to the forum about her award-winning Geriatric Flying Squad.

The Flying Squad is a geriatric assessment and management service that Amanda developed and manages, and which won a HESTA Australian Nursing Award for innovation in nursing.

Developed at the War Memorial Hospital in Waverly Park, the service provides comprehensive geriatric assessments, multidisciplinary care in the home, and referrals to appropriate services.

The team includes a clinical nurse specialist, a doctor specialising in geriatric care, a social worker, an occupational therapist, a physiotherapist and a clinical psychologist.

Amanda says the aim of the service is to help clients to live in their own homes while maximising their quality of life.

‘Our clients are community-dwelling elders who are failing at home for some reason. They are referred to us by a concerned GP, neighbour, personal carer

or family member, the department of housing or police,’ she said. ‘The Geriatric Flying Squad is a rapid-response service for sub-acute patients.The nurses triage the clients by researching their medical records and talking to family or the GP. We are in the house in two to three days.’

TAKING THE LOAD OFF ED Amanda says another key benefit of the service is the reduction in presentations of older people to emergency departments.

‘Emergency departments are not the ideal environment for older people,’ she said. ‘I like to think we rescue at least one older person a week by helping to eliminate unnecessary trips to the emergency department, and in turn enable emergency departments to continue delivering immediate and acute care to the broader community.’

If a patient needs hospital care, the Flying Squad organises direct admission into War Memorial Hospital or one of two other major local hospitals.

‘No two patients follow the same pathway of care. Our criteria are very flexible, which means we are very broad in what we see and can treat.

‘It’s about fitting the service to the client’s needs. If I go to a client’s house and they need a bath, I give them a bath.

Whether it’s a cognitive assessment, a leg ulcer, a complicated family situation or transport to a medical appointment, I can do it.’

The squad typically works with a client for 12 to 15 weeks, including an intensive first month before discharge. If the client encounters difficulties again, they have the option of returning to the service.

THE LAMP DECEMBER 2011 — JANUARY 2012 | 25

COMPETITION

Sydney Festival and accommodation package Win tickets to some amazing shows during Sydney Festival plus a two-night stay for two at the Vibe Hotel with breakfast.

You can choose from Vibe Hotel Sydney at the heart of Sydney CBD; Vibe Hotel Rushcutters overlooking Rushcutters Bay Park and the Cruising Yacht Club Marina; or Vibe Hotel North Sydney with its coveted Sydney Harbour views.

Beautiful Burrn noutt – Yo ork Theatre, Seymour Centre, 18-29 January This award-winning collaboration between Frantic Assembly and The National Theatre of Scotland is stunning audiences with the same raw truth and explosive physicality captured in the National Theatre of Scotland’s tale of the Scottish regiment, Black Watcch, a huge hit of Sydney Festival 2008.

Babell – Sydney Theatre at Walsh Bayy, 9-14 9-1 January Two of Europe’s hottest dancer/ choreographers, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui and Damien Jalet, bring a company of 18 dancers and musicians to launch a swirling maelstrom of identity, ethnicity and culture in Babel, a Sydney Festival exclusive.

Live e Live Cinema: Carrn nival of Soul – Riverside Theatres, 20-22 January Hailed as the ‘best film you’ve never seen’, Herk Har vey ’s 1962 Carnival of Souls has become a cult horror classic.

This rollicking live performance will take the audience back to the good ol’ days when films were real scar y and going to the cinema was a special occasion.

Our prize includes: tw wo tickets to Beautifuul Burnout, two tickets to Babel, and two tickets to Live Live Cinema: Carnival of Souls.

Major prize winner gets a two-night staay for two at the Vibe Hotel and a double pass to see one of the three Sydney Festival events of your choice. The other two winners win a double pass each to one of the other two performances.

Entrants need to indicate what performance they wish to see on the back of an envelope.

Special Sydney Festival packages are available at Vibe Sydney Hotels. Visit vibehotels.com.au or call 13 VIBE (8423).

26 | THE LAMP DECEMBER 2011 — JANUARY 2012

Summer viewing Thanks to Hopscotch Entertainment, The Lamp has two DVDs of The Slap, three DVDs of Big Fat Gypsy Weeddings, two DVDs of Camelot, and three DVDs of From Tiime to Time i to giveawayy.

The Slap Based on the international best-seller novel, The Slap is a provocative and compelling eight-part series that traces the shattering repercussions of a single event up pon a group p of family and friends.

Frro om Tiime to Tiime In times of war two centuries apart, two distinct worlds are linked by a single family and the house in which they live.

Camelot From the creator of The Tuudors, comes this gripping, powerful and seductive 10-part series.

Cam a elott brings the timeless legend of King Arthur to the screen as you’ve never seen before.

Big Fat Gypsy We eddings This fascinating series documents contemporary gyp psy and traveller weddings, revealing a culture where brides compete to have the biggest dress.

HOW TO ENTER

Summer rreading eading Kick back on a balm my summer day or evening and en njjoy sixx--book gifft pack from Penguin.

Lola’s Secret

by Monica McInerney From the bestselling author of At Home with thhe T Teempletons comes a moving novel about the ver y meaning of life.

The Storry of Danny Dann Dunn

by Bryce Cour tenay Set against a backdrop of Australian pubs and politics, The Story of Danny Dunn is an n Australi l an famil a ly saga spanning three generations.

Reading by Moonlight: How Books Saved a Life by Brenda Walker When Miles Franklinshortlisted novelist Brenda walker became sick she turned to two healers: doctors and books. This is the stor y of how she recovered.

Cathryn Hein Prro omises s by Cath Sophie Dixon is determined to leave her tragic past behind and forge a bright future on her beloved farm.

We Don’t Live Here Anymore

by Matt Nable When awkward teenager Charlie Hudson is beaten up p during a family holiday at the beach, beautifful u Tess e Bailey rescues him – and sets the unusual course for his liffe.

The Thrifty Kitchen

by Suzanne Gibbs and Kate Gibbs The Thrifty Kitchen is your guide to cooking and shopping on a budget without compromising on flavour or goodness.

Be bowled over by cricket tickets

Enjoy a rrelaxing elaxing getaway The Lamp is off ffeering members the chance to win share accommodation win a 2 niights tw in a pool-view studio to o the award winning Shoal Bay Resort & Spa, complete with full u hot & cold breakfast dailly, $150 dining credit, unlimiteed access to the Aqua Spa Weellbeing facility and undercover parking.

Shoal Bay Resort & Spa is the ultimate beachfront resort for couples and families alike. Including 200 newly refu urbished luxur y selff-contained apartments, complete with 42 inch LCD T V ’s, IPod docking stations and custom made sofa lounges in each rooms, 4 restaurants, 5 bars, the iconic Countr y Club Hotel and the Aqua Spa Wellbeing Facility.

Dining options range from Catch at Shoal Bay, the casual alfresco dining of Sandyfoot Caffé, the iconic Promenade Dining Room and the faamilly friendly Mermaids Bar & Grill. Aqua Spa Weellbeing Facilityy includes 3 unique thalassotherapy mineral spas, twelve treatments rooms, group p room and an extensive menu of treatments. www.shoalbayresort.com

If you want a fan a tastic night out this summer, come and watch the Sydney Sixers play in the KFC T20 Big Bash League. It is cricket like you have never seen it before, fast, action packed entertainment under lights at Sydney’s iconic SCG. The Sydney Sixers have brougght together the biggest names in international cricket including Brett Lee, Shane Watson, Brad Haddin; and the best young talent in the country with Pat Cummins, Steven Smith and Stephen O’Keefe, to deliver a thrilling experience for their members, sports fans and families alike.

The Sydney Sixers will play the inauggural KFC T20 Big Bash League match on December 16 at the SCG, so don’t misss your opportunity to be a part of sporting hist sto ory.

Sports enthusiasts will be pleased to hear that The Lamp has five family passes to the The Sydney Sixers cricket matches at Sydney ’s iconic SCG on 18 Januar y.

The winning tickets are for general seating – there is no reser ved seating.

Become a member and they will make you a fan! a Go to www.sydneysixers.com.au

THE LAMP DECEMBER 2011 — JANUARY 2012 | 27

PUBLIC SERVICE INTERNATIONAL

NURSES on the

MOVE

Consistent with an increasingly globalised world millions of nurses find themselves on the move.

Sometimes nurse migration occurs within a nation’s borders with nurses migrating from rural to urban areas or from the public to the private sector. Or they may move from the health care sector to the wider health industry, for example from a hospital to a pharmaceutical company.

But increasingly, and for differing reasons, more and more nurses are opting for global mobility. This international migration of nurses is not only greater in scale than in the past it is different in its direction and location.

Traditionally, international nurse migration was from one industrialised nation to another. Irish nurses went to Britain; New Zealand nurses came to Australia.

28 | THE LAMP DECEMBER 2011 — JANUARY 2012

A recent phenomenon has been the rapid growth in the movement of nurses from developing countries to industrialised countries.

Public Services International (PSI), to which the NSWNA is affiliated, is documenting the experiences of migrant health and social care workers in their countries of origin and their countries of destination.

The research aims to gather evidence to improve international union policies on migration and health care.

PSI recently held a symposium on the plight of migrant nurses and this month The Lamp talks to two nurses, who migrated to Australia, about their experiences.

Work visas leave nurses with little security A Filipina’s experience shows family stability is hard to ensure on time-limited entry.

ROWENA SUNGLAO SAYS HER Philippines background naturally attunes her to care for the eldery, since ageing relatives are respected and even revered in her former country.

It's a part of Philippines life she misses, Rowena says, and her present role at an agecare home is a satisfying one, except for the continuing visa insecurity experienced by her and her family and other Filipina nurses she knows.

Rowena came to Sydney in 2006 as a Philippines-registered nurse, recruited by another woman from the Philippines already established in a nursing career in Australia.

She has four children and wanted to give them the best education she could and, personally, sought ‘greener pastures’. She came in on a four-year 457 work visa, sponsored as a residential care officer by her present employer.

‘I felt when I came here it is going to be my second home,’ she says. ‘I love the environment, the air is the same air where I grew up, on a farm.

‘The people are warm, my colleagues have been very supportive and made me feel welcome. It's not been difficult to adjust.

‘I'm fond of elderly people. In the Philippines we look after our parents. I look to my residents as my parents and seek emotional refuge every time I’m missing my own back home.’

Rowena, her children — a son aged 21, and three daughters aged 20, 16 and 15 — and her husband, a warehouse worker, live at Mount Druitt in Sydney's west. She works in the inner west and travels by train there.

Life became uncertain as her work visa neared expiry and her employer, although initially expressing support, became doubtful due to immigration requirements at that time.The visa has expired, and she accepted a traditional path of assistance from fellow, settled immigrants, who are potential employers, offering sponsorship that sometimes can be exploitative. ‘On the last days of my 457 visa, those days I felt were the longest days of my life,’ she says.

Since there was, for a while, no guarantee the aged-care employer would sponsor her again, she accepted the assurance from

‘On the last day of my 457 visa, they lodged my nomination.

Those days before the last day were the longest of my life.’ another Filipina here that the woman would obtain an occupational trainee visa for her.

It was lodged, and Rowena and her family obtained bridging visas. But the trainee visa was refused, and she sought advice from an immigration lawyer who suggested she apply for a tribunal review, as she did.

The costs of the occupational training and appeal applications have been in the thousands of dollars so far.

While her present employer has since agreed to sponsor and nominate her for an employer nomination scheme 856 visa, she says the rules require that, if a tribunal review decision, whatever it is, comes before her nomination approval, then she and her family have to return to the Philippines and apply for the visa on behalf of herself and her family.

Even if her nomination was approved first, her family would still have to apply offshore, Rowena says. These circumstances threaten disruption since two children are in school and the other two working.

‘Thinking of getting into this situation is really stressful for me and my family, we don't know where to pick up the pieces,’ she says.

Rowena suggests the Immigration Department could consider taking families' circumstances deeper into account with its offshore-application rules, if the law allows.

Do you want to help with this research?

PSI is looking for enthusiastic NSWNA members to help with their research by conducting interviews and focus groups with migrant nurses.

Between 300 and 500 interviews will be conducted with nurses and social care workers in their countries of origin and their countries of destination including Australia.

The research will be conducted by peer researchers under the supervision of a lead researcher from PSI. NSWNA members — nurses and midwives — are invited to participate in this very important project.

To find out more contact Lisa Kremmer at the NSWNA: lkremmer@nswnurses.asn.au

THE LAMP DECEMBER 2011 — JANUARY 2012 | 29

PUBLIC SERVICE INTERNATIONAL

Nurse from Fiji fits quickly into the system Immigration residency helps with finding work, although the job market has competitive hurdles TULIA NASOLO left her home country of Fiji in 2001 with the local degree equivalent, a three-year nursing diploma, and having completed a qualification conversion course and practice in New Zealand. She always had in mind an eventual move to Aústralia, where she had relatives.

The unrest in Fiji, and the common hope of more opportunity, helped propel her towards Australia with her husband, a telecommunications technician, and young son.

Her story is one of the less troubled of migrant nurses in Australia. The system has worked for her in visa and employment terms, except that permanent work has been harder to obtain in recent years.

For Tulia, work in Australia as a registered nurse has mostly come through employment agencies and her own internet job searches.

She came to Australia in 2002 via Fiji after applying for permanent residency as a family and stayed with a younger sister

Tulia Nasolo

living in Sydney for a month. She quickly obtained night work as a nurse at Westmead Hospital through an agency. The job, as a surgical nurse, became permanent.

Her husband had to return to Fiji to

complete employment obligations and she was left with her son to care for. She worked at Westmead for about three years.

After the couple were reunited, Tulia and her husband moved to Brisbane in 2006 as he searched for a job that equated to his qualifications.

Tulia obtained work in hospitals through an agency during the 18 months or so they were in Brisbane, until both found work back in Sydney.

Tulia now lives in in Sydney’s outer west.

She works at a private hospital as a casual.

The days vary, depending on the amount of surgery being done.Tulia has so far been unable to find another permanent job.

She has built wide experience along the way. ‘When something interests me, I want to explore it, I go for it,’ Tulia says. ‘I look out for job interviews, and for jobs with enough work.’

That attitude took her into community nursing at Mount Druitt for six months.

PSI looks at anger and violence in the workplace

NSWNA Assistant General Secretary Judith Kiejda presenting at the Violence In The Workplace Workshop at the PSI/APRECON Conference in October which also saw speakers from Japan, Korea, and Fiji presenting the situation in their own countries. The next International Conference on Violence in the Workplace will take place in Vancouver in late 2012.

30 | THE LAMP DECEMBER 2011 — JANUARY 2012

THE NSWNA ALONG WITH PSI recently hosted a conference with speakers from across the Asia Pacific, including Japan, Korea, Fiji and Australia, to discuss violence in the workplace.

The conference found that health workers across the Asia Pacific region face similar versions of workplace violence ranging from verbal to physical abuse. Australia has seen two nurses lose their lives in violent attacks in the past 12 months.

There is a familiar story across the region with the continual erosion of public services due to insufficient funding. This results in more work having to be performed by fewer workers. Often some of these workers lack the appropriate skills. This fosters an angry client base and puts extra pressure on public servants in their workplaces.This can translate into violence from consumers who have high expectations of the care they should receive and low tolerance for waiting times.

Financial transaction tax on table at G20

Nurses from France, Korea, United States (NNU), Ireland, England and Australia (NSWNA Assistant General Secretary Judith Kiejda and NSWNA President Coral Levett) pose with actor and Oxfam Ambassador Bill Nighy at a press conference at the G20 meeting where they illustrated the need for an FTT. NURSES FROM FOUR CONTINENTS

including Australia were present at the G20 Summit in France in early November.

NSWNA Assistant Secretary Judith Kiejda and President Coral Levett, joined other nursing unions under the banner of Public Services International in Cannes.

The G20 summit was held against the backdrop of financial turmoil in the European Community that threatens to engulf the rest of the world economy.

International nursing unions were in Cannes to pressure world leaders gathered for the summit to act in the interests of working people, not just bankers, in resolving the crisis.

International nurses’ unions and other PSI affiliates are pushing for the introduction of a Financial Transaction Tax (FTT)

which, they say, would reduce volatility in financial markets and provide substantial revenue for quality public services.

The FTT is a tax on institutional trades of currencies, stocks, bonds, derivatives and interest rate securities, which could raise billions of dollars annually in Australia alone.

Currency speculation leading to ‘hot money flows’ has been a central feature of some of the major financial crises of the last few decades from the Asian Financial Crisis of 1997 through to the GFC and its aftermath.

The FTT is a tiny tax levied on each institutional financial exchange that has a massive impact, bringing stability to financial markets by making speculation less profitable.

There is another significant, positive

spin-off. Because of the high volume of financial transactions the tax can bring in substantial government revenues for spending on social services such as health.

Judith Kiejda says the time has come for a FTT and there is growing support among world leaders.

‘Even French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel — both are leaders of conservative parties — have voiced their support for such a tax.

Unfortunately the United States and the Australian government are opposed,’ she said.

Former ACTU President Sharan Burrow, now head of the International Trade Union Confederation, took the argument for the FTT into the G20 summit on behalf of international unions.

THE LAMP DECEMBER 2011 — JANUARY 2012 | 31

INTERNATIONAL INTERNA RNA ATTIONAL NU NURSES’ URSES’ DAY DA AY 2012 2 | 12 MAY MA AY 2012

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more of this breathtaking world heritage-listed wonderland.

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

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

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

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

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ORGANISER PERMANENT POSITION Do you want to be involved in your union and make a dif ference to the profession?

Our Christmas savings are are as unreal unr eal as Santa!

At no cost to you, we help you save time and money at Christmas on:

The NSW Nurses’ Association is seeking applications from our membership for an Organiser position on a permanent basis, located in our Waterloo office. role is responsible responsible for: The role 2 the development of strategies to recruit new members 2 advocating on behalf of members 2 participating in workplace campaigns 2 responding to workplace industrial issues 2 interpreting and applying industrial instruments (Awards and Agreements) in both the public and private sectors 2 liaison with all levels of management. ed for this rrole To T o be consider considered ole you need: 2 a recognised nursing qualification 2 a current NSW driver’s licence 2 excellent written and verbal communication skills 2 negotiation and conflict resolution skills 2 to be computer literate and self-confident 2 to be able to travel regularly and a commitment to improving the working conditions for nurses and midwives and to the Trade Union movement 2 a strong interest in industrial, political and health issues.

Process Application Process For further enquiries and an application information pack, please contact Employee e Relations Relat by telephoning 02 8595 1234 (metro) or 1300 367 962 (countr y callers) or via email: jobs@nswnurses.asn.au Applications should bee received by 7 Januar y 2012 and addressed to: Robbyn y Morrison Employee Relations Manag anaggeer 50 O’Dea Avenue, Wate aaterloo NSW 2017 or via email: jobs@nssw wnurses.asn.au

WANT W A ANT MORE M INFORMA ATTION ABOUT INFORMATION WORKING FOR THE NSW NURSES’ ASSOCIA ATTION? ASSOCIATION? Contact Union Shopper today

We W e are are holding an information information session on Thursday 15 December at 5pm.

If you’d like to attend this session, please RSVP to Employee Relations on 02 8595 1234 or jobs@nswnurses.asn.au

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You’ll gain the skills and knowledge to provide optimal care for people and contribute to important decisions about future trends in treatment, patient care and disease prevention. Choose from:

FFairer airer bank banking ing benefits nefits ffor or o NSWNA NS members Transaction Account Account aut omatically ccomes omes with a ME B Bank’s ank’s EveryDay EveryDay Transaction automatically Debit M asterCard® so you you can shop anywhere anywhere using your your own own money money – even even online. online.

MasterCard Plus, Plus, ther theree ar aree extra extra benefits for for o NSWNA members: memb No monthly monthly ffee ee TThe he $5 monthly account kkeeping eeping ffee eee will be waiv w waived ed when yyou ou deposit just $500 per month – like like yyour our salar salaryy No dishonour ffee e ee for for union dues Set Set up your your salary salar y to to be credited credited to to your your account, and if you’re you’re ever ever short short for for o cash, we’ll we’ll honour the dir direct ect debit of your your union dues and you you w won’t on’t be char charged ged a ffee. ee.

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210352/1011 36 | THE LAMP DECEMBER 2011 — JANUARY 2012

OBITUARY

Maureen Caroline Hood BN, RN, MRCNA 14 October 1976 — 17 September 2011 [e\

the things she found most difficult when she herself was sick was no longer feeling part of the ICU team.

She hated no longer being able to help others, but having to rely more and more on others helping her.

Maureen was always interested in filmmaking and attended two film courses in 2008 and 2009, organised by the NSWNA and NIDA.These courses inspired her to create three films for the NSWNA film festivals. Her first film, (screened at the inaugural festival in 2009) was The New Nurse. In 2010 she made two films, Ben Pen and Fingers Crossed. All of her films had a professional touch. Her family and friends were involved in the making of these films, which can still be viewed on the NSWNA website.

Maureen’s last project at Concord was as a nurse researcher in a fungal study, run by Infection Management Services, Woolloongabba, Queensland, and the Centre for Infectious Diseases and Microbiology, Westmead, NSW. Her perfectionist nature suited this work, which required an eye for detail. The project wasn’t completed at the time of writing, but the team recognised her excellent work while she was involved in the project.

Her colleagues and friends at the Concord Repatriation General Hospital intensive care unit will remember Maureen for her caring and professional approach to her work and her infectious laugh.

She will be sorely missed by all who knew her. Our thoughts go to her husband, David, and their two young children.

Maureen Hood (nee Puhlmann), registered nurse, intensive care unit Concord Repatriation General Hospital, died in September after a nine-month battle with a rare form of cancer.

A member of the NSWNA, she was a dedicated nurse, an advocate for her patients, and a colleague and friend to many.

Maureen began her nursing career as a kitchen hand and AiN (assistant in nursing) before progressing to become an EN (enrolled nurse) and finally an RN (registered nurse). Her first nursing job was as an AiN at the Mary MacKillop Nursing Home, and then she later worked as an EN at Montefiore Nursing Home and then Blacktown Hospital.

By the late 1990s she had been posted as an EN at Hornsby Hospital. Her original ward was Ferranti, but then she moved to 1a/1b in the Lumby Building.

By 2000, Maureen was at the Australian Catholic University studying to be a registered nurse. She achieved the highest pass in her degree in 2001 and was awarded the Zonta Prize (for the advancement of women) in 2002. Maureen did a number of nursing placements during her training, including St John of God Hospital, St Vincent’s Emergency and Concord. It was during the latter that she decided she loved burns treatment and intensive care nursing and applied to be permanently employed, joining the team in 2002.

As an RN in intensive care, Maureen made her mark with her concern for the welfare of her patients, somebody who anxious relatives could talk to. One of

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THE LAMP DECEMBER 2011 — JANUARY 2012 | 37

Casual Clinical Facilitators School of Nursing, Midwifery & Indigenous Health The School of Nursing, Midwifery & Indigenous Health, University of Wollongong, is committed to the education of nurses at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels. We enjoy a sound reputation both academically and clinically and are seeking to recruit Casual Clinical Facilitators to join existing staff in providing outstanding educational experiences to nurses.

The SNMIH aims to graduate competent and safe beginner registered nurses who have a commitment to person-centered, evidence based, reflective and cost effective nursing practice.

To undertake this role you are required to be available for day and afternoon shifts Monday to Friday for periods within the academic calendar.

The SNMIH is looking for facilitators in the Shoalhaven, Western Sydney. Southern Sydney and Wollongong areas.

Suitable applicants will meet the following criteria: • Eligible for registration as a Registered Nurse with Australia Professional Health Regulatory Authority (APHRA) • At least 5 year post registration clinical nursing experience • Ability to work independently and as a team member • Commitment to lifelong learning For further information please contact Maria Mackay on (02) 4221 8004 or email mmackay@uow.edu.au.

Applications Close 15 December 2011

How to Apply: Email your Resume along with a covering letter to nursing-clinical@uow.edu.au Or mail to: Maria Mackay, Clinical Director, School of Nursing, Midwifery & Indigenous Health, University of Wollongong, Northfields Avenue, Wollongong NSW 2522.

FEES CHANGE FOR MEMBERS

NSWNA membership fees for 2012 are set to increase in line with the formula agreed at the Annual Conference in 2005.

According to this formula, membership fees are set at 0.95 per cent of the fourth year registered nurse (RN) rate, Public Health System Nurses’ and Midwives’ (State) Award. Fees for enrolled nurses are set at 85 per cent of the RN rate, while those for assistants in nursing are set at 75 per cent of the RN rate.

There was no membership fee increase for 2011, as the outcome of the public sector wages campaign was not known until March 2011. Public Sector nurses received pay increases of 3.9 per cent in July 2010, and 3 per cent in July 2011, with no fee increase applied. Many nurses in aged care private hospitals have also had wage increases in that period.

The NSWNA now needs to increase the fees, in line with the formula, for 2012.

NSW Nurses’’ Association As In association with the Austr Australian raaliaan Nursing FFederation eederraation

Membership Fees es 2012 012 2 CLASSIFICATION CLASSIFICA ATION T

YEAR

QUARTER

MONTH

FORTNIGHT

Registered Nurse/ Registered Midwife

$643

$160.75

$53.58

$24.72

Enrolled Nurse

$546

$136.50

$45.50

$21

Assistant in Nursing / Trainee Enrolled Nurse/ Residential Care Nurse $450

$112.50

$37.50

$17.30

+

AAuthorised uthorised utho thorised bbyy Brett Holmes, H General Gen Secretary Secreetar ar y

38 | THE LAMP DECEMBER 2011 — JANUARY 2012

* All membersh membership rship ship fees include GSTT + TTrainee rrainee eee AiN’ AAiN’ss have have their heir fees es waiv waived wa ed for or the period of their t traineeship.

Membership Me Member ship hip fees f are deductible. tax ax ded de dedu eductible.

Q&A

ASK JUDITH Paid maternity leave entitlement I am about to go on maternity leave. What payment will I receive under the Australian Government Paid Parental Leave Scheme?

The Federal Government’s paid parental leave scheme, at the national minimum wage, is for a maximum of 18 weeks and can be received before, after or at the same time as your other entitlements, such as employerfunded paid parental leave. The current weekly amount is $589.30 and this amount is reviewed on 1 July every year.

Refer to www.fairwork.gov.au

Leave entitlement after family violence I am a public hospital registered nurse and have experienced domestic violence. What leave can I take if I need time off work?

Under the new Clause 11 of the Public Health System Nurses’ & Midwives’ (State) Award 2011, you may access sick leave or family and carers’ leave if you have experienced family violence.

The clause states: ‘The employer will need to be satisfied, on reasonable grounds that family violence has occurred and may require proof presented in the form of an agreed document issued by the police force, a court, a doctor, a family violence support service or lawyer’.

Further that: ‘Personal information concerning family

violence will be kept confidential by the employer. The employer, where appropriate, may facilitate flexible working arrangement subject to operational requirements, including changes to working times and changes to work location, telephone number and email address.’

Workers’ comp cap removed I injured myself at work, had some time off, and my doctor has now cleared me to return to work, with some restrictions. Prior to my injury I was working full time on a rotating roster and earning around $2000 per week. My insurer has told me that there is an $1800 cap on how much I can receive in make-up pay in the first 26 weeks after an injury. Is this the case?

No, this is no longer the case as the cap was removed effective from 1 February 2011. Therefore the payment currently applying is found in section 40 (2) of the Workers Compensation Act 1987 that states in part: ‘The reduction in the worker’s weekly earnings is (except as provided by this section) the difference between: (a) the weekly amount that the worker would probably have been earning as a worker but for the injury and had the worker continued to be employed in the same or some comparable employment, and

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

(b) the average weekly amount that the worker is earning, or would be able to earn in some suitable employment, from time to time after the injury.’

What this means is that there is no longer a cap on the total amount you are currently being paid by your employer while working suitable duties. The insurer must pay you make-up pay in the first 26 weeks to the equivalent of what you would have earned had you not been injured.

Fit for duty not manager’s decision I work as an enrolled nurse in a public hospital. I was recently unwell, saw my doctor and got a medical certificate. When I rang work that afternoon, the afterhours manager told me he believed I was well enough to attend work the next day and should come in.

Can he do this?

No, the after-hours manager should not have advised you to attend work when you phoned in; this was inappropriate. If you have an illness, and it is certified by your doctor, then you are obliged to give your employer as much notice as is practicably possible that you are unable to attend work. It is not up to the manager to determine whether you are fit for duty or not.

Rostered more than contracted hours I am employed in the public health system and am currently contracted to work permanent part-time, 32 hours per fortnight, yet I am constantly rostered to work over and above my contract.

Management make no attempt to consult with me before placing these extra hours on the roster. Is it legal to do this without my consent?

Your contract of employment is a legally binding document that states the minimum number of contracted hours your employer is obliged to roster you, and that you are obliged to work. Any additional hours above your contract are optional, for both you and your employer. It’s not ‘illegal’ for them to roster you for more than your contract without asking you, however, if you can’t work the extra shifts you should notify them as soon as possible after you yourself have been notified. Also, it’s important that the roster clearly distinguishes between your regular ‘contracted’ shifts and any ‘additional’ shifts.

This is because the Award allows for ‘additional’ shifts to be cancelled giving at least 24 hours notice by the employer. If less than 24 hours notice is given of a cancellation of an ‘additional’ shift, then payment for two hours shall be made. ‘Contracted’ shifts cannot be cancelled.

THE LAMP DECEMBER 2011 — JANUARY 2012 | 39

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Read the latest at www.nurseuncut.com.au

Hot topics Nurse Uncut turns two!

Congratulations to Nicole Davenport, from Westmead Childrens’ Hospital, who was the lucky winner of our competition to celebrate two great years of Nurse Uncut. Nicole won an ME Bank EveryDay Transaction Account with a $500 balance, just by visiting the Nurse Uncut site and telling us which NSWNA campaign she felt most proud of in 2011. Chris Lau from ME Bank visited Westmead Hospital to present Nicole with her prize.

Staff takes action to improve car parking at Nepean Hospital www.nurseuncut.com.au/staff-take-action-to-improve-carparking-at-nepean-hospital/ More than 4000 nurses, doctors and other staff members have signed a petition demanding faster action for better parking at Nepean Hospital, telling local MPs two years is too long to wait for construction of a parking lot. Many people, including those with mobility issues, are forced to park in surrounding streets and walk to the hospital. Read the full story at Nurse Uncut.

Unions launch inquiry into ‘insecure’ work www.nurseuncut.com.au/unions-launch-new-inquiry-into-insecure-work/ Are you a casual nurse? Have you worked on a casual contract in the past? How did it affect your budgeting and finances? Nurses will have the opportunity to share their stories about the impact of casual and contract employment, alongside community groups, unions and employers, in a new national independent inquiry to investigate the extent of insecure work in Australia.

Nurse-led clinic a success www.nurseuncut.com.au/first-nurse-led-clinic-hailed-a-success/ An Independent evaluation of the first walk-in clinic to be led by nurse practitioners, in Canberra, has found a high degree of patient satisfaction. The ACT Health Walk-In Centre assessed more than 14,000 patients and treated more than 8000 in its first year, with 84 per cent saying they would recommend the walk-in centre to family and friends, and 82 per cent indicating they would use the clinic again. Read about it at Nurse Uncut.

What nurses are talking about?

Gaining NSW Police clearance is easy? www.nurseuncut.com.au/forum/component/option,com_ccboard/Itemid,24/forum ,13/topic,684/view,postlist/#ccbp4121 ‘There is a legal issue that NSWNA may need to clarify via the terms of employment in all health care services who employ qualified nurses … if some employers will not accept your CRC (criminal record check) obtained via the correct legal authorities then it could be argued they do not trust such correct legal authorities from whom your CRC was obtained and that then raises the issue of from whom do that obtain your CRC? The AFP (Australian Federal Police) or NSW Police?’

Cert IIIs and Cert IVs? www.nurseuncut.com.au/forum/component/option,com_ccboard/Itemid,24/forum ,13/topic,690/view,postlist/#ccbp4113 ‘AiN cert IIIs are not ‘regulated’ with a minimum standard of training, as far as I know. AHPRA has nothing to do with them. The RTO only needs to pass an accreditation once, then standards can drop, and nobody really cares.’

From the ‘I Support Nurses’ Facebook page: What tips do you have to share with us? What makes it easier for you to sleep during the day? www.facebook.com/NurseUncutAustralia ‘Home have a good shower then PJs on, turn OFF your phone (this IS your time to sleep NEVER get into house domestics) eat, now sleep … this worked for me for five years doing 10-hour nights.’

How do you get to work? If you drive how early do you have to leave to be assured of finding a park? www.facebook.com/NurseUncutAustralia ‘Parking at Coffs is good first thing in the morning but after 9am it’s awful. One suggestion is to park at McDonalds and walk across the highway. If I did that I would just go home instead.’

THE LAMP DECEMBER 2011 — JANUARY 2012 | 41

NURSING RESEARCH ONLINE

The latest edition of the Australian Journal of Advanced Nursing is now available online.

This excellent journal can be accessed for free at www.ajan.com.au The long haul: caring for bone marrow transplant (BMT) patients in regional Australia

The benefits of debriefing as formative feedback in nurse education

Louisa Bray, BMT Coordinator, Haematology Department, Calvary Mater Hospital, Newcastle; Christopher FC Jordens, Research Fellow and Senior Lecturer, Centre for Values, Ethics and the Law in Medicine, University of Sydney; Philip Rowlings, Director of Haematology, Calvary Mater Hospital, Newcastle; Ken Bradstock, BMT Physician, Blood and Marrow Transplant Unit, Westmead Hospital, Westmead; Ian Kerridge, Staff Haematologist/BMT Physician, Blood and Marrow Transplant Unit, Westmead Hospital and Director and Associate Professor of Bioethics, Centre for Values, Ethics and the Law in Medicine, University of Sydney.

Robyn P Cant, Research Fellow, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Monash University; Simon J Cooper, Associate Professor (Acute Care), Monash University.

To evaluate the experience of, and services to, patients from rural and regional Australia, referred to a large urban tertiary referral hospital for allogeneic haematopoietic cell transplantation and to compare their quality of life with similar populations. Allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (BMT) is a complex, demanding treatment with a high treatment-related mortality and morbidity, requiring a prolonged hospital stay and an extended recovery period. Approximately 35 to 80 per cent of transplant recipients will become long-term survivors who may experience late effects capable of impairing quality of life.

Allogeneic transplant is performed only in major urban tertiary referral centres. BMT may therefore impose additional strains for the 26 per cent of Australians living in rural or regional areas, such as travel, isolation, separation from social support, family upheaval, and financial strain due to distance from the treatment centre.

This paper explores the nursing literature to identify the educative process and essential features of debriefing. The ‘debrief’ is a common form of retrospective analysis of critical incidents in nursing and the health professions, but its potential for nurse education has not been fully recognised. Studies have failed to agree on the overall value of the technique for traumatic stress reduction – although there may be some benefits. Studies also report that brief-and-debrief techniques may enhance skills and improve the quality of patient care. www.ajan.com.au/Vol29/29-1_Cant.pdf Implementation of the nurse practitioner role within a Victorian healthcare network: an organisational perspective Marie Wintle, Nurse Unit Manager, Eastern Health, Victoria, Australia; Penny Newsome, Adjunct Professor, Deakin University, Melbourne, Australia; Patricia M Livingston, Associate Professor, Deakin University, Melbourne, Australia.

This paper presents a discussion of the development of a framework to implement and sustain the nurse practitioner role within one health service, and which could be readily transferable to other health services. www.ajan.com.au/Vol29/29-1_wintle.pdf

www.ajan.com.au/Vol29/29-1_Bray.pdf

42 | THE LAMP DECEMBER 2011 — JANUARY 2012

Flexible delivery: on-line versus bottom-line Philip J Warelow, Senior Lecturer, School of Nursing, University of Ballarat; Samantha Wells, Lecturer, School of Nursing, Deakin University; Pauletta Irwin, Lecturer, School of Health and Human Sciences, Southern Cross University.

In using a flexible delivery of learning approach to nursing education, and taking into account the globalisation of education, this research argues that universities need to consider and take into account both the positive and negative aspects.

Contemporary adult education sits in a fast-paced, high-speed era where there is no clear demarcation between distance education and traditional learning modes, which can make it difficult for both the teacher/facilitator and the learner.

Clearly, the needs of the students are often subjugated at the hands of the purse strings with financial considerations overriding good teaching practice. Flexible or multi-modal delivery is commonplace across university curricula these days and this paper examines some of the advantages and disadvantages of flexible and online delivery from both the learner and teacher perspectives, within the context of tertiary nurse education in some university settings. www.ajan.com.au/Vol29/29-1_Warelow.pdf

Quality legal advice for NSWNA members 2 Compensation and negligence claims 2 Motor vehicle claims 2 Wage loss claims 2 Industrial and Employment law

2 First Free Consultation for all members 2 Discounted rates for members on all matters 2 Free Standard Wills 2 No win – no charge*

Call the NSWNA on 1300 367 962 and find out how you can access this great service.

Offices in Sydney, Newcastle and visiting offices in regional areas (by appointment). *Conditions apply

Rarely do you get such a choice of nursing work and lifestyle opportunity.

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Casual, permanent and temporary, full time and part time. Specialties including, but not limited to, surgery, medicine, mental health, aged care, rehabilitation and emergency nursing. Information: Deborah Cameron, Nurse Manager, 4253 4887. deborah.cameron@sesiahs.health.nsw.gov.au

ARCHI

Australian Resource Centre for Healthcare Innovations

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

What’s new on ARCHI? Essentials of Care – The Essentials of Care (EOC) program aims to improve patient safety and outcomes through the implementation of a NSW state-wide framework that focuses on the essentials of clinical care, as well as enhancing the experiences of patients, families and carers as well as staff involved in the delivery of care. This EOC program is sponsored by the Chief Nursing and Midwifery Officer of NSW.

Visit the ARCHI website today at

www.archi.net.au

THE LAMP DECEMBER 2011 — JANUARY 2012 | 43

N E ALIA SCHEM R T AUS NDED W NE NT FU ME N R E GOV

Need support to get away for CPD leave?

We can help.

NAHRLS provides locum back–fill support for Nurses in rural and remote Australia to get away for CPD and training activities.

Freecall 1300 NAHRLS (1300 624757) Apply online at www.nahrls.com.au

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NURSES & MIDWIVES

YOU ARE INVITED ATTEND TO A TTTEND A LEGAL AND PROFESSIONAL SEMINAR

BY P PATRICIA ATTRICIA STAUNTON STTA AU AUNTON AM Patricia atricia is a rregistered egistered nurse and midwife, fe, and a aut auth author au of 6 editions s of Nursing ursing rsing an and d the he Law

44 | THE LAMP DECEMBER 2011 — JANUARY 2012

Date: 18 January January 2012 Date: V e enue: Western Western Sydney Clinical School Auditorium Venue: (adjacent to Blacktown Hospital).

T ime: 12.30-3.30pm Time: AND February 2012 Date: 16 February V e enue: John Lowenthal Auditorium, Westmead Westmead Hospital Hospita tal Venue: T ime: 1-4pm Time: RSVP essential.

Email: dmodder no@nswnurses.asn.au dmodderno@nswnurses.asn.au Priority will be given to NSWNA members. wever er you y Non-members welcome to attend, however will be invited to join on the day day..

Authorised Auth Authori Authorise d by B.Holmes, General Gene Secr Se Secretary, eta y, NSWNA. etar NSWN NSW SWNA.

BOOKS

BOOK ME Australia New Zealand Nursing & Midwifery Drug Handbook (5th Ed)

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Sanja Mirkov and Lisa McKenna Lippincott Williams and Wilkins, RRP $66.00 ISBN 9781920994112

Against Physician Assisted Suicide a palliative care perspective David Jeffrey Radcliff Publishing Ltd, RRP $POA ISBN 9781846191862

Against Physician Assisted Suicide (PAS) explores the reasons why those healthcare professionals who have the most experience of caring for dying patients, those in specialist palliative care, should object to legalising PAS in Britain, and elsewhere. The book also aims to give those not working in palliative care an insight into the scope of this specialty and to understand why more effort should be made to maintain and improve the care of dying patients, rather than legislating assisted suicide.

Developing Management Potential: How to lead, support and motivate care teams effectively Adrian Ashurst Quay Books (division of Mark Allen Publishing), RRP $54.99 ISBN 9781856424028

Developing Management Potential has been written for those interested in developing their potential as well as offering effective solutions to various day-to-day management issues. Postgraduate level nurses and colleagues with some management responsibilities may also find it useful, as could care home managers/care home owners.

Allie & Marty Wilson Publisher Marty Wilson, RRP $24.95 ISBN 9780980857412

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This fifth edition of the Australia New Zealand Nursing & Midwifery Drug Handbook has been comprehensively revised and updated to provide Australian and New Zealand nursing students and healthcare practitioners with the information to administer drugs safely and effectively. It emphasises clinical aspects of drug administration and provides detailed information on each drug and its characteristics, including indications, dosages, IV administration, adverse reactions, potential interactions, and contraindications. It also lists nursing considerations and patient education information.

What I wish I knew about nursing

off

What I wish I knew about nursing is one in the series of What I Wish I Knew books. This one is written by registered nurse Allie Wilson who collaborated with the Royal College of Nursing and interviewed more than 200 nurses to produce a book ‘…full of all the advice I wish I’d had when it all got too much for me.’ Presented in a way that will raise a smile from even the most cynical, the book aims to ‘… help nurses hit the ground running and leap into the job with the wisdom of experience from a whole family of mentors.’

DISCOUNT FOR LAMP READERS. Readers of The Lamp receive a 20% discount when they buy copies of What I wish I knew about nursing.

Visit whatiwishiknew.com and enter the discount code ‘THELAMP’ on checkout to receive 20% off.

What a great Christmas gift idea!

Long-term Caring (2nd Ed) Karen Scott, Margaret Wee and Sheila Sorrentino Mosby Australia (available from Elsevier Australia), RRP $90.00 ISBN 9780729539593

Long-term Caring (Residential, Home and Community Aged Care) has been fully revised and updated to address the requirements of the Training Package CHC30208 Certificate III in Aged Care.

The core themes of the book are that the person receiving care must be treated with dignity and value and in recognition of the fact that he or she has a past, a present and a future.

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

Publisher’s websites Marty Wilson: www.whatiwishiknew.com Elsevier Australia www.elsevierhealth.com.au Lippincott Williams and Wilkins www.lww.com Radcliffe Publishing: www.radcliffe-oxford.com Quay Books: www.quaybooks.co.uk National Academies Press: www.nap.edu THE LAMP DECEMBER 2011 — JANUARY 2012 | 45

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Only at the movies DECEMBER 26

MOVIES

The Skin I Live In

CINÉ FILES

The built in vacuum cleaner impressed reviewer CECILIA LOBO but the plot did not. Will other Pedro Almodóvar fans be similarly disappointed?

I was curious to see the film The Skin I Live In (La piel que habito) because of Antonio Banderas, who played the main character. I was really surprised at the role he played.

Overall I found the plot weak and predictable and waited the entire movie for a twist that never came. One is confused as to what Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar was trying to portray. Dr Robert Ledgard (Banderas) is an eminent plastic surgeon whose wife dies from the complications of severe burns. Transgenic skin, might have saved her, if there were such a thing. So Dr Ledgard becomes obsessed with the desire to create ‘skin that cannot burn’. Having had years of practice on mice/pigs and ‘missing persons’ he now needs a human guinea pig to test his new ‘skin’.

The movie strays into a story about him seeking revenge for his daughter’s supposed rape/death. But at what point did his obsession change to revenge?

Family relations, sexual politics, mourning, suicide, sex and murder are all depicted here. A classic ‘evil will never triumph over karma’ movie.

I was bored with the plot and found myself analysing minute details. For a start the plastic surgeon’s sterile technique left much to be desired (this is the nurse speaking)!

There were classical Venus statues and modern paintings everywhere, as if he had a fetish for naked women.Yet was he gay? The built in vacuum cleaner was great. Does every room have one? I want one of those.

There are high tech cameras and televisions, yet the door to the main bedroom, which dominates in the film, can only be opened with an old fashioned key. Marilia, Dr Legard’s mother, is supposed to be his secret accomplice, yet there are servants who frequent the house that have privy to everything.

I felt Banderas’ acting lacked strength and he did not look convincing. However, Elena Anaya’s (the captive Vera) eyes had great power.

Pedro Almodóvar has stayed true to his style with a mixture of pop culture, glossy decor, strong color and frequent flashbacks – but this time he lost the plot.

Cecilia Lobo is an RN at the Auburn District Hospital

The Skin I Live In was the first collaboration for 21 years between Pedro Almodóvar and Antonio Banderas. Banderas starred in one of Almodóvar’s first films, 1982’s Labyrinth of Passion, and went on to star in five others. As such, Almodóvar is credited as having helped launched Antonio Banderas’ international career.

MEMBERS GIVEAWAY The Lamp has 20 in-season double passes to giveaway to The Skin I Live In, thanks to Paramount Pictures & Transmission Films. The first 20 members to email their name, membership number, address and contact number to: lamp@nswnurses.asn.au will win!

THE LAMP DECEMBER 2011 — JANUARY 2012 | 47

MOVIES

MEMBERS GIVEAWAY The Lamp has 25 double passes to give away to ARRIETTY thanks to Madman Entertainment.

The first 25 members to email their name, membership number, address and contact number to will win.

ARRIETTY is a film from the famed Japanese animation studio, Studio Ghibli, inspired by the Mary Norton classic children’s novel, The Borrowers.

Beneath the floorboards of a sprawling mansion in the suburbs of Tokyo, tiny 14-yearold Arrietty lives with her equally tiny parents.

Arrietty and her family live by ‘borrowing’ – a sugar cube here, a scrap of metal there. But only a little each time, so the ladies who live upstairs do not notice.

ARRIETTY promises to be a breathtaking Japanese interpretation of a charming English story about friendship and understanding.

ARRIETTY will screen in both in English and original Japanese version with subtitles.

lamp@nswnurses.asn.au Only at the movies 12 JANUARY 2012

Nurses are in demand in regional NSW Enjoy a long and fulďŹ lling career with: s $IVERSITY s #OMMUNITY s ,IFESTYLE 9OU MAY BE ELIGIBLE FOR A SUPPORT PACKAGE

TO HELP WITH SETTLEMENT AND ORIENTATION

Contact our Nursing & Allied Health Recruitment team on 02 4924 8000 or nah@nswrdn.com.au to get you started. www.nswrdn.com.au

48 | THE LAMP DECEMBER 2011 — JANUARY 2012

CROSSWORD

TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE 1

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Across 1. Excessive dryness of the skin 6. Towards the back 9. Laurus nobilis, uses as antirheumatic, diuretic and antiseptic 10. Black pigmentation 11. Blood-stained, purulent discharge 12. Incisor teeth having a horizontal, hypoplastic groove (6.5) 13. Rigid connective tissue 14. Preparation of tubing to transport fluids 16. Abnormal increase of flesh 18. Not alive 20. Take in 21. When enlarged, this lymph node indicates disease (8.4) 23. Medical examiner (1.1) 25. Inflammation of the peritoneum 27. Network of nerves or blood vessels 29. Contaminated 30. Movement toward central axis of the body

Down 1. Chromatopsia where all objects appear yellow 2. To flow backward 3. Basic compelling urge 4. Restoration of harmonious mental function 5. Enclosed collection of pus 6. Abnormal depression and discontent 7. Shaped like, or having a spine 8. Able to stretch and expand 15. Having no known cause 17. Medical specialty dealing with pregnancy and childbirth 19. Father of modern physics 22. To form bone 23. Substance 24. Figure-of-eight bandage 26. Random amplified polymorphic DNA (1.1.1.1) 28. Gastrointestinal (1.1) THE LAMP DECEMBER 2011 — JANUARY 2012 | 49

DIARY DATES

CONFERENCES, SEMINARS, MEETINGS SYDNEY / HUNTER / ILLAWARRA

REUNIONS

Nepean Midwifery 21st Annual Conference Friday 2 March 2012 Sebel Resort Windsor murrayt@aimhigherevents.com.au

St Vincent’s Hospital, Darlinghurst (January/March 1972 PTS) 40-year reunion 11am 4 February 2012 Paddington RSL, Oxford St, Paddington Contact: Jennifer Purcell 0418 944 320 jennacell86@gmail.com RPAH 50-year reunion Seeking registered nurse graduates from the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital January 1962 PTS group for 50-year reunion.

Wednesday 8 February 2012 Contact: barbdryland@hotmail.com or Rosemary at rabrab75@gmail.com Third Bi-Annual Gladesville Hospital reunion 26 February 2012 Contact: Warren 0428 727 384 warrenjmartin@hotmail.com Colin 0425 258 709 colc@live.com.au or Rob 0416 764 200 RPAH April 1979 graduates reunion April 2012 Exact date and venue TBA Contact: Jane Howland 6581 3381 Sutherland Hospital PTS November 1973 reunion March 2012 Contact: Marianne Beuzeville marianne@upsidedowninsideout. com.au

REGIONAL Bare Foot Bowls 15 November 2011 Condobolin Sports Club 5.30pm for 6pm start.

02 6890 1500

INTERSTATE / OVERSEAS The ECG Workshop Glasgow 5-6 December 2011 bookings@mkupdate.co.uk Ph: 017687 73030 www.mkupdate.co.uk Ear Care Workshop for Nurses Edinburgh 5 December 2011 bookings@mkupdate.co.uk Ph: 017687 73030 www.mkupdate.co.uk Pre-Operative Assessment London 5-7 December 2011 bookings@mkupdate.co.uk Ph: 017687 73030 www.mkupdate.co.uk Understanding Blood Results London 6-7 December 2011 Manchester 8-9 December 2011 bookings@mkupdate.co.uk Ph: 017687 73030 www.mkupdate.co.uk Injection Technique Training for HCAs Birmingham 8-9 December 2011 bookings@mkupdate.co.uk Ph: 017687 73030 www.mkupdate.co.uk Clinical Team Leadership London 8-9 December 2011 bookings@mkupdate.co.uk Ph: 017687 73030 www.mkupdate.co.uk Advanced Emergency Skills Masterclass West Midlands, UK, 19 January 2012 Walsall Hospitals NHS Trust bookings@mkupdate.co.uk Ph: 017687 73030 www.mkupdate.co.uk 14th National Nurse Education Conference 2012 Perth 11-13 April 2012 Pan Pacific Hotel, Perth WA nnec@iceaustralia.com www.iceaustralia.com/nnec2012/ International Conference on Integrative Medicine Jerusalem 13-15 May 2012 Ph: +41 22 5330 948 Skype: +41 22 5330 948 rlevy@paragon-conventions.com www.mediconvention.com

NSWNA events Check venue location with Lyn Stevens 02 8595 1234 1300 367 962

Education dates

NSW Health Nursing and Midwifery Scholarship Fund

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

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

For information on NSWNA education courses call Carolyn Kulling (02) 8595 1234 1300 367 962 www.nswnurses.asn.au/topics/

Crossword solution

Diary Dates Diary Dates is a free service for members.

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

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

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

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

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

50 | THE LAMP DECEMBER 2011 — JANUARY 2012

X A N T H O P S I A E S P I C A

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Yes, my super fund: ✔ Has the best fee deal for superannuation open to the public1 ✔ Won the Money magazine’s Best of the Best lowest cost super fund award four years in a row2 ✔ Is one of the ten largest funds in Australia3 ✔ Offers access to great value financial planning4 and pension products ✔ Is a not for profit fund that does not pay commissions to advisers.

If you can’t tick ALL the boxes, then maybe you should talk to First State Super today.

To find out more about First State Super, visit www.firststatesuper.com.au or call us on 1300 650 873.

Consider the applicable First State Super ABN 53 226 460 365 Product oduct Disclosure Disclosure Statement before before deciding whether becoming a member or continuing your membership is right for you. To To obtain a copy visit the website or call us. Issued by FSS S Trustee Trrustee Corporation ABN 11 118 202 672, 6 AFSL 293340. October 2011.

2 The funds in Moneyy magazine’ magazine’s were e chosen fr from om SuperRatings’ platinum-, gold- and silver-rated silver-rated balance funds and ranked magaz s Best of the Best Lowest-Cost Super Funds wer on their annual costs associated with a $50,000 balance. First State Super was the winne winnerr in 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011.

3 SelectingSuper’ SelectingSuper’ss ranking of the Biggest Funds. Mar March ch 2011 First State Super was ranked 8th in the category ‘Super funds with the most members’ and 6th in the category ‘Super funds managing the most money’.

4 Neither FSS T rustee r Corporation Corpo nor First State Super is rresponsible esponsible for any advice given to you by Health Super Financial Services Pty Ltd ABN 37 096 452 318 AFSL Trustee Number 240019 trading as FSS Financial Planning.

T TICKBOXES ICKBOXES L LA LAMP AMP 1 10/11 0/11

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