The Lamp July 2010

lamp the

magazine of the NSW Nurses’ Association

volume 67 no.6 July 2010

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STAFF

RATIOS Certainty with nurse numbers & skill mix

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2 THE LAMP JULY 2010

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ABOUT THE LAMP

C O N T E N T S

Cover story STAFF RATIOS Certainty with nurse numbers and skill mix 14

lamp the

magazine of the NSW Nurses’ Association

volume 67 no.6 July 2010

14 Proposed ratios claim ready 16 Members get active for Campaign 2010 17 Views from nursing specialists on staffing and nurse ratios

STAFF Print Post Approved: PP241437/00033

RATIOS

Certainty with nurse numbers & skill mix

Cover Marc Johns, CNC, David Berry Hospital and Shoalhaven District Memorial Hospital, and Angela Pridham, RN, Shellharbour Hospital Photography by Sylvia Liber

News in brief 8 8 8 9 9 9 10 10 10 10 11 11 11 12 12 12 12 13 13 13

Industrial issues

Ryde Hospital to get $6.2 million boost Farewell Ged, welcome Lee Thomas NSWNA and AMA sign off on practice nurse agreement Robo Nurse goes international Wallsend delegates commended Paid parental leave scheme is a historic win for unions Study rebuffs mining industry’s claims over RSPT Nurses rally for equal pay Macquarie nurses and midwives discuss health issues with Minister Tanya Plibersek Hoteliers should pay for alcohol-related violence Unions welcome minimum pay rise NSWNA rallies for construction worker ACTU launches new anti-WorkChoices ad Nurses eligible for HECS-help benefit Patients rate teamwork in hospitals high Hyper virulent strain of C diff hits Australia WHO code to stem recruitment Study aims to provide NUMs with better support and training Nurses afraid to give medication to dying patients Patients to give feedback on care via iPhone

29 Kempsey nurses win safe staffing campaign

Professional issues 30 Insurance for private midwives big step in the right direction 33 National registration comes on board

NSWNA matters 38 NSWNA Branch News

Obituaries 44 Pamela Brady: pioneer and advocate in community nursing 44 Anne Jennifer Mann: a kind and supportive colleague

Regular columns 5 6 35 36 37 42 45 47 48

Editorial

by Brett Holmes Your letters to The Lamp Ask Judith Nurses online Nursing research online At the movies Books Our nursing crossword Diary dates

NSWNA education program

Competition

13 What’s on

23 Win a trip to a health retreat

Aged care

Special offers

20 Aged care pay rise

43 Win 25 double passes to The Hedgehog, Creation, and South Solitary and 20 double passes to Me and Orson Welles

Agenda 24 The Resource Super Profits Tax and your super

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

SYDNEY OFFICE 43 Australia Street Camperdown NSW 2050 PO Box 40 Camperdown NSW 1450 (all correspondence) T 8595 1234 (metro) 1300 367 962 (non-metro) F 9550 3667 E gensec@nswnurses.asn.au W www.nswnurses.asn.au HUNTER OFFICE 120 Tudor Street Hamilton NSW 2303 ILLAWARRA OFFICE L1, 63 Market Street Wollongong NSW 2500 NSWNA COMMUNICATIONS MANAGER Noel Hester T 8595 2153 NSWNA COMMUNICATIONS ASSISTANT Laura McDonald T 8595 1258 For all Lamp editorial enquiries, letters and diary dates: Editorial Enquiries T 8595 1234 E lamp@nswnurses.asn.au M PO Box 40 Camperdown NSW 1450 THE LAMP PRODUCED BY Sirius Communications T 9560 1223 W www.siriuscommunications.com.au PRESS RELEASES Send your press releases to: T 9550 3667 E gensec@nswnurses.asn.au THE LAMP EDITORIAL COMMITTEE Brett Holmes, NSWNA General Secretary Judith Kiejda, NSWNA Assistant General Secretary Coral Levett, NSWNA President John Lyons, 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 F 9550 3667 E ppurcell@nswnurses.asn.au RECORDS AND INFORMATION CENTRE – LIBRARY To find old articles in The Lamp, or to borrow from the NSWNA library’s nursing and health collection, contact: Jeannette Bromfield, RIC Coordinator T 8595 2175 E gensec@nswnurses.asn.au THE LAMP ISSN: 0047-3936 General disclaimer The Lamp is the official magazine of the NSWNA. Views expressed in articles are contributors’ own and not necessarily those of the NSWNA. Statements of fact are believed to be true, but no legal responsibility is accepted for them. All material appearing in The Lamp is covered by copyright and may not be reproduced without prior written permission. The NSWNA takes no responsibility for the advertising appearing herein and it does not necessarily endorse any products advertised.

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

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

Individuals $73, Institutions $120, Overseas $130.

65th

NSW NURSES’ ASSOCIATION ANNUAL CONFERENCE

SAFETY IN NUMB3RS: STAFFING & SKILL MIX FOR SAFE PATIENT CARE

Professional Day Register now to attend on Friday, 23 July 2010 For more information or to register please contact the NSWNA on Metro: 02 8595 2181 or Rural: 1300 367 962 or go to www.nswnurses.asn.au

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Hosted by Angela Catterns with speakers including:

Rosemary Bryant n Professor Mary Chiarella n Jarrod Moran Kuini L Lutua n Deborah Burger n Lee Thomas n Darren Flanagan

4 THE LAMP JULY 2010

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E D I T O R I A L

BY BRETT HOLMES GENERAL SECRETARY

Great win for aged care g Good win in aged care highlights the importance of fair workplace laws.

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010 has been a good year for aged care nurses.

The latest success has been the adoption of a model template agreement with good wage increases and more rights for nurses by 26 for-profit aged care employers (see p.20). This is a great advance for nurses working in aged care. It is a reward for a lot of hard work by our members working for these companies and builds on our achievements in the not-for-profit sector.

Our attention will now turn to extending these gains to other for-profit employers.

This win highlights the benefits of the laws that the Federal Government introduced to replace WorkChoices. During the life of the Howard government wages and conditions in the forprofit sector slipped behind as employers refused to come to the table. Now there is an obligation for them to bargain in good faith.

This has created the environment for us to achieve this win.

With the ascension of Julia Gillard as Prime Minister it is likely we will have a Federal election in the very near future.

While the issue of workplace laws is not as prominent in the public domain as it was in the last election, it remains of critical importance to nurses’ rights at work.

The choice between the main parties on workplace laws remains as stark as it ever was. Tony Abbott is still committed to the key elements of WorkChoices couched in terms of increased workplace flexibility previously achieved by AWAs and weak unfair dismissal laws. He does not hide his strong antipathy to the role of unions.

While we have had cause to lock horns with Julia Gillard over some aspects of the

research from academics and broad consultation with nursing experts. It now goes out to the wider membership in our public hospitals for feedback.

I would urge nurses in the public health system to familiarise themselves with the details of our ratios claim during these information sessions and prepare for a spirited campaign to win them.

Meanwhile, we have conducted several negotiations with NSW Health on other elements of our claim.

Nurses stand to gain from the RSPT In this issue of The Lamp we also look at the controversial Resource Super Profits Tax (see p.24). On the face of it this issue may seem remote from nurses’ everyday issues. It is not.

The inadequacy of retirement incomes for nurses is an issue of great importance to the NSWNA. According to First State Super the average superannuation account balance for a 47-year-old woman working in the health sector is between $44,000 and $47,000.

The latest figures Australia-wide reveal the average superannuation payout for a woman is $63,000.

This is about a seventh of what the experts say is necessary for a comfortable retirement income. The Federal Government has introduced several measures that will help to improve this situation but they do need to be funded.

It is important that nurses understand the full implications of the campaign waged against the tax. The mining companies should be paying more tax on their windfall profits and if they do, nurses will benefit from it.n

The choice between the main parties on workplace laws remains as stark as it ever was.Tony Abbott is still committed to the key elements of WorkChoices couched in terms of increased workplace flexibility previously achieved by AWAs. new system, we have to acknowledge that she has been the architect of a much fairer set of workplace laws that helps us to deliver better wages and conditions for nurses.

Our campaign for ratios moves forward Achieving better wages and mandated nurse-to-patient ratios for public hospital nurses will be something that will occupy us for the rest of this year. Achieving ratios is a very serious challenge we have set ourselves.

We have been meticulous in drafting this facet of our claim with solid empirical

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L E T T E R S

More respect and consideration for agency nurses After nearly 25 years as an RN I have seen many perspectives of ‘agency’ and ‘casual’ staff.

Often, as a ‘permanent’ member of staff I would view the prospect of working with an agency nurse with apprehension, and sometimes this fear was confirmed by the arrival of an inappropriately experienced or lacking-ininitiative person. Often we were fortunate to have a highly skilled colleague, from whom we learnt many ideas from similar clinical areas.

Mostly we received diligent professionals whose hard work helped us ‘survive’ an otherwise under-staffed shift.

Many people work agency/casual while travelling, studying or for some very specific purpose. Many others, like myself, work full-time agency to fit in with demanding family responsibilities, which often preclude working rotating shifts.

Though I enjoy the variety of the work and usually receive an appropriate introduction to the ward, I (and many other colleagues) are often dismayed at the lack of basic support from other team members.

We do read the orientation brochures (if available), and often arrive early (if possible) to familiarise ourselves with the ward; we take initiative in finding equipment and confirming if it is acceptable to request particular help from wards people, secretaries, cleaners and so on.

We do make an effort not to bother the regular staff with too many questions or requests for help.

However, sometimes some local knowledge is useful, if not essential, for us to perform our new duties.

Often our needs are very practical; if keys are required for accessing bedside medications, these should be available – or we have no choice but to disturb others by borrowing.

Likewise, passwords to necessary equipment rooms, computers, dementiaspecific areas and so on should be readily available to those who require them.

Often it is the ‘housekeeping’ rather than ‘clinical’ information that is slow to access, but essential to obtain.

Answers to questions such as ‘If 6 THE LAMP JULY 2010

the team leader is busy, who should I next contact?’ are ones all the team benefits from, especially on a first shift at a new hospital.

Agency nurses are often allocated long-term, complicated patients with multiple priorities of care. Every ward and hospital seems to have different procedures and lines of communication.

Misunderstandings among staff can easily occur, despite our best and most peaceable efforts.

Agency staff can be very vulnerable to complaints and passive bullying.

Once their shift is over they often have little or no right of reply to a perceived fault, and the next day they may be at a different hospital, unaware that an explanation is required.

Agency staff may not have the responsibility of the usual staff, but often have a similar workload to complete in reduced hours. Often this workload is impossible to thoroughly achieve in the timeframe, even with the almost standard practice of working through a lunch break. The whole team benefits if the workload is arranged so that each member gets at least a brief drink break.

Surely this is an OHS issue too.

Agency nurses are generally not overpaid opportunists. We have skills, experience and even loyalty to share; hopefully even an encouraging conversation.

It is a privilege to assist a busy ward in these stressful times but please provide us with the relevant local knowledge to do our jobs.

An ACSF (Agency/Casual Staff Friendly) ward is a very efficient and welcoming machine.

Elizabeth Connell, RN

Got something to say?

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

Ruth Whiting

Sick of ‘horror stories’ What about the good news stories in aged care?

I want to comment on all the negative media lately about residential aged care.

My colleagues and I got the gist of the recent media stories but decided not to read it all, as we don’t really want to read more bad press about aged care.

We would like to hear ‘good news’ stories too – because of course there are many to be told. But maybe they don’t make for good media. We know there are lots of things that could be done better, but while we are working short, we just can’t get to everything that needs to be done.

We feel caught in the middle – we want the best for the residents, and we want to have pride in our work. But what do we do when we know we can’t always fulfil this? There needs to be a proper mix of nurses and care staff, and enough staff overall. Until more is done to make sure there are enough nurses, these negative stories will be too easy to find.

Will these ‘horror stories’ actually bring any change or will they give another reason for more nurses to leave aged care? In the meantime, we will keep doing the very best we can with not enough to go around, and try to keep our own morale up!

Ruth Whiting, AiN, Elizabeth Gardens ACF

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Shirley Ross-Shuley

Let’s support aged care nurses We need to support nurses in aged care who are doing a great job every day, often without enough staff or time and sometimes short of equipment and other resources. Media reports like the recent Daily Telegraph articles might flush out some very bad practices, and some shonky operators, but they do a lot of harm for the majority of nurses and facilities who give high-quality care every day, working in a professional way and with a strong commitment to the residents in their care. Reports like these raise fear in the community, for relatives and residents, and this one-sided reporting also demoralises nurses and care staff who are already working under pressure.

Residential aged care is a vital part of our health system, and nurses need to stand strong together to support those aged care nurses and care staff doing a great job every day, and not let the bad practices of a few cast doubt on the majority.

Shirley Ross-Shuley, AiN

School nurse very disappointed and frustrated I feel compelled to write this letter to express my disappointment in the NSWNA. I am a school nurse – another of those areas often forgotten about and neglected because we ‘just don’t have the numbers’. In short, the NSWNA failed to support us and as such our working awards and conditions will now be handled by the Independent Education Union. It is fait accompli – we didn’t even get a say in this.

I am bitterly frustrated that the NSWNA has glossed over this significant error and failed to acknowledge the fact that as nurses, we need the understanding of a union that is aware of our role and duties. It has also failed to realise that working as a health worker in an educational environment provides us with many professional challenges – which we face daily. To be classed in the same union as teachers means there is no-one to understand or support our independent role. Yes, I may work in a school but I

still believe my career is in nursing and as such I have supported the NSWNA financially for many years. Where were you when I finally needed you? Imagine if something like this had happened in another work area such as the Maritime Union – they wouldn’t have allowed it.

I now feel that as a school nurse I have been separated from the nursing profession. I am a nurse; I work as a nurse and I am proud of nursing. Therefore, it is reasonable I would want to be represented by my nursing association.

For this reason I am disappointed.

Katrina Roberts School Nurse, Bathurst.

Editor’s response: Under the new Federal industrial relations legislation, modern awards were created to simplify the award system. The NSWNA made submissions to Fair Work Australia that school nurses should be included under the Nurses Award 2010 alongside other nurses in the Federal system. Disappointingly, Fair Work Australia instead classified school nurses under the Educational Services (Schools) General Staff Award 2010, and this decision was made with no reasons provided and no right of appeal.

The NSWNA was then faced with the reality that this category of its members were no longer employed under a nursing-specific award. In addition to this, the small numbers of nurses employed within each school meant the NSWNA had very little bargaining power to successfully negotiate desirable pay and conditions for its members.

The solution developed is to offer yourself and other affected nurses a dual membership with the Independent Education Union. This dual membership offers school nurses the best of both worlds. They will have the industrial and bargaining strength in their workplaces to negotiate pay and conditions alongside teachers and non-teaching staff, while continuing to receive the professional expertise and representation of the NSWNA. This is a great opportunity for school nurses in independent schools to become more integrated and to have a stronger voice in their

workplaces and at the same time maintain their connection with the nursing profession.

Those who take up a dual membership will only be required to pay one membership fee to receive the benefits of being a member of both unions.

The NSWNA wrote to all its members listed as working at independent schools to invite them to a special consultation meeting regarding these changes.

Officers of the NSWNA and the IEU also met with members of the NSW School Nurses Association to discuss the changes. (The changes do not affect nurses working in state schools.)

Nurses employed at independent schools are valued by NSWNA alongside our members in all varied types of workplaces, and this is why we are offering dual membership to ensure that you have the best union coverage possible.

Sharon Buchholz

Not enough time, not enough staff – it’s just not good enough I have worked in aged care for a long time and it’s ‘normal’ now to have to rush through our work – this means for things like feeding, bathing, changing beds. I’m not proud to say it but some of the things in the newspaper articles of late are true because there just isn’t enough time or enough of us to really give the care we want to, and that older people deserve. It’s not good enough we feel this pressure, and residents don’t get care in a more relaxed way. The Because we care campaign is trying to get us compulsory staffing levels in aged care and I agree – I can’t see how anything will change for the better until we get this.

Sharon Buchholz, AiN Wollongong Nursing Home

THE TROUBLE WITH TUESDAYS You may be finding it hard to talk to our information officers on Tuesdays. This is because Tuesday is the one day of the week when all our staff are in the office for staff and team meetings. These meetings are essential for information distribution and planning activities.

If at all possible, please don’t ring on this day

as there can be considerable delays. But if you need urgent assistance, you will get it.

Our information department receives approximately 900 calls per week, and the phones are ringing hot from 8.30am to 5pm. NSWNA Information Officers are available until 7pm.

We are working hard to meet your needs and thank you for your patience.

CALL 8595 1234 (METRO) OR 1300 367 962 (NON-METRO).

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RYDE HOSPITAL

TO GET $6.2 MILLION BOOST A new 60-bed rehabilitation centre, to be established on the Ryde Hospital site as part of the Graythwaite Trust, will be further enhanced with an additional four sub-acute beds.

The Federal Government will provide a total of $2.4 million in capital funding and $1.2 million in recurrent funding.

These additional beds are a direct result of the historic health reform agreement reached by COAG in April.

The Federal Government will provide a total of $2.4 million in capital funding and $1.2 million in recurrent funding to expand the bed capacity of the centre, as well as a further $2.6 million to fund specialised equipment needed for the comprehensive therapy services required by these patients.

This funding is part of NSW’s $527 million share of the $1.6 billion the Federal Government is providing nationally to boost the number of sub-acute beds by 1,300 by 2013–2014.

The centre will offer enhanced rehabilitation through integrated inpatient and therapy services, including hydrotherapy.

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Farewell Ged, welcome Lee Thomas

New ANF Federal Secretary Lee Thomas.

The NSWNA wishes a fond farewell to former ANF Federal Secretary Ged Kearney, who left the organisation at the end of June to take up the position of President of the ACTU. Earlier this year Ged was elected unopposed to replace former ACTU President Sharan Burrow, who is set to take up a major international union position later this year.

Ged, who had been ANF Federal Secretary since 2008, formally took office as ACTU President on 1 July.

‘It is an incredible honour to join [ACTU Secretary] Jeff Lawrence in leading Australian unions to provide a voice for working Australians and their families, particularly in an election year with the very real threat that the Liberal Party will re-introduce WorkChoices if they are elected,’ Ged said.

‘I am committed to progressing the interests of working Australians and to making sure their voices are heard in the debates that matter.’

Former ANF Assistant Federal Secretary Lee Thomas takes up the position of ANF Federal Secretary.

Lee began her nursing in aged care as a Personal Care Assistant in 1979.

Lee completed her general nurse education at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Adelaide and subsequently her midwifery education at the Queen Victoria Hospital in 1987. Lee also holds a Bachelor of Nursing and a neonatology certificate. Following completion of

her training, Lee worked in a variety of non-traditional nursing roles including human resources, project management and administration. Lee assisted with the establishment of the first Emergency Department in a private hospital in South Australia and worked as a Nurse Consultant on a $53 million hospital redevelopment project.

Prior to taking on her role as ANF Assistant Federal Secretary, Lee served as Branch Secretary of the Australian Nursing Federation (SA Branch) for eight years.

Her involvement in numerous forums and committees has moved into the national arena and covers issues such as industrial relations, nursing issues, workforce reform, foreign affairs and health issues generally.

NSWNA and AMA sign off on practice nurse agreement The NSWNA and AMA have signed off on an agreement covering the employment of practice nurses.

Instead of one award with fixed conditions covering all practices, the agreement is an individual contract that allows flexibility for practices that adopt it.

A model flexibility clause allows practices to negotiate flexibility in regard to overtime rates, allowances and leave loading.

The NSWNA approved the contract, which will allow medical practices to offer their nurses above-award rates and conditions. The agreement includes wages that are in accordance with the Nurses (Private Hospitals) Award, with a 3.5% increase in 2010 and paid leave for relevant training.

A model flexibility clause allows practices to negotiate flexibility in regard to overtime rates, allowances and leave loading specific to the needs of the practice. The template document also includes clauses covering family-friendly workplaces and professional indemnity insurance paid by the practice.

ROBO NURSE

GOES

INTERNATIONAL SWNA member Frances Usherwood’s awardwinning short film Robo Nurse was screened at the fourth annual Geneva Labour Film Shorts Festival.

The festival is organised by the Global Union Communicator’s Task Force, representing all global union federations, the International Trade Union Confederation and Trade Union Advisory Committee.

It features films by, for and about unions and working people, telling workers’ stories of confronting the challenges caused by the extreme imbalance in power between the transnational corporate elite and working people.

Frances’ film, which took out the top prize in last year’s inaugural NSWNA Short Film Festival, was even subtitled in French to make sure the locals in Switzerland understood it.

The film (and its successor Robo Nurse 2, which won second prize in this year’s NSWNA Short Film Festival) is a futuristic thriller in which critical nursing shortages are addressed by replacing human nurses with robotic ones.

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NSWNA General Secretary Brett Holmes presents WACF’s Louise Howell with her Certificate of Achievement, on behalf of the ACTU.

Wallsend delegates commended Staff at Wallsend Aged Care Facility (WACF) celebrated reaching the national finals of the ACTU Awards.

The facility itself was commended in the Best Workplace Campaign category for its Save Wallsend Aged Care Facility Campaign, which defeated the NSW State Government in its bid to transfer the public aged care facility to the private sector.

Also a national finalist was WACF’s Branch Delegate Louise Howell, who was a highly commended Branch Delegate of the Year.

NSWNA General Secretary Brett Holmes travelled to the WACF in June to present the Certificates of Achievement to Branch members and Louise Howell, on behalf of the ACTU.

Paid parental leave scheme is a historic win for unions Australian working mothers will have better health and financial security after the historic passage of the first national paid parental leave scheme last month.

Departing ACTU President Sharan Burrow said the passing of the Bill by the Senate was the culmination of a 30-year campaign by working women and their unions.

She said the Federal Government’s 18-week scheme – which comes into effect on 1 January 2011 – would be great for families and great for the

economy by encouraging a higher participation rate of women in their most productive working years.

A new national standard that gives all women the right to take a period of paid leave will also be a major benefit to maternal and child health and development, she said.

‘This is a truly great achievement for working women and the Federal Government should be congratulated,’ Sharan said.

‘It is long overdue. Two-thirds of Australian women who have a baby currently get no paid parental leave. Parents have been forced to make a choice between having a child and paying the bills.

‘The Federal Government’s scheme will finally overcome this long-time injustice for working families.’

The passage of Australia’s first national paid parental leave scheme comes after the ACTU and unions built a broad community and business consensus in support of the plan.

Last month, the ACTU presented all political parties with a petition from more than 25,000 people urging the Senate to pass the Bill.

Ms Burrow said the ACTU and unions would build on this major reform with other measures to help women balance their work and family responsibilities and lead fulfilling lives.

NSWNA General Secretary Brett Holmes said the move was excellent news for nurses and highlighted the importance of collaboration between parties. ‘This is a major step forward won again by the union movement with community support and the ability to work with a Labor Government.’

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STUDY REBUFFS

MINING INDUSTRY’S CLAIMS

OVER RSPT study by one of America’s most prominent economic research establishments refutes the mining industry’s claims that taxes in the sector would increase to as high as 57% if the Federal Government’s proposed Resource Super Profits Tax (RSPT) comes into effect.

The average effective tax rate of mining multinationals in Australia is 13%, according to a study by American tax economists, Douglas Shakelford and Kevin Markle, which looked at effective tax rates faced by multinational and domestic companies around the world. Published by the National Bureau of Economic Research, the paper found that multinationals faced pretty much the same effective tax rates as domestic companies.

Despite several commentators initially lambasting the study – which looks at 27,000 companies – the business sector is now acknowledging that the miners have wildly overreacted.

The RSPT will be introduced on 1 July 2012 at a rate of 40% on profits made from the exploitation of Australia’s nonrenewable resources. The aim is that the money will be invested in superannuation and boost the super accounts of eight million workers.

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See article on page 24 about the impact of the Resource Super Profits Tax on nurses’ superannuation and health funding.

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Left to right: NSWNA flag-bearer Linda Kelly from Balmain Hospital with retired nurse Nancy Essex who fought with the NSWNA for pay equity under the leadership of Veronica Henlen.

Nurses rally for equal pay NSWNA members joined thousands of people who took part in Australia’s biggest equal pay campaign since the 1970s. Rallies for the Pay Up campaign – organised by the Australian Services Union – took place across the country in June to highlight the pay gap between men and women, particularly in the community sector.

As the nursing industry comprises predominantly women, it is an important issue for NSWNA members. At the Sydney rally retired nurse Nancy Essex appeared on the stage. Nancy worked with Veronica Henlen, a past General Secretary of the Association, for pay equity by promoting male nurses as a way to get pay equity for female nurses. More information about the Pay Up campaign is at www.payup.org.au.

Macquarie nurses and midwives discuss health issues with Minister Tanya Plibersek Nurses and midwives were among a group of women who attended a lunch and meet-up with Tanya Plibersek, Minister for the Status of Women, in June. Ms Plibersek extended an invitation to the NSWNA to pass on to members living in the Federal electorate

of Macquarie to attend the meeting, which also included the opportunity to talk with Susan Templeman, who has won pre-selection for the Federal seat of Macquarie, following the retirement of ALP MP Bob Debus.

The NSWNA’s Rita Martin attended the gathering with a group of nurses and midwives. They discussed a range of issues with the Minister and local MP, including women’s health, aged care, home birth midwives and the plight of Indigenous women whose health is suffering in the nearby correctional facility in Emu Plains.

Hoteliers should pay for alcohol-related violence Hoteliers should pay a ‘super-profits’ tax on bars that stay open after 3am, according to a coalition of groups representing emergency services in NSW. The coalition includes the Health Services Union, the Australian Medical Association and the NSWNA. It launched the Last Drinks campaign in March this year.

The groups are calling for a levy to be paid by hotels, with the extra money being used to pay for what they say are the increased costs to police and the health system from alcohol-related violence.

The head of the Police Association, Scott Weber, said the levy should be imposed across the State.

‘The hotel lobby is promoting an underbelly approach in regard to licencing,’ he told ABC News.

UNIONS WELCOME MINIMUM

PAY RISE he ACTU has welcomed the extra $26 a week delivered to working Australians

by Fair Work Australia.

The rise in minimum pay for 1.4 million award-dependent workers breaks the drought after a wage freeze of almost two years under the Howard Government’s wagesetting tribunal.

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’It delivers the decent rise to minimum wages that working families need and is further indication that working Australians are much better off under the Labor Government’s new Fair Work laws.’

ACTU Secretary Jeff Lawrence said the new wage-setting body within Fair Work Australia had comprehensively accepted the ACTU’s case for a decent increase and rejected that of employers who were arguing for a wage rise of less than half the amount won.

‘The decision is a very good outcome for working Australians that goes a long way towards restoring the real value of wages for the most low-paid and vulnerable members of the workforce,’ Jeff said. ‘It delivers the decent rise to minimum wages that working families need and is further indication that working Australians are much better off under the Labor Government’s new Fair Work laws.’

NSWNA rallies for construction worker

ACTU launches new anti-WorkChoices ad

NSWNA’s Patrick Byrne (pictured centre) organised for the Association’s delegates and staff to attend a rally to support construction worker Ark Tribe, who faces jail for not attending a secret interrogation with the Australian Building and Construction Commission (ABCC) about a workplace safety dispute.

The NSWNA supports the CFMEU’s campaign to abolish the ABCC. Around 20 NSWNA members attended the rally on 15 June – the date of Ark’s trial – along with other unions including the CFMEU and political parties such as the Greens..

The Federal Government has not yet fulfilled its promise to abolish the unfair laws imposed on construction workers by the Howard Government. The NSWNA supports the CFMEU’s campaign to abolish the ABCC, which has the power to jail workers such as Ark for refusing to meet with the body.

More information about Ark’s trial and the campaign to abolish the ABCC can be found at www.rightsonsite.org.au.

The ACTU has launched a series of advertisements that highlight Opposition Leader Tony Abbott’s lack of reliability when it comes to WorkChoices.

ACTU Secretary Jeff Lawrence said it is important the Australian public are aware that, by his own admission, Tony Abbott cannot be trusted.

‘It is also essential people are fully aware that in his Budget reply speech Tony Abbott committed to winding back unfair dismissal protections and reintroduce individual contracts as core aspects of the Liberal Party’s industrial relations policy if elected.

‘Our new radio and newspaper ads are letting the people of Australia know we will take a stand against a return to WorkChoices. Our message to Tony Abbott is “WorkChoices; whatever the name – never again”,’ said Jeff.

NSWNA’s Patrick Byrne (pictured centre) marches with other NSWNA delegates and staff in support of construction worker Ark Tribe.

THE LAMP JULY 2010 11

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N E W S I INN BBRRI IEEFF

NURSES

Patients rate teamwork in hospitals high

HECS-HELP

How doctors and nurses work together as a team, along with courtesy and availability of nurses, are among the key factors important to hospital patients, according to the first report by the Bureau of Health Information.

Insights into Care: Patients’ Perspectives on NSW Public Hospitals examined the care experiences of the patients who spent either a day, or one or more nights, in a public hospital each year.

ELIGIBLE FOR

BENEFIT

The report included feedback from more than 20,000 patients treated in NSW hospitals in 2009. urses who graduated after 1 July 2009 are eligible for a reduction in the HECS-HELP compulsory repayment.

Last year the Federal Government introduced the HECSHELP benefit for early childhood teachers and some maths and science graduates. This has now been extended to include educators and nurses who graduated after 1 July 2009.

To be eligible for the benefit, nurses must have graduated after 1 July 2009 and have a HECS or HELP debt.

An eligible occupation for a nursing/midwifery graduate is an occupation that requires nursing or midwifery registration, as recognised by the relevant nursing and midwifery authority for employment purposes, as a Registered Nurse or Registered Midwife.

The maximum benefit is $1,558.50. The benefit needs to be applied for each year and the time to apply is at the end of the financial year.

For further information, contact the Australian Taxation Office Higher Education Loan Info Line on 1300 650 225.

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12 THE LAMP JULY 2010

In 2009, most patients who spent one or more nights in hospital (overnight patients) and completed the survey rated care as excellent (34%), very good (34%) or good (22%). A minority reported it to be fair (8%) or poor (3%).

Patients who spent a day receiving a test, surgery or other procedure (day-only patients) rated care as excellent (42%), very good (36%) or good (17%), while a minority reported it to be fair (4%) or poor (1%).

The report included feedback from more than 20,000 patients treated in NSW hospitals in 2009. It is the largest survey program of its kind in Australia and included over 80 questions covering a range of experiences including wait times, use of medication, and admission and discharge procedures.

‘What matters most to patients is teamwork – how well doctors and nurses work together,’ said Bureau of Health Information Chief Executive, Dr Diane Watson. ‘Key care experiences that also matter to patients include courtesy of nurses and admitting staff, being treated with dignity and respect, cleanliness, how well the hospital was organised, and availability of nurses.’

Commissioner Peter Garling recommended the establishment of the Bureau of Health Information as an independent, board-governed organisation that would report on issues

of quality and safety for patients in NSW public hospitals.

Insights into Care is the Bureau’s first report, with others to follow quarterly, focusing on hospital performance, including emergency and surgical care, and an annual report on the performance of the NSW public health system. The report and its related documents are available at www.bhi.nsw.gov.au

Hyper virulent strain of C diff hits Australia The hyper virulent strain of Clostridium difficile has been identified in Australia, after Epworth Healthcare in Richmond, Victoria, reported it had managed three patients diagnosed with the strain since February this year.

The hyper virulent strain is associated with increased infectious spread, increased severity of the symptoms and possible recurrent infection. ‘The infection is widely spread in the UK, Europe and North America but, until now, has not been identified in Australia. Its prevalence in the wider Australian community is unknown due to lack of testing,’ said Dr Megan Robertson, Executive Medical Director Epworth Healthcare.

More than 20,000 in-patients were admitted to Epworth Richmond since February this year, but there is no evidence that the three cases identified are linked, according to Dr Robertson.

WHO code to stem recruitment The World Health Organization has established a voluntary global code of practice to discourage member states from actively recruiting health personnel from developing countries that face critical shortages of health workers.

The establishment of the code follows six years of negotiations aimed at stemming the exodus of health-care workers, including doctors and nurses, from 60 of the world’s poorest countries.

According to Jean-Marc Braichet of WHO’s human resources for health department, Australia – along with the US, Canada, Britain and New Zealand – is one of the largest recruiters of foreign health-care workers.

Study aims to provide NUMs with better support and training Catholic Health Australia (CHA) and Health Super will jointly conduct a study into providing Nursing Unit Managers with better support and training to improve patient and aged care services.

The Nursing and Midwifery Empowerment Project will explore a range of support options such as new work processes, workplace education and training, and senior staff mentoring, CHA said in a media statement.

CEO Martin Laverty welcomed Health Super’s sponsorship, saying it would lead to an action plan to make it easier for Nursing Unit Managers to achieve best practice in patient care.

‘Our aim is to empower Nursing Unit Managers to achieve optimum levels of patient care in hospitals and aged care services. But to do this we need to understand the everyday concerns and needs of Nursing Unit Managers and how they can be better supported through education and training,’ he said.

The study will be completed in August and made available to the public in September.

Nurses afraid to give medication to dying patients

s Legal & Professional Issues for Nurses and Midwives 20 August, Coffs Harbour, ½ day 15 October, Wagga, ½ day Topics covered include the Nurses and Midwives Act 1991, potential liability, importance of documentation, role of disciplinary tribunals including the NMB, writing statements.

Members $39 Non-members $85

Patients to give feedback on care via iPhone Patients at North Cumbria University Hospital NHS Trust in the UK will be given an iPhone or similar handheld, touch-screen device and asked to answer a few questions about their care, hospital cleanliness, food and the ward environment.

A web-based program will then be used to monitor and measure patient experience, based on the feedback. It will also measure real-time staff satisfaction and clinical standards.

The scheme, pioneered by Director of Nursing, Quality & Governance Sandy Brown and Cancer Nurse Specialist Mark Irving, has been piloted for the past 12 months at the Cumberland Infirmary and West Cumberland Hospital with patients across all specialities including both outpatients and inpatients. It is designed to triangulate and analyse information from the three data streams – patient experience, staff experience and clinical indicators.

‘Patients are asked to give feedback on their care while they are still in hospital, rather than being sent a questionnaire once they are home. This gives a much better picture of their opinions,’ said Sandy Brown.

s Basic Foot Care for RNs & ENs 11 & 12 August, Newcastle, 2 days 19 & 20 October, Tamworth, 2 days This course aims to provide nurses with the competence to provide basic foot care.

Members $203 Non-members $350 s Appropriate Workplace Behaviour 27 August, Tamworth, 1 day 29 October, Coffs Harbour, 1 day Topics covered include understanding why bullying occurs; antidiscrimination law & NSW Health policies; how to behave appropriately in the workplace; identify behaviour which constitutes unlawful harassment and bullying; what to do if subjected to unlawful harassment and bullying; how to use workplace grievance procedures; identify, prevent and resolve bullying.

Members $85 Non-members $170 s Stress Management 4 August, Camperdown, 1 day Seminar is suitable for all nurses and midwives.

Members – Free Non-members – Free

Photo courtesy of David Pegon

Nurses are refusing to give dying patients adequate medication to control their symptoms and relieve pain, for fear of being prosecuted for assisting suicide, according to a survey by Nursing Times.

The British nursing journal found more than one in 10 of the 2,311 respondents to the online survey of nurses had restricted a patient’s medication even though this made the patient’s symptoms worse.

The respondents acknowledged restricting medication left patients in more pain than necessary and prolonged their lives against their wishes, but said they were frightened of being prosecuted for helping the patient to die.

One respondent said: ‘Giving opiates could reduce pain but increase respiratory depression. I am acutely aware that my

actions within my role could result in not being able to practice or legal proceedings.’

Senior nursing leaders said the survey finding showed a need for ‘urgent’ action and clarification of nurses’ legal position and professional accountability.

s Computer Essentials for Nurses and Midwives 7 September, Concord, 1 day Seminar is suitable for all nurses and midwives.

Members $85 Non-members $170

TO REGISTER or for more information go to www.nswnurses.asn.au or13ring THE LAMP JULY 2010 Carolyn Kulling on 1300 367 962

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C O V E R S T O R Y

Proposed ratios claim ready g A proposed ratios claim has been developed for eight specialty nursing areas, after empirical research by academics and widespread consultation with nursing experts.

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fter extensive consultation and research, a proposed claim for mandated staffing ratios for eight nursing specialty areas has been developed by the NSWNA. The proposed claim for mandated nurse to patient ratios will now go out to public health sector members working in the specialty areas of general medical wards, surgical wards, palliative care, rehabilitation, emergency departments, community mental health, inpatient mental health and community health at information sessions to be held throughout NSW. The NSWNA will hold information sessions between 28 July and 20 August at metro and rural public health system facilities across NSW. ‘Public health system members will be invited to attend the meetings to discuss the proposed ratios claim,’ said NSWNA General Secretary Brett Holmes.

‘Specialist nurses understand the staffing requirements in their nursing area and it is essential they have the opportunity to discuss the proposed ratios claim for their specialty area.’

In July, the NSWNA will widely distribute via email and the NSWNA website information about when and where these information sessions will occur.

Members will then be asked to vote on the claim before the final document is served on NSW Health and the Government.

The proposed claim for mandated staffing ratios was developed after extensive data collection and research.

The first stage of research was a survey conducted in January to March of staffing levels in a number of wards in public health system services across NSW. The NSWNA then commissioned a major research project of nurse staffing levels and skill mix issues, which was led by nurse workforce and industrial relations academics, Associate Dean 14 THE LAMP JULY 2010

(Research) (Acting), UTS Faculty of Nursing, Midwifery and Health, Christine Duffield, and Director, University of Sydney Workplace Research Centre, John Buchanan.

NSWNA Officers visited over 400 public health facilities in May to consult with Nursing Unit Managers and convened expert panels to get input from experienced nurses in the specialty areas of medical and surgical wards, palliative care and rehabilitation units, emergency departments, community health, inpatient mental health units, as well as community mental health services.

‘This research and consultation provided crucial information about staffing issues and the staffing requirements in these specialty areas, and this information has informed the development of the proposed ratios claim,’ said Brett Holmes.n

NSWNA General Secretary Brett Holmes.

PAY CLAIM NEGOTIATIONS UNDERWAY The NSWNA has held two negotiation meetings with NSW Health about the 2010 pay and conditions claim for public health system members. The claim was presented to NSW Health and the Government in May. The claim includes a 5% pay and pay-related allowances increase per year for all nurses and midwives, over a proposed fouryear agreement.

NSWNA General Secretary Brett Holmes said: ‘We’ve had no response from the Government yet, even after two negotiation meetings.

Nurses deserve a fair pay rise in recognition of their hard work and responsibility, and the NSWNA will keep up the pressure to achieve a

decent pay and conditions offer for NSW public health system nurses.

‘The NSW Government still maintains a policy of a 2.5% pay increase per annum for NSW public sector employees, and if workers want a higher pay increase they then must accept “offsets”.

‘The NSWNA rejects this policy – it’s a bean-counting approach that fails to give nurses the recognition and reward they deserve.

‘Rail unions are also in Award negotiations with the Government, and they’ve been offered 2.5% per annum plus more if they agree to various “efficiency measures”. Their agreement expired at the end of March 2010 and there is still no end in sight to these negotiations,’ said Brett.

‘A mandated staffing ratio would provide professional development opportunities and enable nurses to meet the basic requirements for rehabilitation nursing.

We would also have more time for communication with allied health workers, and family conferences.’

‘If a mandated nurseto-patient ratio is in the Award, management will have to stick to it.’

Angela Pridham, RN in the High Dependency Mental Health Unit at Shellharbour Hospital

Marc Johns, CNC at the Rehabilitation Units at David Berry Hospital, Berry, and Shoalhaven District Memorial Hospital.

Ratios give certainty to nurse numbers and skill mix

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he nurse-to-patient ratio component of our claim would ensure a mandated minimum number of nurses but would also have sufficient flexibility to factor in skill mix.

The introduction of nurse-topatient ratios would mean an end to ad hoc rostering and guesswork. As an Award provision, public hospitals would have to staff to the ratios or close beds. Rostering nurses would no longer be at the whim of middle

management under constant pressure to reduce budgets.

The current mechanism to regulate workloads – the reasonable workloads tool and clause – has produced some successes but it now only covers 30% of wards and does not provide a comprehensive model to ensure the right numbers of nurses and skills are available on all shifts and wards.

With nurse-to-patient ratios there will be adequate numbers of nurses on

the roster weeks in advance. Directors of Nursing would have the budget to fund these extra nurses and provide safe staffing levels.

Nurse-to-patient ratios will break the reliance on overtime and other expensive ways of backfilling shifts.

Nurse-to-patient ratios will make it easier to recruit and retain nurses. It will give the NSW health system the ability to build a strong, stable nursing workforce in the short and long term.n THE LAMP JULY 2010 15

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C O V E R S T O R Y

Members get active for Campaign 2010 ‘Ratios give you a framework to start with.’

Stephen Oakden, NUM and Branch VicePresident at St George Hospital.

Left to right: St George Branch President Therese Riley, Branch Delegate Stephen Oakden, members Sarah Cullen, Rachael Ibrahim and Branch Delegate Gai Pickering turned out for the NSWNA barbeque to draw attention to staff ratios.

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embers at public health facilities have been busy organising barbeques and information sessions, drawing attention to the important issues in the NSWNA’s pay campaign.

Around 300 nursing staff from Sutherland and St George Hospitals attended barbeques in the hospital grounds last month.

Nurses wanted to show their support for the Association’s move to ensure safer staffing through mandated nurse-to-patient ratios.

‘This is our biggest concern,’ Stephen Oakden, NUM, Branch Vice-President, told The Lamp. ‘It’s important we have set in stone ratios we can hang our hats on to say how many nurses we have on the wards, and what proportion of registered and enrolled nurses, so we have the proper skill mix to guarantee better patient care.’

Stephen said ratios were also important to protect nursing staff as well as patients. ‘We need to make sure nurses are reasonably comfortable in their working 16 THE LAMP JULY 2010

lives so you don’t have a high turnover. If they are not happy they won’t stay. We’ve always prided ourselves on retaining nursing staff at St George, especially RNs but also ENs. If we start to do things like not replacing sick leave and asking the

Left to right: St George Branch members Monica Fuentes-Rozas, Consuelo Wunderlich, Yongnian Wang and Arlyn Flores.

wards to work down – which is what is happening at the moment – that puts huge pressure on nurses.

‘There seems to be an informal directive that the first sick leave call on morning shifts is not to be replaced on the wards if there is another individual there, and that normally means the CNE, so it’s taking the CNEs away from the roles they were supposed to do and that is of concern. Ratios give you a framework to start with,’ said Stephen.

The St George barbeque was one of many events that saw nurses in hospitals across NSW jump into action to ensure that the messages of the pay campaign were heard loud and clear. Members at Sutherland Hospital also took a proactive approach by holding information sessions and barbeques to garner support for the campaign.n

Views from nursing specialists on

Staffing and nurse ratios g The NSWNA has been busy undertaking research and consultation to inform the development of nurse-to-patient ratio models for eight specialty areas of nursing – an important inclusion in our claim for the new Award for public health system nurses. The Lamp spoke with senior nurses about staffing in their specialty areas and how mandated staff ratios would impact on nurses’ capacity to deliver safe patient care.

REHABILITATION

MORE TIME FOR SPECIALIST NURSING ith current staffing levels, rehabilitation nurses are struggling to meet the requirements for this specialist nursing area, according to Marc Johns, CNC. Marc works in the Rehabilitation Units at David Berry Hospital, Berry, and Shoalhaven District Memorial Hospital.

‘Staff are flat out providing basic nursing care and striving to meet competency standards. Good specialist nursing takes time and without adequate staff, specialties such as rehabilitation are in jeopardy.

‘Staff report feeling so stretched that their rehab roles are not fulfilled. Usually, the only time available for professional development is during the afternoon shift change and this is consumed by clinical handover and ward communication. It’s difficult providing staff with the professional development they require.

‘Rehabilitation nursing is a very important part of a patient’s care and preventative health. It impacts on the quality of life at home and aims to reduce the risk of re-admission to hospital.

Patient and carer education is an important element of rehabilitation nursing and at the moment we are limited in what we can offer.

‘With the current staffing patients are not getting the rehabilitation support they require. For example, nurses are hard pressed to spend the right amount of time with patients and end up “doing” for the patient rather than allowing the patient to focus on developing skills to increase independence.

‘These problems are not unique but are faced by all rehabilitation wards.

‘Patients have noticed the nurses’ workloads and feedback indicates the impact on patient care. The nurses succeed in providing good quality care, but have difficulty in ensuring that all the rehabilitation needs are met.’

Marc says a mandated staffing ratio would provide professional development opportunities and enable nurses to meet the basic requirements for rehabilitation nursing.

‘We would also have more time for communication with allied health workers, and family conferences,’ says Marc.

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Marc Johns, CNC, Rehabilitation Units at David Berry Hospital, Berry, and Shoalhaven District Memorial Hospital.

THE LAMP JULY 2010 17

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C O V E R S T O R Y

Views from nursing specialists on

Staffing and nurse ratios

FROM PAGE 17

MEDICAL WARDS

SKILL MIX IS CRUCIAL eg Hibbert currently works as a CNS in the medical unit at Hornsby Hospital ED, and previously worked in the hospital’s medical ward for 21 years.

Peg explains that staffing in the medical unit is based on patients having a 48-hour stay in the unit but in reality ‘it doesn’t work out like that’. ‘Our patients have complex medical problems.

The majority are elderly or developmentally delayed from nursing homes, hostels or group homes and they’re in hospital for problems that are symptomatic of their conditions.

‘Our work is cut out dealing with very complex care needs. Nurses

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Peg Hibbert, CNS, medical unit at Hornsby Hospital ED

here have an incredible workload.

They’re tearing their hair out.

‘The current staffing model doesn’t consider these complex medical needs. It is based on the number of patients staying 48 hours.

‘Mandatory staffing ratios would at least ensure we have the right number of nurses for the right number of patients.

‘The NSW ratio model would consider skill mix. This is crucial. An extra pair of hands is not the only solution; we need extra hands with the right skills. On the medical ward we need more appropriately skilled staff to deal with the care requirements of patients with multiple and very complex care needs,’ says Peg.

PALLIATIVE CARE

RATIOS VERY POSITIVE FOR PALLIATIVE CARE aul Baddock, Nurse Manager, Palliative Care, participated in the NSWNA expert panel on palliative care to help develop a mandated nurse-to-patient ratio model for this specialty area of nursing.

‘Palliative care is not just about how many patients you have; a lot of nurses’ workload is associated with families. When you admit a patient, you’re admitting the whole family. You may have 16 beds but you are caring for more like 30 patients when you take in to account the number of people you’re dealing with.

‘We need to be thinking in broader terms than just safe staffing levels.

Whatever happened to best practice?

Striving for best practice needs to be a priority when looking at developing a mandated staffing model.

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18 THE LAMP JULY 2010

‘Care goals in palliative care are different to other areas of nursing. A lot of satisfaction comes from providing relief to patients and families.

‘With current staffing nurses are struggling with their workloads. Workloads have increased with increased patient acuity and intervention.

‘Mandated ratios would provide a more balanced staffing model and enable best practice to be achieved as well as safe nursing care.

‘Mandated ratios would be very positive for palliative care. At a recent state-wide palliative care meeting, there was a buzz in the air about mandated ratios. It’s seen as very positive. It takes us back to the patient being at the centre of care,’ says Paul.

Paul Baddock, Nurse Manager, Palliative Care

INPATIENT MENTAL HEALTH

STAFF RATIOS SAFER FOR PATIENTS

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ngela Pridham, RN in the High Dependency Mental Health Unit at Shellharbour Hospital, says it is difficult to assess staffing needs for inpatient mental health, and a mandated nurseto-patient ratio would more equitably respond to fluctuating patient needs.

‘With mental health patients, acuity can change quickly, so it’s very hard to assess staffing needs.

In other nursing areas, if a patient has xyz, then you’ll need so many hours nursing care. But mental health patients don’t follow a pattern.

Sometimes they get worse before they get better. There is no tool for

Angela Pridham, RN, High Dependency Mental Health Unit at Shellharbour Hospital

working this out.

‘A mandated nurse-to-patient ratio for inpatient mental health would deliver the right numbers and skill mix to provide safe patient care.

‘If a mandated nurse-to-patient ratio is in the Award, management will have to stick to it. At the moment, if there are 15 patients at the beginning of the day, then this is the basis of staffing for the day. If another five patients are admitted during the day, you won’t get an extra nurse. But if we had a mandated nurse-to-patient ratio this would be automatic. You’d have a more equitable ratio,’ says Angela.

EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT

FLEXIBILITY IS IMPORTANT FOR ED STAFFING rad Marney, Nurse Manager at a major referral hospital, says a staff ratio model for ED would be great in terms of equitably matching staff with patients but it would need to be flexible and able to adapt to fluctuating patient requirements.

‘The modern ED environment requires flexibility, so the model should not be too generalised. ED is a constantly changing environment, which means you need to continuously upgrade your staffing requirements,

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and within ED there are several units that have different staffing requirements,’ says Brad.

‘A staff ratio model should also be able to adapt to the particular needs of each hospital ED, and the different units within an ED. For example, Westmead ED is different to any other hospital ED in the State.’

Brad says a number of recent factors impact on staffing in ED. ‘The State Trauma Plan released in March has led to increased trauma

presentations, which has increased staff workloads.

‘The introduction of electronic records has enabled intense scrutiny of staffing levels. We’re able to measure the care and time spent with each patient down to the last minute.

‘Management likes to look at how KPI targets are met in ED as a benchmark or indicator of a hospital’s performance. There can be quite a difficult tension between ED KPI and staffing,’ says Brad.

COMMUNITY HEALTH

STAFFING BASED ON CASE MANAGEMENT ayne James, NUM, Community Health, says staffing in community health needs to be based on case management size.

‘We need a degree of flexibility with staffing in community health.

Caseloads are managed proactively on a week-to-week basis to allow for flexibility in workloads and staffing, but daily workloads are managed on a day-to-day basis.

‘We have daily team meetings where clinical caseloads are reviewed and monitored. We have a simple

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straightforward system to work out staffing and manage nurse workloads.

Each case is assessed and patients are given a certain number of points based on acuity and the degree of care required. A nurse’s daily workload will be according to a certain number of points rather than the number of patients visited.

‘A nurse-to-patient ratio model for community care would need to have a degree of flexibility, with the ratio developed around case management size rather than a certain visits per day.’

Jayne James, NUM, Community Health

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A G E D C A R E

Aged care pay rise g More than 26 for-profit companies adopt a breakthrough Enterprise Agreement

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he NSWNA has negotiated the first ever ‘template’ Enterprise Agreement covering for-profit nursing homes in NSW. The template agreement – so-called because it serves as a model for the whole for-profit sector – covers an initial 78 residential aged care facilities owned by 26 employers (see overleaf).

The agreement delivers pay increases above the inflation rate, protects all conditions nurses received before the recent introduction of a national award and adds some new rights.

It includes a 4% pay rise this month (July) and 3% next July plus other benefits (see box below).

The Union reached agreement in June with the Aged Care Association of

KEY FEATURES OF THE DEAL The template Enterprise Agreement runs between July 2010 and June 2012. The main wins are: c 4% wage increase in July 2010 c 3% wage increase in July 2011 c The possibility of a higher increase in 2011 if the Federal Government improves aged care funding c Wage-related allowances to increase in the same pattern as wages c Expense-related allowances to increase by the inflation rate c Improvements to the nursing classification structure by recognising Certificate III qualifications and a new Endorsed Enrolled Nurse classification.

20 THE LAMP JULY 2010

There is agreement to discuss further improvements before the agreement ends c Annual review of part-time hours to make sure that the hours nurses are contracted to work match their real hours of work c Casuals can ask for their jobs to be made permanent c An agreed process to manage workload problems c Improved higher duties allowance c Reinstatement of the in-charge of shift allowance, on call allowance and continuing education allowance and all other items lost in the transition to the new Nurses’ Award.

Australia (ACAA) after more than three months of negotiations.

Nurses employed by more than 26 of these companies are now voting on whether or not to accept the agreement.

Meanwhile, other companies are approaching the Union about adopting the template agreement. Nurses at facilities that have not yet signed up to the deal can use the Union-negotiated template as a model to formulate a claim to be put to their employer.

The Union is also negotiating with other employers including three major for-profit chains – Domain Principal, Bupa and Riviera groups.

NSWNA General Secretary Brett Holmes said the deal with ACAA was made possible by the active involvement of nurses in the campaign.

‘Union members at many aged care facilities petitioned their employers for an agreement and showed that most staff wanted the Union to help them negotiate a secure Agreement,’ Brett said.

‘The Union has devoted a lot of resources to the aged care campaign.

We have helped nurses get organised in their workplaces, establish NSWNA Branches at work, and arrange resolutions and petitions calling on management to negotiate.

‘A lot of new members have joined the Association as a result of our campaign.’n

Bargaining the only way to get a decent pay rise

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ince the Howard Government’s WorkChoices laws destroyed the award system in March 2006, bargaining directly with each employer has been the only way to get a pay rise or better conditions above the award level.

The NSWNA’s first breakthrough came in 2007 when nursing homes owned by charities and not-for-profit organisations agreed to a template for wage increases and improved working conditions.

However, employers in the for-profit sector used the WorkChoices laws to delay

bargaining, which caused wages in this sector to fall further behind.

NSWNA General Secretary Brett Holmes said the Federal Labor Government’s Fair Work Act had helped to make it harder for employers to resist union-negotiated agreements.

‘We know a number of aged care employers have watched the negotiations with ACAA and now need to be persuaded to adopt an Enterprise Agreement,’ he said.

‘If your company hasn’t signed up to the deal, contact the Nurses’ Association on 1300 367 962 or 8595 1234 for assistance.’

VOTING ON THE AGREEMENT If your employer is one of the 26 companies represented by the ACAA in negotiations with the NSWNA, management should give nurses copies of the draft Enterprise Agreement at least seven days before you vote on the deal.

For the agreement to be approved, more than half the nurses who vote must vote in favour.

If staff vote for the draft agreement it is then submitted to Fair Work Australia (FWA) for legal approval. FWA is supposed to make sure the agreement leaves all staff better off overall.

The Union has agreed with ACAA that the first increase will be paid from the first full pay period in July 2010. If the approval process takes longer than this you are entitled to back pay.

AGED CARE EMPLOYERS THAT HAVE NEGOTIATED WITH THE NSWNA The NSWNA and employer group ACAA negotiated the template Enterprise Agreement on behalf of the following companies: c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c c

Ark Health Care Beecroft Nursing Home Benessere Health Care Clendon Care Columbia Aged Care Services Cook Care Group Doherty & Associates East West Health Care Ernest Enterprises Fresh Fields Aged Care Greystance Services Halenvy Hutchison Health Care Pacific Heights Nursing Home Paston Pathways Aged Care Quinvil RSL Lifecare S. Antonio Da Padova Protettore Di Pogguoreale Sydney Samir Sir William Hudson Memorial Centre St Ezekiel Moreno Limited SummitCare Terrigal Grosvenor Thompson Health Care Willows Private Nursing Home.

THE LAMP JULY 2010 21

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A G E D C A R E

Pay rise a welcome start

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iN Norma Bukalan said the prospect of a pay rise from this month (July) is a welcome start to her firstever Enterprise Agreement.

Norma is the NSWNA delegate at Columbia Aged Care Services’ 52-bed Acacia Centre in Marrickville where she has worked for more than a decade, on award wages only.

She has not received a pay increase since October 2008.

Columbia has three facilities at Marrickville, Chatswood and Strathfield.

It is one of the 26 employers that are now offering the for-profit aged care sector’s first template agreement with the NSWNA.

‘A pay rise was top of our list of demands and now that the Union has negotiated the template agreement for us, all the staff are asking when the pay rise will come through.’

Norma hopes an Enterprise Agreement will provide a basis for improvements across a range of areas not limited to pay.

‘The second item on our list is improving workloads. Nurses are really

‘When we explained what we were fighting for, straight away everyone wanted to be involved. Union membership has doubled since we started campaigning for this agreement.’

Norma said her fellow nurses were keen to sign a petition calling on the company to join negotiations for an Enterprise Agreement.

‘When we explained what we were fighting for, straight away everyone wanted to be involved.

Union membership has doubled since we started campaigning for this agreement,’ she said.

‘Everybody is concerned to get a pay increase because the prices of all necessities have been going up and up while our wages have stood still,’ she said.

‘A 4% increase this year is less than what we asked for but it will be acceptable providing it is paid in full from July 2010.

22 THE LAMP JULY 2010

trying hard to cope with whatever workload is presented to them from day to day, but they are struggling.

‘When we ask management to look into getting additional staff or hours during the periods of the heaviest workloads, management comes back and says “but there are only 45 beds”.

‘They are not looking at the tasks nurses are doing, how dependent the residents are and the fact that some have higher-risk behaviour and greater care needs.

‘There is also the fact that a low-care resident is not necessarily a low-care resident all the time – they sometimes become high care when they are sick.

‘We need a way of deciding what is a reasonable workload, which takes into account the residents’ needs and behaviour, not only the number of beds,’ said Norma.n

C O M P E T I T I O N

Many still missing out

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ydney aged care nurse Mariola Adams was both pleased and disappointed by the news that a group of 26 employers had become the first in the for-profit sector to agree to a template Enterprise Agreement.

Pleased, because thousands of hardworking aged care nurses will get pay increases and other benefits from this month (July) under their first ever Enterprise Agreement.

Disappointed, because her employer is yet to sign up to an Enterprise Agreement, leaving Mariola and other nurses lagging behind on award rates of pay.

‘My reaction is very mixed because my employer hasn’t signed this agreement yet,’ said Mariola, an AiN. ‘I feel happy that other people like me who work on the floor in aged care and are doing a very hard job have achieved the agreement. Those nurses will have better working conditions now. But I also feel a little bit sad that I don’t have what other nurses have.’

She hopes her employer will ‘go with the flow’ and offer staff the template Enterprise Agreement.

Mariola said nurses at her facility had signed a petition stating they would not agree to any reduction in award conditions following the introduction of the new national award.

The company responded with a pledge to maintain existing pay and conditions.n

Win a trip to a health retreat A relaxing break can be good for your health – and this is particularly true at Solar Springs Health Retreat.

Solar Springs is tucked away in Bundanoon, overlooking the spectacular gullies of the Morton National Park.

Offering a stimulating program of activities designed to make the most of the unique environment and setting, Solar Springs offers bushwalking, cycling, tennis and archery.

Classes in the gym progress from gentle stretch classes to invigorating boxing. There is a 25-metre indoor heated pool, generous spa, sauna and steam room.

Everyone deserves to be pampered and there is an extensive range of beauty and massage therapies on offer.

Health issues can be addressed with assistance from our excellent naturopaths, nutritionists and health and fitness consultants.

The fresh, healthy, low-fat food is scrumptious and plentiful. The comfortable accommodation allows you to switch off completely, with no TVs or phones in sight.

Solar Springs is … seriously healthy.

The NSWNA is offering one lucky member the chance to spend two days at this luxurious health retreat. Valued at $1,588, the prize includes a fantastic midweek Petite Pamper package that includes twin or double ensuite for two people for two nights from Sunday to Tuesday or Wednesday to Friday. All meals, use of all leisure and sporting facilities and supervised activities are included. The winner and their guest will also be pampered with a Swedish massage, Solar Radiance facial and a pedicure.

For more information on Solar Springs visit www.solarsprings.com.

To enter this month’s competition, simply write your name, address and membership number on the back of an envelope and send it to: Solar Spring Health Retreat competition PO Box 40, Camperdown NSW 1450 Competition closes 31 July 2010.

Please note: only one entry per member will be accepted.

The prize will remain valid until 17 December 2010, is subject to availability, cannot be taken by persons under the age of 16 and cannot be used THE in NSW school holidays or on LAMP JULY 2010 23 public holidays. Any other professional therapies and consultations are optional extras.

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A G E N D A

The Resource Super Profits Tax and your super g What’s the real story on the Resource Super Profits Tax? How will it affect your super? And what are the consequences for health funding?

T

he 2010 budget and the Henry Tax Review saw several initiatives from the Federal Government that will be to the advantage of nurses.

The increase in the Superannuation Guarantee Contribution from 9% to 12% in particular will do much to improve the security in retirement of nurses. There is also the $7 billion increase in funding that the Federal Government has committed to the health sector this year.

These welcome advances could

‘The Resource Super Profits Tax will take back some of the enormous windfall profits multinational mining companies have been making out and invest it in Australian workers’ superannuation.’ be in jeopardy if the campaign against the Resource Super Profits Tax by the powerful, cashed-up mining companies is successful.

The Federal Government’s super initiatives would boost the retirement

Have your say on the RSPT at

www.nurseuncut.com.au 24 THE LAMP JULY 2010

savings of 3.5 million low-income earners by $830 million. ACTU modelling shows the Government’s measure would deliver an extra $108,000 in retirement for a full-time worker earning average full-time wages.

The Government’s package also includes other improvements in retirement income. Low-income workers will receive a super contribution of up to $500 a year. Workers aged over 50 with less than $500,000 in super will still be

able to contribute up to $50,000 per year to tax-preferred super.

All this is threatened by the mining companies’ campaign to scuttle the tax.

Social services such as health could also be collateral damage from the miners’ campaign. The revenue generated from the Resources Super Profits Tax will free up funds in the Federal Government’s consolidated revenue for health.

NSWNA General Secretary Brett Holmes said Australia has an urgent need for increased investment in infrastructure and there is a compelling argument for the mining sector to pay more tax.

‘The Resource Super Profits Tax will take back some of the enormous windfall profits multinational mining companies have been making out of the commodities boom and invest it in Australian workers’ superannuation, social services like health and in skills and infrastructure to diversify our economic future,’ he said.n

A BENCHMARK FOR OTHER COUNTRIES? The real reason for the mining companies’ fury at the RSPT is that it will set a global standard for taxing mineral profits, according to commodities experts.

Citigroup analyst Craig Sainsbury told Bloomsberg that Canada, Peru and Chile could be the next countries to introduce a similar tax.

India and China have already flagged they will be looking at taxing super profits instead of the current practice of levying the volume of minerals mined.

The tax may also prompt European and Scandinavian countries to seek a greater share of revenue from production according to Magnus Ericsson from the Raw Materials Group, a mining data and analysis company.

WHAT BUSINESS LEADERS SAY ABOUT THE RESOURCE SUPER PROFITS TAX MARK JOHNSON, CHAIRMAN OF AGL ENERGY ‘I think the Henry Review makes a very respectable, intellectual case for that tax. The fact it has been used successfully for hydrocarbons in Bass Strait for 20 years shows it can work and everyone can come away satisfied.’

ROGER CORBETT, RESERVE BANK MEMBER, FAIRFAX MEDIA CHAIRMAN ‘We should be taxing them sufficiently to ensure that one of these days when the coal and iron ore is consumed we have something left for it.

BERNIE FRASER, FORMER HEAD OF THE RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA ‘I am amazed there has been such vocal opposition. It is very much in the national interest for a greater share. Even under the present arrangement the Government is talking about leaving 60% of the super profits with the mining companies.’

KEN HENRY, SECRETARY TO THE TREASURY ‘It is the strong and clearly stated view of Treasury that the Resource Super Profit Tax will grow the mining sector and the economy. The tax was constructed on that basis, and the modelling released with the package clearly demonstrates it.’

DAVID BUCKINGHAM, FORMER EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE MINERALS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA (the mining companies’ national peak body) ‘The balance over time is likely to see an escalation in investment, a growth in jobs, a growth in exploration activity, not as some of the more hysterical commentators are suggesting, withdrawal.’

WHAT MINING UNIONS HAVE TO SAY PAUL HOWES, SECRETARY AUSTRALIAN WORKERS UNION ‘The hysteria from mining magnates is rubbish. Mining is hugely profitable in Australia. Iron ore prices have rocketed by around 170% per dry metric tonne in the 12 months to May, 2010. Rio Tinto – and no other mining company – is not going to turn its back on that reality. And if they do, there will be 100 companies behind them willing to take their place.’

TONY MAHER, CFMEU MINING DIVISION ‘These super-profits are the result of a booming market which none of the mining companies have done anything to create. They just happen to be digging out the resources that belong to the Australian people at a time when prices for these commodities are doubling, tripling and surging by even greater amounts.

THE LAMP JULY 2010 25

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A G E N D A

Mining companies pocket windfall profits

M

ining companies pay royalties to access the minerals owned by all Australians.

It is the equivalent of a manufacturing company paying for raw materials before they start making products. They then pay tax on their profits like all other companies.

Mining companies claim they are now paying 35% of their profits in tax.

Treasurer Wayne Swan said that this figure lumps together the amount they pay for access to the minerals and what tax they pay on their profits.

‘Very few businesses receive as their primary input the non-renewable resources that belong to the Australian people,’ he said. ‘No other business would try to argue that they should get their primary input for free, courtesy of the Australian people just because they pay company tax, and

neither should Australia’s largest mining companies,’ he said.

The effective tax that mining companies pay on their profits when you remove the royalty payments for access and the very generous tax concessions that are funded by Australian taxpayers is 13% for overseas companies and 17% for domestic companies. This is well below the 30% paid by companies in other sectors.

Until now, mining companies have been paying royalties based on the volume of minerals they mine, not the profits they generate. Over the past few years the rapid growth of the Chinese economy has seen a profit bonanza for minerals, which has all gone to the mining companies. They are still paying the same amount in royalties for the minerals although the prices for these minerals have gone through the roof.

In 2006–2007 mineral production

totalled $100 billion, of which the Australian people, who own the resources, received little more than 7% in tax revenue.

The biggest mining companies are predominantly overseas-based multinationals. Rio Tinto is only 15% Australian owned and only three of the 15 directors live in Australia. BHP-Billiton is 40% Australian owned and only four of the 12 directors are from here. Both companies are now based in London.

The Government argues the Australian public should be sharing in these windfall profits. In this year’s Budget it said it would use the extra revenue from this tax to boost Australian workers’ retirement incomes and to cut company tax. This would help diversify the economy so Australia is less dependent on mineral exports and have a more sustainable future.n Sydney Nursing School at the University of Sydney is embracing the challenges of health care now and for the future.

Formerly known as the Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery, Sydney Nursing School takes its new name into a new era.

With new and revised programs and a strengthened research framework, we are preparing health care professionals for leadership in clinical practice and research.

We offer students a full suite of nursing programs, from our pre-registration degrees through to PhD.

HELP SHAPE THE FUTURE OF HEALTH CARE SYDNEY NURSING SCHOOL

Registered nurses will gain advanced learning through our specialty areas of: – clinical nursing – cancer and haematology nursing – clinical trials practice – emergency nursing – intensive care nursing – mental health nursing – nurse practitioner (subject to NMB approval) Join us to help shape the future of health care. For more information head to: sydney.edu.au/nursing

26 THE LAMP JULY 2010

H34623 CRICOS 00026A

personal s’ te a n g a m g in Min s fortune increase

$9 billion

CRYING POOR BUT REALLY AUSTRALIA’S RICHEST The Federal Government’s Resouces Super Profit Tax has come under intense fire from an industry hell bent on keeping all of their massive profits. Here’s what the mining companies are making: c A decade ago the Australian people received $1 back on every $3 made from our natural resources. Today we receive $1 on every $7 the industry makes. c Global energy consultant Wood Mckenzie says the coal companies will make $97 billion in profits between July 2012 and 2016. The Australian people will receive a modest $14.8 billion of this return on the resources that we own. c BHP Billiton’s profit is set to grow from $US10.7 billion in 2009 to $US23.5 billion in 2011. They will only pay an extra 8% of this with the proposed new super profits tax. c Rio Tinto’s profit is predicted to rise from $US6.3 billion in 2009 to $US15.7 billion in 2011. The new super profits tax would only claim 5-15% of this windfall profit.

Mineralogy Chairman, Clive Palmer.

c The Business Review Weekly annual Richest 200 list reveals that Australia’s richest mining magnates increased their personal fortune by $9 billion in the past 12 months.

RN8 earns

NURSES EARN TINY FRACTION OF MINING INCOMES

$69,429pa

A hard-working nurse earns a fraction of the massive incomes of mining magnates c At present an RN8 doing an extra shift per fortnight earns a base salary of $69,429 and with shift penalties plus overtime would pay tax of $25,360 or around 25%. c According to First State Super based on their membership, the average superannuation account balance for a 47-year-old woman working in the health sector is between $44,000 and $47,000.

Josie Byrnes, RN, Newcastle Community Health Centre Drug and Alcohol Clinic

c The latest figures Australia wide reveal the average superannuation pay out for a woman is $63,000.

THE LAMP JULY 2010 27

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I N D U S T R I A L I S S U E S

Kempsey nurses win safe staffing campaign g After months of campaigning, Kempsey Hospital Branch has won one extra nurse per shift in ED.

N

SWNA Kempsey Hospital Branch is celebrating a significant victory in its campaign for one more RN per shift in the hospital’s busy ED, with the North Coast Area Health Service (NCAHS) agreeing to almost all their demands.

A review of staffing levels by the NCAHS recommended an extra RN for night duty seven nights a week, an extra RN for a swing shift between 9am and 5pm, and a part-time CT scan nurse.

Branch Secretary Di Lohman said staff at Kempsey ED are ‘over the moon’ with the outcome of the campaign.

Over four months members held rallies and candlelight vigils to let the local community know about the unsafe staffing levels at the hospital.

‘This is a significant win for the Branch and demonstrates that if members stick together and maintain a coordinated and disciplined campaign they can achieve improved workloads for their members,’ said NSWNA Assistant General Secretary Judith Kiejda. ‘The members would not have been able to achieve such a great outcome without a Branch

Di Lohman, Branch President at Kempsey Hospital, presents fruit bearing campaign slogans to fellow ED Nurses in the campaign for safe staffing levels.

Left to right: Kempsey ED nurses Di Lohman, Linda Weir and Jennifer Clarke presented their State MP Andrew Stoner with 6,000-plus signatures in May as part of the campaign for increased staffing for Kempsey Hospital ED.

structure to manage the campaign and support the members.’

The Kempsey safe staffing campaign was covered extensively by the local media, and attracted the support of local MPs including Andrew Stoner, who was presented at Parliament with more than 6,000 signatures in support of the nurses’ claims.

Di said the campaign’s success would not have been possible without the assistance of the NSWNA and a strong local Branch.

‘Staff are very appreciative of the Union. To have a strong Branch at your hospital means you have the power to make a difference and change what you otherwise wouldn’t have been able to.

You need a collective voice and expertise.

‘It’s easy to organise rallies and so on with the help of the Union. We started out fairly green and shaky on what power

we had but as we started to go through the process, the Association was very supportive and encouraging. The more energy and input we had, the more they encouraged and supported us, both financially and with their physical hard work. I can’t say enough about how happy we are with the Union’s work,’ said Di. Although staff at Kempsey ED didn’t get the three RNs they asked for (one per shift), they got the additional benefit of a part-time CT scan nurse instead. ‘It’s a successful win because we didn’t ask for a CT scan nurse but we did point out in the negotiations that there is no nurse at CT so it meant if an ED patient had to have a scan, an ED RN would have to go with them,’ said Di. Although final sign-off on the recommendations is not yet complete, Di said NCAHS has indicated it will implement them by the end of July.n THE LAMP JULY 2010 29

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PROFESSIONAL ISSUES

Insurance for private midwives big step in the right direction g Home births, collaboration and visiting rights in hospital are the stumbling blocks of otherwise positive legislation giving private midwives access to professional indemnity insurance.

T

he NSWNA welcomes the introduction of legislation giving private midwives access to professional indemnity insurance from 1 July 2010, but is concerned about some aspects of the new laws.

The Federal Government has made provisions for eligible midwives to be covered by insurance through the Medical Insurance Group (MIGA), which applies to antenatal and postnatal care for home and hospital births, and care of the birth in hospitals. It does not, however, cover the midwife providing birth care at home.

‘We support safe practice for childbirth and support a woman’s right to choose a birth setting, including the right to choose home birth, so while these achievements are a really good start, they have not solved the issue of choosing home births with a

‘While these achievements are a really good start, they have not solved the issue of choosing home births with a private midwife.’

NSWNA Assistant General Secretary Judith Kiejda.

private midwife,’ said NSWNA Assistant General Secretary Judith Kiejda.

Private midwives will not be in breach of their registration if they give

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30 THE LAMP JULY 2010

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care during a home birth, provided they satisfy the requirements of the National Quality and Safety Framework.

The NSWNA is also concerned about a lack of clarity over collaboration between midwives and other health professionals. A story in the Sydney Morning Herald in June revealed that several GPs had refused to fill prescriptions for pregnant women referred to them by private midwives. Without these prescriptions the midwives could not proceed with a safe home birth service, so several women faced a loss of that choice.

‘The new legislation doesn’t fully define collaboration and it leaves collaboration located with individual doctors rather than health services,’ said Judith Kiejda. ‘It doesn’t go far enough to recognise a midwife as an autonomous practitioner who will always choose to work collaboratively. We want midwives to work collaboratively but this isn’t true collaboration as it stands.’

‘If we get our visiting rights back and can access obstetricians again, this will make the consultation process smoother.’

Private midwife Jane Palmer

‘The insurance policies support us to provide care in hospital ... but hospitals don’t yet have any protocols in place for us to have visiting rights.’

Private midwife Melissa Maimann

One of the major benefits of the new arrangements for private midwives is the reinstatement of visiting rights at hospitals – although this may not be a practical option for several months.

‘Before we lost our insurance in 2001 I had visiting rights at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, which meant women under my care could give birth at RPA with me as their primary carer,’ private midwife Jane Palmer told The Lamp. ‘This enabled me to have access to a specific obstetrician and I could refer directly to him through the hospital. If we get our visiting rights back and can access obstetricians again, this will make the consultation process smoother for antenatal and postnatal care and birth in hospitals easier.’

But as private midwife Melissa Maimann found out, a major stumbling block is that hospitals do not have the mechanisms in place to activate visiting rights for private midwives.

‘The arrangements come into place 1 July and the insurance policies support us to provide care in hospital and to have collaborative relationships with obstetricians but hospitals don’t have any protocols in place for us to have visiting rights,’ she said. ‘I have spoken to several Clinical Midwifery Consultants and they have advised me that these decisions have to made at the Area Health Service level, not at the

individual hospital level – and this could take six months to a year.’

On a more positive note, midwives are no longer required to have signed collaborative agreements in order to access the MIGA insurance policy. Initially they were required to have them, but after negotiations, it was recognised that it was not possible because hospitals and obstetricians refused to sign such agreements.

‘So it is now acceptable for midwives to share a maternity care plan with the hospital at which the woman is booked. This is a significant change and makes fulfilling the requirements of the MIGA insurance policy entirely possible,’ said Melissa.

The NSWNA agrees that changes need to go further in the following areas: c private midwives should be able to work with full insurance protection, including for providing home birth services c collaborative arrangements should be between the private midwife and health service, not with individual medical practitioners c protocols must be put in place quickly for private midwives to have visiting rights to hospitals.n Further information can be found at the Australian College of Midwives website at www.midwives.org.au

What do you think about the situation with insurance for midwives? Tell us at

www.nurseuncut.com.au THE LAMP JULY 2010 31

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Bio-Oil® is a product of Union Swiss, successfully treating skin since 1954.

32 THE LAMP JULY 2010

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PROFESSIONAL ISSUES

National registration comes on board g The National Registration and Accreditation Scheme for health professions has now taken effect. Here’s what you need to know.

O

n 1 July 2010, the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law Act 2009 commenced and introduced the regulation of 10 health professions by nationally consistent legislation.

For the first time, there is now one National Board setting standards and policies for the regulation of each of the 10 Australian health professions covered by the National Law. Each National Board is supported in this task by the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA).

The NSW Government has implemented a co-regulatory model for the regulation of registered health professionals employed in NSW by adopting the parts of the National Law that deal with registration and accreditation and maintaining NSW legislation for complaints handling.

The new NSW law, the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law (NSW), repeals the Nurses and Midwives Act 1991 and other health professions’ Acts and makes provision for a Health Professional Council’s Authority that includes individual Councils for each of the health professions in NSW. The Nurses and Midwives Board in NSW will change its name but will have a continuing role as a health professional ‘Council’ dealing with the disciplinary provisions of the new NSW legislation. Under the new law, the members of the Nurses and Midwives Board (as it is now) will undertake two separate roles: c As the State body (board) for the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia; and, c As the Nursing and Midwifery Council, dealing with complaints, impairment and performance issues.

The new Nursing and Midwifery Council will continue to occupy the current location at Level 6, 477 Pitt Street, Sydney.n

MORE INFORMATION Information on the full requirements for national registration is available at: www.nursingmidwiferyboard. gov.au/index.php www.ahpra.gov.au/index.php www.nmb.nsw.gov.au/NewSouth-Wales-Health-ProfessionalCouncils-Authority/default.aspx A full information pack and a guide to CPD will also be available on the NSWNA website: www.nswnurses.asn.au

NEW OBLIGATIONS FOR NURSES AND MIDWIVES CONTINUING PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT (CPD) All nurses and midwives who are engaged in any form of nursing or midwifery practice will be required to complete CPD that is relevant to their context of practice. This will require 20 hours of CPD per year which involves learning activities to maintain and enhance knowledge and skills pertaining to their area of practice.

Nurses and midwives in NSW will be given a full 12 months in the national scheme to comply with the requirements for the Board’s registration standards.

the preceding five years, for a period equivalent to a minimum of three months full time, to demonstrate competence in their profession.

Practice is defined as any role, whether remunerated or not, in which the individual uses skill and knowledge as a nurse or midwife.

PROFESSIONAL INDEMNITY INSURANCE (PII) Nurses and midwives must not practise their professions unless they are covered in the conduct of their practice by appropriate PII arrangements.

RECENCY OF PRACTICE

MANDATORY REPORTING OBLIGATION

Nurses and midwives must have undertaken sufficient practice within

The National Law requires that a registered health practitioner must notify

the Board if, in the course of practising their profession, they form a reasonable belief that another registered health practitioner has behaved in a way that constitutes notifiable conduct only as defined in the law.

STUDENT REGISTRATION From March 2011, all nursing and midwifery students enrolled in an accredited program will automatically be registered in the national scheme.

Students do not apply for registration; this information is given to the Board by their education provider. Students do not pay a registration fee and are not required to comply with the registration standards for health practitioners until they apply for registration after they have graduated.

THE LAMP JULY 2010 33

Sydney August 11 & 12 Rosehill Racecourse Open from 9:30 am to 4:00 pm Delegates - free attendance Register online today at www.totalagedservices.com.au

For all enquiries re exhibiting or attending, contact: Wayne Woff, Manager Total Aged Services P: 03 9571 5606 / 0422 484 209 F: 03 9571 9708 E: office@totalagedservices.com.au www.totalagedservices.com.au CAREX is proudly supported by:

The Edith Cavell Trust

Scholarships for the academic year 2011 Applications for the Edith Cavell Trust Scholarships are now being accepted for 2011. Members or Associate Members of the NSW Nurses’ Association or the Australian Nursing Federation (NSW Branch) are invited to apply.

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

2. Registered or enrolled nurses who 34 THE LAMP JULY 2010 wish to attend:

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

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

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

Applicants must be currently registered or enrolled with the NSW

Nurses’ Registration Board (or the Registration Board of the state where practising).

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

For further information or forms, contact: The Secretary – The Edith Cavell Trust PO Box 40, Camperdown NSW 1450  Mrs Glen Ginty on 1300 367 962  gginty@nswnurses.asn.au  www.nswnurses.asn.au – click on ‘Education’

Applications close 5pm on 30 July 2010

s

Q & A

ASK

JUDITH

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

Do I have to pay back my severance pay?

though the qualification was gained prior to that date. Can you advise?

I am an RN who accepted a voluntary redundancy earlier this year and I have now successfully applied for a position in another area health service.

However, I have been advised that I am required to repay a proportion of my severance pay to the former area health service. Is this correct?

The CEA was introduced from 1 December 2004 but CNSs were only eligible for the allowance from the first pay period on or after 1 March 2007.

Therefore, even where a recognised qualification was obtained prior to 1 March 2007, a CNS can only be paid the CEA from the first pay period on or after 1 March 2007.

Yes it is correct. If you accept a redundancy and have been paid a severance payment and accept a position within the NSW public service you are required to repay the proportion of severance pay that you have not exhausted.

For example: if you were paid 39 weeks’ severance pay (not including payment in lieu of notice) and then recommence employment within the public sector 10 weeks after the redundancy you would be required to repay 29 weeks’ pay.

However, if you recommenced employment 39 weeks after the redundancy you would not be required to repay any amount at all. This is covered in Department of Health policy 2007_085, Managing Displaced Staff of the NSW Health Service.

Lost wages and court subpoena

CNS and CEA back-pay query I am a CNS working in a public hospital and have a relevant post-graduate certificate. However, my employer will only back-date my Continuing Education Allowance (CEA) to March 2007 even

I work in a private hospital and have been served with a subpoena to appear as a witness in court. Do I have to attend and what happens with lost wages and the cost of getting to and from court?

A subpoena, while requested by the legal representatives of one of the parties in a court action, is issued by a court and is a binding directive. Failure to comply without lawful excuse is a contempt of court and may result in your arrest.

Court rules provide that conduct money to cover reasonable expenses of attending is tendered to you at a reasonable time before the date on which your attendance is required.

Information about conduct money should accompany the subpoena and you should speak to the issuing party about expenses and loss of wages in the first instance.

Problem with workers’ compensation doctor I am an EN working in a small private

hospital and am currently on worker’s compensation and a return to work plan. I feel that my nominated treating doctor is not providing medical certificates that take into account my pain levels. I have tried to address this with him but he is standing by what he has written. Am I able to change my nominating treating doctor?

It is possible to change your nominating treating doctor. However, doing so may lead the insurance company who pay for your worker’s compensation to deny liability on this basis. For this reason, it would be advisable to further attempt to reason with your doctor before considering a change. If the insurance company denies liability for any reason it is important to contact the Association for a referral to our solicitors.

What do I do about hazardous chemical fumes?

I arrived at work to find an X-ray technician had accidentally tipped hazardous chemicals down the drain and now there are fumes in the unit. What is the correct procedure in this instance?

You should immediately report the matter to the NUM/DON, and all staff and patients should be moved from the area until it has been cleaned by an appropriately-qualified person. The matter should also be reported to the OHS representative or Committee for them to review work practices, and WorkCover can also be called on 13 10 50.n

THE LAMP JULY 2010 35

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N U R S E S O N L I N E

What’s hot on Nurse Uncut HOT TOPICS Blood ban on gay men The Red Cross is reviewing its policy on gay men donating blood.

Currently, a man who has had sex with another man within the past 12 months is excluded from being an eligible blood donor. Is this fair to single out a group of people on the basis of their sexual orientation? Tell us what you think on Nurse Uncut.

Public holidays and nurses Do nurses get the option of having their days off to coincide with statutory holidays so they can enjoy some time with their families? Or do most nurses want to work a public holiday because of the extra pay? Share your views on Nurse Uncut.

JOIN NURSE UNCUT AND WIN A HOLIDAY! Nurse Uncut is one year old and what better way to celebrate it than by giving away a holiday package to a lucky Aussie nurse and a companion.

Grand prize A holiday package at the Sebel Harbourside Kiama (worth $977). This package includes: c Two nights’ accommodation in a Deluxe Harbour View Room for two adults. c Full breakfast daily for two c $100 food voucher c Car parking Prize is valid Sunday to Friday only and prize voucher must be used by 31 October 2010. Travel to the hotel is not included in this prize. Winner must arrange for their own transportation.

For more information on the Sebel, visit www.mirvachotels.com/sebelharbourside-kiama.

Consolation prizes We’re also giving away four colognes for men (Dunhill, worth $135) and four perfumes for women (Arpege by Lanvin, worth $165) as runner-up prizes.

How to enter It’s simple! All you need to do is to join

NSWNA SPONSORS CAREER SPECIAL FEATURE A short video and two NSWNA banners featured prominently on News Limited’s CareerOne website in June.

The exposure came about when the Association sponsored the CareerOne health-care special.

The video showed a paedatric nurse, Kim Rodgers, from Campbelltown Hospital, talking about why she loves her job. At the end, the text reads: ‘They look after us. Let’s look after them.’ A flashing banner 36 THE LAMP JULY 2010

reinforced the message and encouraged nurses to join the NSWNA. The sponsorship was an excellent way to attract more people to the nursing profession and also to remind employers and potential nurses that a strong Union will continue to fight for excellent pay and conditions for nursing staff.

Visit http://career-advice.careerone. com.au/special-reports/careers-inhealthcare/feature.aspx to see the NSWNA-sponsored health-care special.n

Nurse Uncut through either or all of the following ways: c Sign-up as a Nurse Uncut member at www.nurseuncut.com.au c ‘Like’ Nurse Uncut’s Facebook Community Page c Follow Nurse Uncut on Twitter c Subscribe to Nurse Uncut’s newsletter.

The more actions you do, the more chances of winning.

IMPORTANT: You need to let us know the actions you have done by leaving a comment at www.nurseuncut. com.au/contest-join-nurse-uncutand-win-a-holiday. We have no way of knowing when you joined any of our online activities so please leave a comment to make your ‘actions’ count. Here are some examples: ‘I signed up at Nurse Uncut’; ‘I joined NU’s Facebook Page’; ‘I follow NU on Twitter’.

The competition ends 21 July 2010 so get your skates on!

Winners will be announced 30 July, 2010. Winners will be contacted shortly after the contest ends. If you have any other questions or clarifications, please don’t hesitate to leave a comment or contact us.

s

NURSING RESEARCH ONLINE

Big, bad tobacco g Recently the Federal Government announced what some have called the world’s toughest anti-tobacco initiatives. Tobacco is Australia’s single largest cause of premature death and disease, killing 15,000 people a year. The following are some online resources and background discussion papers on the tobacco debate.

WHO Tobacco Free Initiative The World Health Organization’s Tobacco Free Initiative is engaged in a range of activities aimed at reducing the prevalence of tobacco consumption. It collaborates with an international network of scientists and health experts to promote research on various aspects of tobacco production and consumption and their impact on health and economics. Policy recommendations are developed based on this research and in accordance with the provisions of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC). These recommendations cover different aspects of tobacco control, including regulation and legislation in relation to cessation, second-hand tobacco smoke, smoking and children, smoking and gender, economics and trade. www.who.int/tobacco/research/en/

Should Australia lift its ban on low nitrosamine smokeless tobacco products?

Coral E. Gartner and Wayne D. Hall, MJA 2008; 188 (1): 44-46

In Australia, 2.9 million people continue to smoke daily, and tobacco still accounts for 8% of disease burden. Tobacco harm-reduction strategies, such as the use of Swedish snus, have been suggested as a way to further reduce this disease burden. In Australia, the most dangerous tobacco products (cigarettes) are the least regulated, while oral tobacco products, including snus, cannot be sold legally.

Recent epidemiological modelling indicates that there are only small differences in life expectancy between smokers who quit and those who switch to snus. There is a case on public health and ethical grounds for allowing inveterate smokers who want to reduce their health risks to

access snus. At a minimum, the recent increase in tax on smokeless tobacco should be reversed, and the ban on the commercial importation and supply of low nitrosamine smokeless tobacco should be reconsidered in light of the epidemiological evidence on its potential to reduce tobacco-related disease in smokers. www.mja.com.au/public/issues/ 188_01_070108/gar10502_fm.html

On ciggies, Australia the world leader in public health reform Becky Freeman and Professor Simon Chapman, Crikey, Friday, 30 April 2010

The Federal Government breathed new life into the smoking debate with the double-barrelled announcement that tobacco tax was jumping up by 25% effective at midnight and that tobacco would be sold in plain packaging from January 2012.

Tobacco taxes are a proven cornerstone of tobacco control policy and have a long track record of preventing young people from starting and inciting current smokers to quit. Plain packaging, however, is without international precedence and positions Australia as a global leader in public health reform.

Putting the accolades and triumphant high fives aside, what does plain packaging actually mean?

Control (FCTC) requires nations that have ratified the convention to ban all tobacco advertising and promotion.

In the face of these restrictions, tobacco packaging has become the key promotional vehicle for the tobacco industry to interest smokers and potential smokers in tobacco products. This paper reviews available research into the probable impact of mandatory plain packaging and internal tobacco industry statements about the importance of packs as promotional vehicles. It critiques legal objections raised by the industry about plain packaging violating laws and international trade agreements.

The research found that plain packaging of all tobacco products would remove a key remaining means for the industry to promote its products to billions of the world’s smokers and future smokers. Governments have required large surface areas of tobacco packs to be used exclusively for health warnings without legal impediment or need to compensate tobacco companies.n http://tobacco.health.usyd.edu. au/publications/

www.crikey.com.au/2010/04/30/onciggies-australia-the-world-leaderin-public-health-reform/

The case for the plain packaging of tobacco products Becky Freeman, Simon Chapman & Matthew Rimmer

The Framework Convention on Tobacco THE LAMP JULY 2010 37

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N S W N A M A T T E R S

NSWNA Branch News

ns get active in campaig g NSWNA members ate achievements. br le ce d an , ts es ot pr and Graduate ENs of Meadowbank TAFE celebrated an end to their studies, which coincided with International Nurses’ Day Celebrations and International Year of the Nurse.

The NSWNA’s Holly Rebeiro presents Tanya Plibersek, MP for Sydney, with more than 600 signed Because we care postcards in the days leading up to the Federal Budget announcement.

Nurses at Chamberlain Gardens Aged Care came together to lend their support to the Because we care campaign. Left to right (back row): Helga Thorpe, Mandy Brown, Pearl Clarke, Carol Ford, Betty Bryant and Janice Whittaker; (front row) Judy Paris, Sharon Mesic and Edna Kennedy.

NSWNA delegate Angela Pridham (left) received a highly commended delegate award at the ACTU Delegate of the Year Awards night in May. Pictured next to her are ACTU President Sharon Burrow and NSWNA General Secretary Brett Holmes.

38 THE LAMP JULY 2010

MP for Bennelong Maxine McKew receives Quality Aged Care Action Group’s ‘dignity’ postcards on behalf of Federal Minister for Ageing Justine Elliot, in Canberra following the announcement of the aged care wins in the May Budget.

Don’t be left out in the cold this winter…

NSWNA unisex bonded polar fleece zip front jackets are suitable to wear on those frosty morning starts and freezing night shifts.

A May Day rally and march was held to save Bellingen Hospital. The rally would have not been possible without the hard work of Claire Sartori RN, Dr Deirdre Little and Kate Williams, RN (pictured left to right).

Bonded Polar Fleece Zip Front Jackets

$30

available in S, M, L, XL, XXL and XXXL

ADDRESS

University of Western Sydney nursing students ate cake and celebrated International Nurses’ Day and International Year of the Nurse, while learning what to expect as RNs when they graduate.

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Nurses from across the different Branches of the ANF were invited to Canberra to celebrate the announcements for health care and aged care in the May Federal Budget. Left to right: Leonie Keen (President, Queanbeyan Hospital Branch); Jenny Carpenter (DoN, George Forbes House); Jeanette Yeaman (CNS, George Forbes House); Alba Vignola (AiN and QNU member); Annette Peters (RN from Blue Mountains, NSWNA member and QACAG).

/

SIGNATURE

To order, fax the order form to Glen Ginty (02) 9550 3667 or post to: NSWNA, PO Box 40 Camperdown NSW 1450 Merchandise order forms available on our website

www.nswnurses.asn.au

THE LAMP JULY 2010 39

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A T

T H E

M O V I E S

The Hedgehog (Le Herisson)

Our reviewers and tipsters receive a delightful ABC Classics CD for uplifting enjoyment!

g Immerse yourself in the lives of a group of people living in an exclusive apartment in Paris.

Gifts so good, you won’t want to give them away.

There is an ABC Shop near you. For locations visit abcshop.com.au or call 1300 360 111. Ask about our rewards program.

Review by Liz Lyons Prince of Wales Hospital Randwick

W

inter is upon us and it’s time to sit back and enjoy the winter activities. Films are part of those activities. If you want to listen to the wonderful French that is spoken in this film, meet the Parisians

warts and all, and experience mixed emotions throughout the movie, then The Hedgehog is for you.

The storyline is about a concierge, Renee, in a very exclusive Parisian apartment building. This woman is very plain and somewhat uncultured, but as the story unfolds she has more substance to

her that is seen by others. An 11-year-old girl, Paloma, who lives in the apartments and is constantly filming her parents’ and sisters’ decadent lives, befriends Renee.

A new neighbour, Mr Ozu, comes into the apartment complex and changes their lives forever, bringing with him love, life and friendship.

The name of the movie is from the book called The Elegance of the Hedgehog written by Muriel Barbery.

You will find the beginning a little slow, but give the film time to unfold all the secrets. You’ll be both delighted and sad at the outcome.n The Hedgehog opens on 8 July.

17th Enrolled Nurse State Conference

TWENTY 10 and BEYOND Enrolled Nurse Professional Association NSW 17th NSW Enrolled Nurse Conference DATE

16th and 17th September 2010

VENUE

Cessnock Supporters Club Darwin Street, Cessnock

42 THE LAMP JULY 2010

Sessions/Speakers include : • Organ Tissue Transplantation • The transition from EN to Nurse Practitioner • Infection Control & Immunization Updates • EN’s in Perioperative Nursing

• • •

To register or for further information please contact: Rebecca Roseby PO Box 775 KINGSWOOD 2747 Phone: 1300 554 249 E-mail: nroseby@bigpond.net.au Assessment & Retrieval of a Paediatric Patient Cardiac Rehabilitation EN Education – current information

GIVEAWAYS FOR NSWNA MEMBERS

CREATION

Me and Orson Welles g The story of stage and screen legend Orson Welles’ production of Julius Caesar is brought to life.

O

rson Welles drew me to this film, rather than 22year-old Zachary (Zac) David Alexander Efron (Rolling Stone magazinenominated ‘poster boy for tweenyboppers’, and whose personal wealth equals $10 million+).

Welles, aged 22 in 1937 when this film is set (six years before marrying screen goddess Rita Hayworth), created the New York Mercury Theatre and mounted his acclaimed production of Julius Caesar, set in fascist Italy.

Adapted from Robert Kaplow’s novel (loosely based on a young Mercury Theatre actor named Arthur Anderson) is a coming of age tale: Zac loses his heart to Claire Danes’ ‘older’ woman, both manipulated by autocratic Welles, while the machinations of pre-production Julius Caesar swirl around them.

The leads, though likable and photogenic, and supporting actors (some playing members of Welles’ repertory troupe, notably Joseph Cotten) seem curiously languid. Only Christian McKay seems to invest ‘oomph’ into Welles, who, as in life, eclipses all others.

The locales – the Isle of Man and

What happens when a worldrenowned scientist, crushed by the loss of his eldest daughter, conceives a book which will prove the non-existence of God. This is the story of Charles Darwin and his master-work The Origin of Species.

It tells of a global revolution played out in the confines of a small English village; a passionate marriage torn apart by the most dangerous idea in history; and a theory saved from extinction by the logic of a child.

Starring Paul Bettany and Jennifer Connelly. www.iconmovies.com.au/creation Creation opens on 15 July.

SOUTH SOLITARY Review by Wayne Lynch, RN, Kirketon Road Centre, and, CNC, Concord Drug Health Services

London standing in for New York – are fantastic, as are the soundtrack and, especially, costumes. Nothing bespeaks tailoring to me like England.

No naughty words or nasty sex scenes, this film is a pleasant way to while away an afternoon.n Me and Orson Welles opens on 29 July.

We are seeking closet film buffs to share with other nurses their views on the movies they love and hate. It’s a chance to see previews of next month’s new releases. Please contact us with expressions of interest to be part of our movie review team. Call Editorial Enquiries now on 02 8595 1258 or email lamp@nswnurses.asn.au

South Solitary follows Meredith (Miranda Otto), unmarried and 35, who arrives at a remote lighthouse island in 1927 to assist her uncle Wadsworth (Barry Otto), in his newly appointed position as head lighthouse keeper.

Bad weather and misadventure leave Meredith marooned on the desolate island with only the sullen and withdrawn assistant keeper Fleet (Marton Csokas) for companionship.

South Solitary opens on 29 July.

The Lamp has 25 double passes to The Hedgehog, Creation, and South Solitary and 20 double passes to Me and Orson Welles. To enter, email lamp@nswnurses.asn.au with your film preference, name, membership number, address and contact number. First entries win!

THE LAMP JULY 2010 43

s

O B I T U A R I E S

Pioneer and advocate in community nursing PAMELA BRADY • 17 October 1941 – 10 April 2009

C

olleagues and friends wish to express their sadness on hearing of the sudden death of Pamela Brady in 2009.

Pamela initially completed her general training at Prince Henry Hospital in Sydney in 1961 followed by her midwifery training at Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Adelaide.

Always looking for new adventures, she travelled overseas working as a nurse in a variety of roles and locations including Canada, Alaska, New Guinea and Sarawak.

On her return to Australia in 1973 Pamela became interested in the Whitlam Government-funded innovative Generalist Community Nursing project. Pamela was one of the original ‘Whitlam Nurses’ based in Mt Druitt. It was during her time as a Generalist Community Nurse she pioneered nurses working within a primary healthcare model in Sydney’s west.

It was from here that Pamela progressed into management positions, becoming a Senior Community Nurse and

the first Director of Community Nursing in the former Western Sydney Area Health Service in 2003.

Pamela was well respected as a nursing leader who supported and encouraged staff to reach their potential.

She was dedicated to achieving respect for community nurses within the health system. She was known to challenge the boundaries, always looking for opportunities to improve community nursing practice or to implement innovative strategies for the community.

Pamela was an active member of the NSWNA. At the local Branch she held positions of delegate, Secretary and President over many years. She was involved in wage claims and often provided expert opinion.

Pamela was ultimately a wonderful friend with a great sense of humour who will be greatly missed. She was an inspiration to us all and has left an enormous legacy of nurses understanding the value of the individual’s contribution

to how best to work together for the client and the community.

There will always be a special place for Pamela in all community health centres.

All staff wish to express their sympathy to Pamela’s family.n

By Sue Briggs on behalf of Pamela’s friends and work colleagues at Sydney West AHS Community Nurses.

A kind and supportive colleague ANNE JENNIFER MANN • 18 June 1945 – 11 February 2010

W

e have lost a dedicated nurse, friend and colleague – Jenny – who was always there to give support when we needed her.

Jenny trained and worked in the same hospital for 43 years. She worked as a nurse on wards, then as an AHNM (After Hours Nurse Manager) when her children were young and then as NUM of a very busy and demanding medical ward with three major disciplines including medical, Renal Dialysis and Mental Health.

Within this one ward all these disciplines required a good understanding of how to care for these patients. By completing courses Jenny was able to maintain a high level of care and expected 44 THE LAMP JULY 2010

her staff to do the same. She always found time for the patients and/or relatives who needed help and support and was always

there for her staff, even when her time was pressing.

Jenny also trained as a midwife and worked in the Maternity Unit. In 2003, M Block closed and became the Ambulatory Care Unit in which patients would come in for treatments and then go home. This area was a very busy unit that maintained a high level of care. Jenny worked in this unit until she retired in 2008.

In March 2009, Jenny was diagnosed with a very progressive brain tumour, requiring two operations, radiation therapy and chemotherapy. The last 11 months were very difficult for her but not once did she ask ‘Why me?’. Jenny always accepted what life had given her with grace and dignity. This was our Jenny.n

By Gwen Harrison, Dubbo Base Hospital

s

B O O K S

Book me 2009 Intravenous Medications: A Handbook for Nurses and Health Professionals (25th ed.)

By Betty L. Gahart and Adrienne R. Nazareno, Mosby Elsevier (available through Elsevier Australia), RRP *$87.00 : ISBN 9780323045544 Intravenous Medications provides essential data on administering more than 350 intravenous drugs, with a portable size for convenience in any clinical setting. This new edition includes entries for nine new IV drugs recently approved by the FDA and hundreds of new drug facts. An alphabetical organisation and indexing by both generic and trade names, along with pharmacologic actions, make it easy to find drug information quickly.

Maternity Nursing

(8th ed.)

By Deitra Leonard Lowdermilk, Shannon E. Perry and Kitty Cashion, Mosby Elsevier (available though Elsevier Australia), RRP *$114.00 : ISBN 9780323066617 Maternity Nursing focuses on the care of women during the childbearing years. Designed to meet the needs of

today’s students, this book offers a clear, understandable style and a concise, focused presentation. It integrates an understanding of family, culture, and health promotion into the continuum of care, while the coverage of communitybased care emphasises nursing care in many different settings. Not only does Maternity Nursing focus on childbearing issues and concerns, including care of the newborn, but it also addresses wellness promotion and the management of common women’s health problems.

Foundations of Nursing (6th ed.)

By Barbara Lauritsen Christensen and Elaine Oden Kockrow, Mosby Elsevier (available through Elsevier Australia), RRP *$32.00 : ISBN 9780323057325 Part of the popular LPN Threads series, this comprehensive text prepares you for safe and effective nursing practice in today’s fast-paced healthcare environment.

Covering maternal and neo-natal, paediatric, geriatric, mental health, and community nursing, Foundations of Nursing 6th Edition, includes all of the essential LPN/LVN content you need. Companion CD includes animations and audio clips depicting physiologic processes, physical assessment video clips, an English/Spanish glossary with definitions and audio pronunciations, an anatomy colouring book, and a fluid and electrolytes tutorial.

WHERE TO GET THIS MONTH’S NEW RELEASES These books are all available on order through the publisher or your local bookshop. Members of the NSWNA can borrow any of these books and more from our Records and Information Centre.

For borrowing information, contact Jeannette Bromfield, 8595 2175, jbromfield@nswnurses.asn.au or Cathy Matias, 8595 2121, cmatias@ nswnurses.asn.au

Reviews by NSWNA librarian, Jeannette Bromfield.

PUBLISHERS’ WEBSITES c Radcliffe Publishing: www.radcliffe-oxford.com c Elsevier Australia: www.elsevier.com.au

Disclaimer: Some of the items featured in Book Me are based on information received and have not been independently reviewed.

NEW REFERENCE BOOK

The Second Fifty Years: A History of Nursing at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, 1932-1982

By Helen Croll Wilson, Braxus Press, RRP POA : ISBN 1875818030 (pbk.)

This is a fascinating tale of advances in nursing education, offering insight into the cultural attitude of Australian society towards health care within the training of nurses from the Depression years, through the Second World War to the Baby Boomers. Over 40 photographs offer a pictorial history of changes in the lives of patients and nurses.

Behavioural Medicine in Primary Care: A Global Perspective Edited by Julie M Schirmer and Alain J. Montegut, Radcliffe Publishing Ltd (available through Elsevier Australia), RRP *$69.00 : ISBN 9781846193576 Behavioural Medicine in Primary Care: A Global Perspective enables physicians, social workers and others unfamiliar with behavioural medicine to meet the mental and behavioural health needs of their patients. Its focus on patients from multiple settings and cultures and its comprehensive, practical format illustrate skills that can be applied immediately wherever care is being provided.n *Price in Australian dollars at time of printing THE LAMP JULY 2010 45

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Experience Peppers. Call 1300 987 600 or visit peppers.com.au/anchorage *Conditions apply. Subject to availability. Valid for sale and travel to 30 September 2010.

Block out dates and minimum stays apply. For full terms and conditions visit peppers.com.au.

'IRLS JUST WANNA HAVE &5.

ENJOY THE NEW GIRLS JUST WANNA HAVE FUN HOLIDAY ESCAPE from

$

*

395 per person

*Conditions apply based on 6 guests in twin share accommodation.

46 THE LAMP JULY 2010

Girls just wanna have fun adventure includes: Day One Sparkling white wine welcome at check-in then a relaxing and revitalising massage.

Two course dinner in our award winning restaurant.

Two nights accommodation in sensational mountaintop spa lodges.

Day Two Hot country restaurant breakfast.

Complementary equipment from kayaks to mountain bikes, DVD library and internet kiosk.

Self drive Discovery buggy with box lunch to explore the resort.

Escorted tour to local vineyard.

Pizza and salad night in your lodge.

Day Three Hot country restaurant breakfast.

More resort activities prior to departure.

Escape to Eaglereach, dual winner of the â&#x20AC;&#x153;Best Superior Accommodation in Australia Awardâ&#x20AC;?. Another world, just two hours from Sydney.

Summer Hill Rd, Vacy, HUNTER REGION, NSW Ph: 02 4938 8233 Fax: 02 4938 8234 Email: enquiry@eaglereach.com.au www.eaglereach.com.au

s

CRoSSWoRD

Test your knowledge in this monthâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s nursing crossword.

1

2

3

4

5

8

6

7

9 10

11

12

13

14 15 16

17

18 19

21

20 22

23 24 25

s

ACROSS

1. Irritating sensation in the skin, common name for scabies (4) 3. Inframammary fold (1.1.1) 5. The lateral and smaller of the two bones of the leg (6) 8. Surgical transplantation of living tissue (8) 10. Unit of the United Nations devoted to health (1.1.1) 13. Nucleic acid containing genetic instructions (1.1.1) 14. Spine shaped (9) 16. Assisting the memory (10) 17. The protein of haemoglobin (6) 19. Mentally healthy (4)

20. Loss of consciousness when the rupture of blood vessel leads to lack of oxygen in the brain (1.1.1) 21. Female reproductive organ (5) 23. Without blood or lymphatic vessels (9) 24. a non-invasive, safe nerve stimulation intended to reduce pain, both acute and chronic (4) 25. Relating to or derived from the mother (8)

s

DOWN

1. Essential mineral necessary for the transport of oxygen (4) 2. Protrusion of an organ through the wall of the cavity that normally contains it (6)

4.

6.

7.

9.

11.

12.

15.

16.

17.

18.

22.

23.

Unable or unwilling to speak (4) The arch of hair above each eye (4) Resembling fat (6) Sense of taste (9) Condition characterised by behavioural and learning disorders (1.1.1) Incubation period (6, 5) Hollow space/hole (6) Distinctive pleasant odour (5) Increase in size of a living being as part of development (6) Turn outward (5) Large lipoproteins rich in triglycerides (1.1.1.1) Doctorsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; organisation (1.1.1)

Solution page 49 THE LAMP JULY 2010 47

DIARY DATES Conferences, seminars, meetings SYDNEY, HUNTER & ILLAWARRA Annual CNS Midwifery Conference â&#x20AC;&#x201C; â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Mountains to the Seaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; 23 July, Wollongong Hospital.

Contact: Jo Goldstein or Snez Avramoska, 4253 4275 Orthopaedic Conference â&#x20AC;&#x201C; â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Bones on the beachâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; 31 July, WIN Entertainment Centre, Wollongong.

Contact: Carol Jackson, carol.jackson@ sesiahs.health.nsw.gov.au Sexual Health/HIV Update for Health Professionals 4-6 August, Kolling Building, RNSH Contact: Carol Martin, 9926 7414, or cmartin@nsccahs.health.nsw.gov.au Change Champions Seminar â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Climate Change, Healthcare & Carbon Footprints 5-6 August, Amora Jamison Hotel, Sydney.

Contact: Diane Beyrouthi, 9692 0533, info@changechampions.com.au Web: www.changechampions.com.au Renal Palliative Care Symposium 13 August, St George Hospital, Sydney.

Contact: Elizabeth Josland, 9113 2854 or Elizabeth.josland@sesiahs.health. nsw.gov.au Sydney Alliance â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;2 Day Alliance Building Instituteâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Sat stream: 14 & 21 Aug, weekday stream: 26 & 27 Aug, Sun stream: 29 Aug & 5 Sept Contact: Liliana Cappichone, 8007 6055, www.sydneyalliance.org.au

20th Annual Spinal Injury Conference 26-27 August, College of Nursing, Burwood Web: www.sina.org.au

4655 1575 or solace@gmail.com

RURAL

CNC Continence & Urology Community Service Seminar â&#x20AC;&#x201C; â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;All about the bladderâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; 27 August, Burwood RSL, Burwood.

Contact: Ronda Brownlow, 9534 2555 or urological_nurses@hotmail.com/ Virginia Ip, 9515 3652

Anaesthetic & Post Anaesthetic Care Conference â&#x20AC;&#x201C; â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;The Twighlight Zoneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; 31 July, 8am-5pm, The Crowne Plaza, Terrigal.

Contact: Nicole Field, 4389 9400 or fieldn@ramsayhealth.com.au or Elizabeth Hunt, 4389 9490.

Sydney West Wound Interest Group Seminar 31 August, Education Centre, Our Lady of Consolation, Aged Care facility Contact: Jill Sparks, 8887 4484 or 0414 192 691

Australian Womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Health Nurses Assoc. Professional Update 2010 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Participate, Progress & Praiseâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; 5-6 August, Orange.

Contact: Anne Smart, 6392 8600 or Anne.Smart@gwahs.health.nsw.gov.au

Day Surgery Nurses Association of NSW Conf. â&#x20AC;&#x201C; â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Education into Practiceâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; 11 September, Sydney Masonic Centre Contact: Tricia Goh, 9553 9905 or pgoh@aestheticdaysurgery.com.au, www.adsna.info

10th Rural Critical Care Conference â&#x20AC;&#x201C; â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Delivering Safe Rural Critical Careâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; 20-21 August, Orange Ex-Services Club.

Contact: www.ruralcriticalcare.asn.au

The Childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Hospital at Westmead, Paediatric Perioperative Seminar 11 September, 8am-5pm, The Sebel Hotel, Parramatta.

Contact: Claudia Watson, 9845 2112 or claudiw2@chw.edu.au Stockton Centre (previously Stockton Hospital) Centenary Celebrations 13-19 Sept (official opening on 15 Sept), Stockton Centre, Fullerton St, Stockton.

Contact: John Naylor, 4928 0891 or john. naylor@dadhc.nsw.gov.au Solace Association â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 12th National Solace Grief Conference 8-9 Oct, Vibe Hotel, Goulburn St, Sydney.

Contact: Ken, 9529 4805/ Margaret,

17th Enrolled Nurse State Conference â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;TWENTY 10 and BEYONDâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; 16-17 Sept, Cessnock Supporters Club, Cessnock. Cost: members $220, nonmembers $260. Contact: Roz Norman, 1300 554 249, nroseby@bigpond.net.au

Drug & Alcohol Nurses of Australasia Conf. & workshops 2010 14-16 July, Holiday Inn, Surfers Paradise Contact: Kim Thorne, (07) 3831 3788, www.danaconference.com.au Cancer Nurses Society of Australia, 13th Winter Congress â&#x20AC;&#x201C; â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Leadership, Diversity & Innovation: The Global Pictureâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;.

29-31 July, Hyatt Regency Hotel, Perth.

Contact: Angela Delnevo at CNSA, (02) 9265 0700, cnsa2010@airnex.com.au 3rd Passionate about Practice 2010 Conference, Queensland Health 1-3 Aug, Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre. Contact: www.iamevents.com. au/qh/passionateaboutpractice Nursesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; & Midwivesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Wellness Conf.

10 Sept, Carson Conf. Centre, Melbourne.

Contact: Julie Ferrier, (03) 9415 7551, www.vnhp.org.au 18th International Congress on Palliative Care 5-8 Oct, Palais des Congres, Montreal, Canada. Contact: April Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Donoughue, info@pal2010.com, www.pal2010.com

Community Nurse Audiometrists Association Inc, 28th Annual Conf. â&#x20AC;&#x201C; â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Hearing Through the Yearsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; 20-22 October, West Diggers Tamworth.

Contact: Kathy Challinor, 0428 667 502, www.cnaa.org.au

National Forum on Safety and Quality in Health Care â&#x20AC;&#x201C; â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Society, Regulators and Health Providers: a clash of expectations 25-27 Oct, National Convention Centre, Canberra. Contact: www.sapmea.asn. au/forumsqhc2010

INTERSTATE AND OVERSEAS

2nd International Conference on Violence in the Health Sector â&#x20AC;&#x201C; â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;from awareness to sustainable actionâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; 27-29 Oct, The Netherlands, Amsterdam, De Meervaart. Contact: www.oudconsultancy. nl/Violence-Healthsector/program.html

27th International Congress of Applied Psychology 11-16 July, Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre. Contact: Congress Office: (03) 9417 0888 www.icap2010.com

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48 THE LAMP JULY 2010

Reunions

Contact: Jeanette Fox, 4751 4829

30 Year Reunion – General Nursing Training Group, RPAH July 1980 10 July, Summer Hill Contact: Tracey Goddard, 9519 6312, 0425 261 633 or gotracey.g@gmail.com

Wollongong Hospital 1973 General Nurse Graduates 9 October, Wollongong.

Contact: Adriana Van Bockel (née Pesch), 4228 3641 or arieada@hotmail. com/ Willi Harley (née Pesch), 4232 3427 or gwharley@bigpond.com/ Pam Lewis (née Belpitt), 08 9336 6379 or freomews@iinet.net.au

Ryde Hospital Nurses 1960s’ Reunion 23 July, Ryde - Eastwood Leagues Club.

Contact: Julia Lewis (Davoren), 9456 4820, or tonyandjuliacupitt@bigpond.com Peat Island Centre/Hosp. Celebration & Reunion – to mark its closure.

First event: 7 August, 11am-5pm, Broken Bay Sport & Recreation Centre.

Contact: Roydon Cannon, 9985 0157, or roydon.cannon@dadhc.nsw.gov.au Second event: 14 August, 7pm-late, Gosford RSL, West Gosford.

Contact: Kathie Terrens, 9985 0169, or Kathie.terrens@dadhc.nsw.gov.au Balmain Hospital Celebrates 125 years – Celebrations for past and present staff Open day: 10 August from 10.30am.

Anniversary dinner: 13 August, 7pm, Le Montage, 38 Frazer Street, Lilyfield.

Contact: Linda Kelley, 9395 2267 or Kellyl@email.cs.nsw.gov.au Stockton Centre (previously Stockton Hospital) Staff and Client Reunion 16 September, Stockton Centre, Fullerton St. Stockton.

Contact: John Naylor, 4928 0891 or john. naylor@dadhc.nsw.gov.au Sydney Hosp. Graduate Nurses’ Assoc.

Luncheon at State Parliament House and visit to Lucy Osburn / Nightingale Museum 6 October, luncheon starts at 12 midday.

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: 5th of May for June Lamp.

Send information to: Editorial Enquiries Email: lamp@nswnurses.asn.au Fax: 9550 3667 PO Box 40, Camperdown NSW 1450 Please double-check all information sent is correct. The Lamp cannot guarantee that the issue will always be mailed in time for the listed event.

Mater Graduate Nurses’ Assoc – Annual Reunion Mass & Lunch 17 Oct, 11.45am mass at Our Lady Star of the Sea Catholic Church Kirribilli, & 12.45pm lunch at Vibe Hotel, Milsons Point Contact: Cathie Molyneux, matergrads@ matersydney.com Armidale & New England Hospital, 30 Year Reunion – Light Green Group Seeking interest.

Contact: Brian, 6366 3242 or open1@ iprimus.com.au

NSWNA Events NSW Nurses Annual Conference 65th Professional Day 23 July, 8am-3pm (registration from 7am), Australian Jockey Club, Randwick Cost: NSWNA members $50, non-members $75, Branch Officials & students free.

Contact: Carolyn Kulling, 8595 1234 (metro), 1300 376 962 (rural), ckulling@nswnurses.asn.au or www.nswnurses.asn.au Education Dates: • Computer Essentials for Nurses’ &

Midwives: 3 August, Concord Hospital • Leadership Skills for the Aged Care Team: 5 Aug, NSWNA Office, Camperdown • Basic Foot Care for RNs and ENs: 11&12 Aug, Panthers Club, Newcastle.

• Legal & Professional Issues for Nurses and Midwives: 20 August, Ex-Services Club, Coffs Harbour.

• Appropriate Workplace Behaviour: 27 August, West Diggers, Tamworth.

NSWNA Education Courses contact: Carolyn Kulling, 8295 1234/1300 367 962, www.nswnurses.asn.au/topics/2761.html

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 now 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.

Contact: Diana Modderno, 8595 1234 (metro), 1300 376 962 (rural), or www. nswnurses.asn.au/topics/25798.html

Crossword solution

Branch Officials & Activists Training Program – ‘Fairness at Work in Aged Care’ 18-19 August, 9am-4.30pm, NSWNA Head Office, Camperdown.

The College of Nursing creating nursing’s future

Advance your career with a College of Nursing graduate certificate The College of Nursing’s graduate certificate programs are created by nurses for nurses.

Our programs are tailored to meet your professional needs.

You can study in your own time at your own place with our flexible delivery options.* You can be confident in knowing that a College of Nursing graduate certificate is the right choice for you. *Does not apply to all programs

www.nursing.edu.au

CALL NOW! 1800 265 534 for your 2010 course handbook email: csc@nursing.edu.au web: www.nursing.edu.au When phoning please quote L1003

THE LAMP JULY 2010 49

Mater Graduate Nursesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Association Annual Reunion Mass & Lunch

COMPLEMENTARY AND ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE IN PREGNANCY

Sunday 17 October 2010

Evidence-based Clinical Considerations for Midwives

Mass 11.45am at â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Our Lady Star of the Seaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;

LOCATIONS IN 2010

44 Willoughby Street Kirribilli

14 CPD POINTS

Lismore 13th & 14th Sept Brisbane 27th & 28th Sept Sydney 1st & 2nd Oct

Lunch 12.45 pm at Vibe Hotel 88 Alfred Street, Milsons Point (Opposite Milsonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Point Station. Street parking available.)

1 5% OF F G ROUP BOOKINGS OF 5 OR MORE!

$55 per head RSVP Friday 1 October 2010 MGNA Sec.Cathie Molyneux, 13 Panorama Cres., Frenchs Forest NSW 2086

ENQUIRIES or to ENROL please call or email: Embrace Holistic Services P 0420 231 700 E enquiries@embraceholistic.com

Cheques payable to: â&#x20AC;&#x153;Mater Graduate Nursesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Associationâ&#x20AC;?

Direct deposit: contact Cathie Molyneux, ncmolyneux@bigpond.com Full payment to accompany all bookings by 1 October 2010 If you require transport from the church to the hotel (7 minute walk) contact Cathie Molyneux, or Jillian Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Brien on 9900 7549 or email matergrads@matersydney.com Graduates are encouraged to wear their training badges.

I will /

will not be attending the 2010 MGNA Reunion (nĂŠe)

Name Address P/c Phone: Home

Graduation Year 19 Mobile

Reunion $55 Already a Life Member Annual Subs $10 Life member $75 Donation $ â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Excellence in Nursingâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; donation $

Payment

'3&& UBYBUJPO BEWJDF HJWFO XJUI BMM DPOTVMUBUJPOT &MFDUSPOJD MPEHNFOU EBZ SFGVOE

ZFBST UBYBUJPO FYQFSJFODF $PNQFUJUJWF SBUFT 'FF GSPN SFGVOE

&ORVJSJFT CZ EBZ OJHIUT PS XFFLFOET PS CZ QIPOF GBY PS FNBJM JG UIBU TVJUT ZPV "EWJDF CBTFE PO PDDVQBUJPOBM SVMJOHT -PDBUJPO o 3BOEXJDL %FSFL 3ZEFS JT B $1" 1SBDUJDF

t UBY !CJHQPOE DPN BV -JDFOTFE 5BY "HFOU

*Tick boxes to indicate items covered by your enclosed amount.

Fast Track your Career in Health - Occupational Nurse â&#x20AC;˘ Unique Career Opportunity â&#x20AC;˘ Great Remuneration â&#x20AC;˘ Sydney CBD Location

Health Services implements programs enabling RailCorp employees to improve or maintain their health and wellbeing, and to meet regulatory health requirements.

ROA

To apply for this dynamic career opportunity, please visit www.railcorp.info/careers.

Reference Number: CRHR 10/17E Applications close: 5pm on Friday 30 July 2010.

Questionnaire Development One-Day Sydney Workshop Friday 23 July 2010

â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;How to develop a valid questionnaireâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; For nurses and others in healthcare currently preparing a questionnaire and who feel they may need help

Workshop Leader: A/Prof. Rod O'Connor Conjoint Associate Professor, School of Public Health & Community Medicine, UNSW Full details at www.RodOConnorAssoc.com Or phone Rod on 02 9555 9916 mob 0413 60 70 73 50 THE LAMP JULY 2010

797736

RAILCORP HEALTH

The Occupational Nurse supports the division of the Chief Health Officer in delivering and maintaining RailCorpâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Health Promotion Program, as well as contributing to the development of effective strategies and options to deliver Health Promotion to the organisation. This position contributes to achieving RailCorpâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s objectives relating to the health and wellbeing of employees and thus the safety of its employees, passengers and the public.

TAX RETURNS

REASONABLE PRICE

Specialised Service for Nurses and Hospital Staff Maximum Tax Refund Within 14 Days sub. to ATO â&#x20AC;˘ Fees from Refund & Fully Tax Deductible â&#x20AC;˘ Professional, efficient, Personal Service, 7 Days â&#x20AC;˘ Negative Gearing, Shares/ Property, Capital Gains Tax â&#x20AC;˘ Overdue & Late Returns â&#x20AC;˘ Tax Planning

Over 15 years experience Michael Todd JPCFP FTIA, FTMA

Call Mike (02) 9808 3166 Austwise Tax Accountants and Reg Tax Agents 34/ 99 Anzac Avenue, Cnr Victoria Road, West Ryde NSW 2114

o t t r e v n Co ct Debit Dire e n

i e h t t W a y y a e t n s d s y l, S riou

& Havnce to a cha

e u t x o u l H a a L i r g Shan

Start paying your NSWNA fees by Direct Debit for the chance to win a two-night stay in one of Sydney’s top five-star hotels, the Shangri-La Hotel, Sydney.

The Direct Debit prize includes two nights’ accommodation in a Horizon Deluxe Grand Harbour View Room with Horizon club privileges, breakfast on the Horizon Club Floor or option of a full hot breakfast on Level 1 of the hotel.

Afternoon tea, evening drinks and Canapes on the Horizon Club Floor are also included, as well as two rescue release treatments in CHI, The Spa to treat and relieve muscle tension in the troubled areas of your body.

Situated in the historic Rocks district within easy walking distance of the city’s main shopping and commercial districts, with breathtaking views of Sydney Harbour, the deluxe five-star Shangri-La Hotel, Sydney, offers the city’s largest guest rooms, all with water views. The Shangri-La Hotel, Sydney, offers a wide selection of dining options and Australia’s first CHI, The Spa.

Here’s how you can win

2Cancel your payroll deductions and start paying your fees

through direct debit and you will go into the lucky draw and/or

2Convince your colleagues to convert from payroll deductions

to direct debit, and you and each of your colleagues who switch to direct debit will go into the lucky draw and/or

2Sign up a new member using the direct debit method of paying

their fees, and you and the new member will go into the lucky draw.

Direct debit is not only the easiest and most convenient way to pay your membership, but switching over could win you a luxury holiday! Don’t risk your membership lapsing from changing workplaces. With direct debit you are always protected on the job.

Membership Application forms or Direct Debit forms can be downloaded from our website www.nswnurses.asn.au Alternatively call the NSWNA on 8595 1234 (metro area) or LAMP JULY 2010 51 1300 367 962 (non-metro area) forTHE more information.

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*Nurseâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Pack is FREE with all new Nissan & Kia vehicles purchased during the month of June 2010 1. Offer is for a 2010 Kia Rio S 5 door hatch manual, not including metallic paint. Pricing current at time of printing and available to vehicles sold and delivered by 30/06/2010, cannot be used In conjunction with any other offers. 2. Offer is for a 2010 Kia Cerato Koup sedan manual, excluding metallic paint. 3. Offer is for a 2010 Nissan Micra, manual, 5 door, not including metallic paint or headlight protectors. 4.Offer is for a 2010 Nissan Dualis ST 5 door manual, excluding metallic paint.

Offers valid to in stock vehicles only, cannot be used in conjunction with any other offer or manufacturer promotions / campaigns, and to private buyers only. Offers end 31st July 2010.

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3DUW RI $XVWUDOLDÂśV /DUJHVW 0RWRULQJ *URXS ZZZ DKJQVZ FRP DX (/.

52 THE LAMP JULY 2010