QNU Press Releases - March 2004
29 March 2004
Queensland nurses demand anti-violence taskforce
Violence against nurses getting worse - it's time for urgent action
Violence against nurses in Queensland is getting more frequent and it is time the Queensland Government established a Taskforce or Ministerial Review to consider all matters related to violence against nurses, the Queensland Nurses Union (QNU) said today.
The QNU has stepped up its Zero Tolerance to Violence campaign following the recent serious assault of a nurse at the Bundaberg Mental Health Unit and new figures showing an average of more than 20 reported incidents of violence and aggression per month, or five a week, at one mental health unit attached to a major south-east Queensland hospital.
Following this year’s State election the QNU provided Queensland’s new Health Minister, Gordon Nuttall, with a briefing document on violence against nurses and on March 9 again wrote to him seeking the establishment of a Taskforce or Ministerial Review.
QNU secretary, Gay Hawksworth, said in response to the QNU’s Zero Tolerance to Violence campaign Queensland Health has developed a training resource called Aggressive Behaviour Management for Health Care Workers, but it is not enough.
“It is also being rolled out over five years and that is far to slow. We need action now. QNU officials are dealing with at least one member a week who has been the victim of an incident serious enough to require time off work or medical treatment. This issue can no longer be kept on the back burner,” Ms Hawksworth said.
“The violence experienced by nurses ranges from verbal abuse to threats to kill. It includes resistance such as pushing and pulling away from staff, active aggression such as hitting, kicking and slapping staff and even the use of weapons such as threatening staff with knives, glass and furniture.
“The effects of violence on staff and patients include stress, reduced work performance, low morale, difficulty recruiting and retaining staff and increased expenditure on WorkCover claims.
“The Taskforce or Ministerial Review should look at the following matters:
- the funding required for the rapid implementation of the staff training program - Aggressive Behaviour Management for Health Care Workers;
- the system of assessing who does which modules of the training package;
- the increase in violence against nurses and its severity;
- the increase in violent behaviour from patients and family members in emergency departments;
- the nexus between aggressive and/or violent behaviour and clinical decision making in the mental health area;
- the increase in violence between family members within the health care setting - e.g. custody issues and arguments over who is to blame for motor vehicle accidents often spill over into ward areas;
- the increase in illegal substances and weapons being brought into health care facilities;
- assaults, including sexual assaults, against nurses going to and from their vehicles;
- design of workplaces;
- community education, including a publicity campaign, aimed at reducing violence in health care settings; and
- support for nurses and other health workers who are victims of violence.
“A project officer should be appointed to assist the Taskforce, which should include senior Queensland Health and QNU officials,” Ms Hawksworth said.
23 March 2004
Brisbane's Mater Private nurses to stop work today - pay rates more than 4% behind other Mater nurses
Queensland Nurses Union (QNU) members at the Mater Private Adults’ Hospital, South Brisbane, will stop work at noon today (23 March) as part of their campaign for equal pay with public hospital nurses and nurses at the Mater Private Mothers’ and Mater Private Children’s hospitals. They will vote on proposals for further industrial action as part of the campaign.
Stop work meeting details
Date: 23 March 2004
Time: 12.00 noon
Venue: Mater Private main entrance, Vulture St South Brisbane.
The vast majority of general ward nurses – Registered Nurses Level 1 Year 8 - at the Mater Private adult hospitals at South Brisbane and Redlands are currently earning 4.22 per cent less (nearly $40.00 per week or $2000.00 per year) than their counterparts at public hospitals, including the Mater Public Hospital, and the Mater Private Mothers’ Hospital and Mater Private Children’s Hospital who are doing the same job.
If the current Mater Private offer of two 3.5 per cent pay rises over two years is accepted then this wage difference will blow out to 4.53 per cent or nearly $43.00 per week by January next year.
QNU secretary, Gay Hawksworth, said this offer is an injustice and goes nowhere near addressing the significant wage gap between the vast majority of Mater Private nurses and their colleagues at public hospitals and other Mater hospitals.
“The principle of equal pay for equal work is an important part of the Australian industrial relations system and it is only fair that people doing similar work get the same pay,” Ms Hawksworth said.
“The private hospital sector, which is heavily subsidised by the Federal Government, has an obligation to treat its nurses fairly. It is nurses who keep private hospitals like this running 24 hours a day, seven days a week and they should not be treated as second-class citizens in terms of pay.
“After all they have the same qualifications and do the same work as public sector nurses. At the Mater South Brisbane the two sets of nurses are only separated by a road, yet a nurse who takes a job on the private side of the road currently also takes a significant pay cut. That’s a ridiculous and untenable situation,” Ms Hawksworth said. |
