Latest Nursing News

A $20,700 compensation order against Queensland Health, for treatment of an Ipswich nurse who could not work nightshifts because of impairment, has been overturned on appeal.

The nurses' union in Tasmania expects its dispute with the State Government will be resolved today. The State Government is due to make an amended offer to the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Union this afternoon. Nurses accepted a 2 per cent pay rise but started state-wide industrial action over safety concerns related to staffing levels.

PATIENTS are being left on trolleys in ward corridors and lounge rooms as Royal Darwin Hospital tries to clear them out of emergency. A nurse, who asked not to be identified, said the move was to prompt doctors to discharge more patients so they could be admitted to ward beds. But instead they were being left on the trolleys, particularly in the 23-hour ward for same-day procedures, she said. Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation NT secretary Yvonne Falckh confirmed a patient had been left on a trolley for five days.

THREE honour boards listing all the Ballarat Base Hospital matrons and nursing executive directors since 1856 were unveiled at the weekend. The boards were presented by the Ballarat Base Hospital Trained Nurses League as part of its 85th reunion and annual general meeting on Saturday afternoon. The league's treasurer Trina Jones said the boards also listed the Jean K. Finlayson Scholarship recipients since the nursing education award began in 1996.

OPERATING theatre nurses at John Hunter Hospital say they are shouldering constant, unreasonable workloads and that the figures relied on by Hunter New England health to staff rosters are wrong. The NSW Nurses and Midwives Association sought an emergency listing in the Industrial Relations Commission on Monday after Hunter New England Local Health refused the union’s request for an external review of staffing levels.

NURSES voted overwhelmingly yesterday in favour of a new pay deal with the State Government, averting a potential crippling strike in the health sector. Under the agreement, nurses will receive an annual three per cent pay rise for the next three years. The Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation (SA Branch) and Health Minister Jack Snelling yesterday announced the result of enterprise agreement ballot, with 95 per cent voting in favour of the deal.

THEY learned their trade in a time when the rules were strict, the work was physical and the hours were never-ending. Senior members of the Ipswich Hospital Nurses Association look back fondly on their tough years of training, attributing that time to the knowledge and friendships that they still enjoy today. The mission of the 200-strong association is to support programs which aid the further education of the current crop of nurses.

Three of four Laverton nurses nominated for the 2013 Nursing and Midwifery Excellence Awards won in their divisions at the weekend. Jasmine Brown and Kirsten Fleming jointly won the Rural and Remote Clinical Registered Nurse Practice award. Elissa Stout won the Emerging Leader award. ^[+audio]

BENDIGO nurse Elise Kornmann has been crowned Nurse of the Year at a recent award ceremony. The PapScreen Victoria Nurse Cervical Screening Provider Awards are held every three years. They aim to recognise the contribution nurse cervical screening providers make to cervical cancer prevention in Victoria, especially in regional communities.

Nurses have given politicians a wake up call, demanding both major parties commit to a nursing policy ahead of the March state election. They're concerned nurses are leaving the profession en masse and not being replaced, because of insufficiant planning.