Latest Nursing News

Two bus loads of nurses from the Hunter are heading to Sydney to join a rally urging the state government to improve staff to patient ratios. Nurses from Maitland, John Hunter, Muswellbrook and Singleton Hospitals are taking part in the strike action, with rallies also being held locally. Nurses and Midwifes Association spokeswoman Judith Kiejda says the government has ignored concerns about unsafe staffing levels.

NSW nurses have voted during a statewide strike to continue their campaign of industrial action as they fight for guaranteed patient-staff ratios. Thousands of nurses from 180 NSW hospitals have voted during a statewide strike to launch a fresh round of industrial action in their fight for patient-staff ratios.

TWO nurses at Peel Health Campus were recognised among Western Australia’s best nurses and midwives. Pat Gable received a nomination in the metropolitan, rural and remote clinical enrolled nurse category. Kym Cockin was nominated in the emerging leader category.

QUEENSLAND'S largest public hospitals have saved about $79 million in the first five months of the year by cutting the average patient length of stay, documents show. Queensland Health figures reveal 21 of the state's biggest public hospitals have collectively recorded a 7.4 per cent reduction in the average patient stay between January and May this year, compared with the same period last year.

Queensland nurses have warned they will continue to fight plans to replace 145 experienced nurses with graduate nurses at Metro North Hospital and Health Service.

The NSW government says it can't afford to increase nurse-to-patient staffing ratios. It says Wednesday's planned strike by nurses won't change that situation. Around a dozen branches of the NSW Nurses & Midwives Association in the New England North West are currently taking part. The Association says 178 branches across the state have voted to participate.

NURSES will protest outside Parliament House on Wednesday over a planned restructure at Brisbane's northside hospitals that will see experienced bedside nurses replaced by cheaper graduates. The Metro North Hospital and Health Service announced moves last week to replace about 140 registered nurses with graduates on temporary contracts, triggering accusations of "ageism''.

Victorian prison nurses are holding two-hour stop work meetings this week in their campaign for better pay and conditions. The nurses have voted to escalate protected industrial action as negotiations for a new pay agreement with prison operator GEO Care Australia reach their 19th month.

WHILE the Queensland Premier, Campbell Newman, grabs  headlines every time he takes an axe to his government’s public sector, Barry O'Farrell and the NSW  government are doing an outstanding job of keeping their public sector cuts  hidden from scrutiny. It's not that people don’t care about the impact of public service cuts, it’s just they can't be aware of what they haven’t been told.

AGED-care provider representative Barry Ashcroft claimed in these pages this month that instances of substandard care in nursing homes and other aged-care services are usually due to underfunding and "heavy-handed over-regulation" of the sector. As an example, he cited the Federal Government's tightening of the Aged Care Funding Instrument, which classifies each resident according to their service and nursing needs.