Victorian nurses on warpath

Peter Mac

The Bracks Labor Government is hardly carving a name for itself 
as a friend of the Victorian working people. Hard on the heels of 
their offer to big business of $400 million in tax breaks and 
infrastructure funding, the government has introduced new 
legislation to forbid strike action on projects deemed to be an 
essential service or industry, or a vital state construction 
project.

One group that is not about to take this sort of treatment meekly 
is the state's nurses, who last week took strike action over 
their claim for a 24 percent increase in pay and the maintenance 
of the nurse/patient ratio.

Victoria's nurses are among the lowest paid in any state. 
Graduate nurses are the lowest-paid in the nation, and are also 
the lowest-paid health professionals.

They have also been for many years among the hardest worked 
nurses in Australia. However, three years ago they achieved a 
world-first in their working conditions — the establishment of a 
minimum 5:20 nurse/patient ratio.

Ms Lisa Fitzpartick, the secretary of the Victorian branch of the 
Australian Nurses Federation (ANF), commented: "Victoria is the 
only state with ratios and the only state that doesn't have a 
severe nurse shortage."

The ANF has pointed out that:

* Before ratios were introduced, about 400 public hospital beds 
were closed on any given day.

* Since ratios were introduced an additional 3300 nurses have 
returned to the public health system.

* Ratios mandate a safe minimum number of nurses per ward.

* Patient dependency systems that tell management more nurses 
were needed for the previous shift or that there were not enough 
nurses are useless.

* Ratios ensure that there are adequate numbers of nurses on 
roster six weeks in advance.

* Ratios help management break its reliance on expensive nursing 
agencies to fill permanent vacancies rather than unplanned 
vacancies.

* Victoria has proven that ratios mean safe patient care and the 
ability to recruit and retain nurses during a global nursing 
shortage.

However, the government has now taken action to remove this 
crucial working condition. They have also taken action to replace 
qualified nursing staff with untrained personnel in the care of 
elderly and vulnerable residents of public aged care beds, and to 
abolish the requirement for directors of nursing at regional 
hospitals and hospital campuses.

As a result, last week the nurses began their industrial action, 
which will affect public hospitals, operating theatres and blood 
banks.

The government had previously responded to their demands with a 
contemptuous offer of a three percent pay rise — and the 
"promise" of a new computer system that would direct nurses to 
wards where the patient demand was highest!

The computer system has been widely criticised by nurses as 
consistently underestimating the nursing time each patient needs, 
and therefore compromising patient care and safety. Use of the 
system to determine the level of care means in effect that the 
level of care received by the patient is determined by a 
computer, whose parameters are in turn predetermined by a 
programmer who is not present, and can have no idea of the time 
actually needed for individual patient care.

The system also allows for unlimited short shifts of varying 
duration during which nurses would be required to work frantic 
shifts of between two and six hours at a time.

Not surprisingly, nurses rejected the government's "offer".

Representing a government that is fast gaining a reputation as an 
industrial bully, State Health Minister Bronwyn Pike declared 
petulantly: "It's clear the union has gone in much too early and 
much too hard." This was pretty rich, considering that 
negotiations have been dragging on for five months, with the 
government stonewalling every inch of the way.

The matter is now before the Industrial Relations Commission. The 
nurses have indicated that they are willing to negotiate on the 
wages issue, but that the issue of retention of the nurse/patient 
ratio is absolutely non-negotiable.