Nurses Vote To Escalate Work Bans

Date: 30 April 2003

NSW Nurses Association members at Maitland Hospital yesterday voted to escalate their industrial action after hospital management today refused to provide full-time clerical assistance on the night shift (11.00pm to 6.00am) in the hospital's emergency and maternity departments.

As from 7.00am on Thursday, 1 May, nurses on all shifts will hand write their triage sheets, rather than do them as a computer data entry. The current administrative bans only apply to the night shift. These bans are aimed at providing more direct nursing care to patients in the emergency department and will only disrupt management processes.

NSWNA members will meet again at 12.30pm next Monday, 5 May, to consider the progress of the dispute and a further escalation of industrial action if necessary.

The NSWNA is seeking the appointment of a clerical assistant on the night shift, to be shared between the maternity and emergency departments, so that nurses can concentrate on patient care. Clerical assistance is currently provided on all other shifts in the two departments and a number of management proposals for addressing the night shift problem have been described by the nurses as an "insult".

NSWNA General Secretary, Brett Holmes, said it is regrettable that negotiations broke down today.

"I simply state again that the workloads in the maternity and emergency departments certainly warrant the appointment of a shared ward clerk on the night shift and it would be a lot better for the patients, mothers and new born babies if the nurses weren't distracted by these clerical duties. So hopefully we can sort this out quickly," Mr Holmes said.

For further information

Contact:	John Moran
Union:	Labor Council of NSW
Contact Mobile:	0410 603 278

LaborNET is proudly created, designed and programmed
by Social Change Online for the Labor Council of NSW
[Credits] [Site Matters]