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Monthly Archives: March 2015


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Patients’ rights, nurses’ rights

stress-feature01NZNO delegate, Erin Kennedy asks an important question: “Is unsafe staffing a breach of the Code of Health and Disability Services Consumers’ Rights?”

Like most nurses, I am not easily shockable, but I found myself almost speechless last week on learning that three nurses had been forced into the position of caring for 40 patients overnight on a heavy orthopaedic ward. (A pool nurse also came to help for part of the shift.)

NZNO organisers and delegates have argued strongly for safe staffing for years now, but unfortunately, the level of permanent and pool staffing means that staffing levels including skill mix are often unsafe, with sick staff unable to be replaced. The constant push to avoid financial penalty when the 6-hour Emergency Department rule is breached also leads to patients being moved from the Emergency Department to areas where there are simply not enough nurses to care for all the patients safely.

Under the Code of Health and Disability Services Consumers’ Rights, patients have a number of rights, including the right to co-operation amongst providers to ensure quality and continuity of services, and the right to informed consent. The right to be fully informed means information must be conveyed to the patient in a way that enables the patient to understand the treatment or advice. Right 6 of the code states that every consumer has ‘the right to the information that a reasonable consumer, in that consumer’s circumstances, would expect to receive’. Specifically, it states that patients are entitled to an explanation of his or her condition and an explanation of the options available, including an assessment of the expected risks, side effects, benefits, and costs of each option.

Given the unsafe staffing levels at some of our DHBs, it is high time that explanations around surgery, for example, go further than simply outlining the procedure and its risks and benefits. Patients should ask, and should be told, whether their post operative care will be safe. A “reasonable consumer” clearly has the right to know whether their recovery might be hampered because of unsafe staffing. Certainly, if I have surgery any time soon, I will be asking whether there are enough nurses rostered on to provide all of the care I and other patients require. Will there be enough staff to ensure that I can obtain analgesia or other medications on time? Will the nurses be able to check my vital signs often enough to notice if I am bleeding, or have arrested or need medical intervention? If I need help mobilising to the toilet, will there be someone to help me or will I risk a fall and further injury? Will there be someone to answer my call bell if I need help?

Nurses do not like being forced to ration care, but until all DHBs accept that in many instances staffing levels are unsafe (for both patients and nurses), it is a fact of life and one which can seriously impact patients’ wellbeing and recovery. Not warning patients that their post-operative care may not be optimal, and could be downright dangerous, is, in my opinion a breach of the code.

 

 

 


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The man in a suit

This author of this short story is Tina Hansen, a passionate NZNO member who works in the aged care sector.

Man in a suit

The old man, looking out his rest home hospital bedroom door saw a nurse’s uniform walk by.
‘What!?’ he thought.
Soon another uniform walked by, this time he noticed the uniform had legs and arms attached but no head.
‘What the hell is going on?’ he wondered, ‘nurses with no heads?!’

He rang his bell and no one came.
‘Bugger this’, he thought and rang his bell again and again.
‘%$#@’ he thought.

Eventually a man in a suit arrived.
“What can I do for you?” the man in a suit asked.
“I have rung the bell but no nurse appears” he said.
The man in a suit frowned and asked if he could help.
“Oh no, I need a nurse” said the man “and all I have seen is uniforms with arms and legs walking past – no heads.”
“This is not right” said the man in a suit.

He went looking for nurses; sure enough all he found was uniforms with arms and legs.
The man in a suit rang the police.
“Something has happened to my nurses, they are walking around with no heads.”
“We will be right there.” the police chief said, “We can’t have nurses with no heads.”

The police chief arrived with some other police officers and searched the building for evidence. After a short time they found a room with nurses’ heads piled up and with unfinished documentation everywhere. The police were left in no doubt as to who the heads belonged to.

A meeting with the man in a suit and the police chief exposed the information. The man in a suit had told the nurses if they didn’t get all their work done, heads would roll.

There were not enough nurses and not enough time in the day for them to care for their patients and do their paperwork. And that wasn’t good enough for the man in the suit.

Their heads rolled, leaving headless nurses, useful for nothing.

The man in a suit was arrested for the dismemberment of the nurses’ bodies, spirits and souls.

 

 


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MECA reflection

IMG_0313Jemma Irvine is an NZNO delegate at Wellington Hospital. She reflects on what the DHB MECA means to her.

I became an NZNO delegate last year and I attended the MECA training day in February 2015.

Can I just say, I am soooooo grateful for all the nurses who have fought hard for their rights up until now.

Some of the other nurses in the group were sharing their stories of what it has been like nursing in New Zealand over the past 20+ years. It sounds like they have had some pretty big ups and downs. Some nurses were talking about when their hospital board decided to dissolve all of their jobs and make them reapply for their positions. Some nurses weren’t rehired. Some were hired back as team leaders instead of Charge Nurse Managers and therefore on a lower wage. I couldn’t quite believe that this could happen!

Budget cuts affect everyone, but nurses often carry a higher portion of the impact. They work hard to try to do the same amount of work with less staff and fewer resources – always thinking of their patients before themselves. Over time this takes its toll. It’s not sustainable to always be working beyond your means. Something has got to give.

At one point there became the need to strike. These nurses talked about what it was like to strike. They shared the emotional impact, the feelings of guilt when standing on the picket line knowing their patients were still inside. It was not an action taken lightly. All of them said it was hard and they would not have done it if they felt that they could have kept going the way things were. I admired them so much for making a stand to improve their working conditions and fight to be able to give patient’s the care they deserve.

I know strikes are difficult for everyone, but I really appreciate being able to benefit from the hard work these brave people have put in to improve conditions for all of us; nurses, midwives, health care assistants and, most of all, patients.

Hearing some of these powerful stories made me so proud to be a nurse and I feel very privileged to start nursing in this current work environment. I am so grateful for our DHB MECA that means our conditions are able to be protected and we are treated (for the most part) fairly.

I know we are going to have to stand up to keep our working conditions in the near future as the DHB and NZNO try to come to and agreement about our MECA. I want to take this opportunity to thank the ‘oldies’ (meant in the most respectful way possible!) who have paved a lot of the way for us.

Thanks so much!

Love from a grateful, inspired young nurse.


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What does the DHB MECA mean to me?

20150310_154113Kimberley McAuley is an NZNO delegate at Waikato Hospital. She was asked to speak at the event held there yesterday celebrating 10 years of the DHB MECA. This is her speech. We think it’s fantastic!

To be truly honest with each of you present today, when I was first asked to present a small talk on what the MECA means to me, at the birthday party celebration of the 10th anniversary of the MECA, I was a little taken back because: a) public speaking is not one of my strongest points, and b) I was actually going to have to really contemplate and reflect on this question.

Firstly, before I let you in on what ‘the MECA means to me’, I will introduce myself to you all. My name is Kimberley McAuley. I am a registered nurse, I work in the main operating theatres for Waikato District Health Board and I am an NZNO delegate for my workplace and have been for the past 6 months.  I have been a registered nurse for only three years, so less time than the MECA itself has actually existed.

To be quite frank, for my first two years of practice as a registered nurse, or at least the first year anyway, I had no idea what the MECA was about, let alone what it meant it me. I’m not actually sure if I knew the MECA even existed. However, over the past year I have really come to develop a deeper understanding and appreciation surrounding the MECA and the value that the MECA has not only for nurses, but additionally for our HCA and midwife colleagues as well.

For me personally, the major underpinning of the DHB MECA is the element of unity. The MECA is what holds us all, as nurses, together. The MECA works to ensure that we, as nurses, are ALL looked after.  The MECA ensures that we have decent pay, and decent conditions of work. The MECA ensures that we, and all nurses in DHBs throughout New Zealand, work under the same terms and conditions.

Personally, I can vouch and admit that at times, I don’t feel that I get the salary that I deserve when I think about the hard work that I invest into my role as a theatre nurse; the extra hours that I do, and the heart, soul, dedication and passion that I put into my tasks and responsibilities on an everyday basis. I can additionally vouch for the fact that often, and very often of late, feel that I do not have adequate conditions in my workplace. However, without this unifying MECA that we all belong to, I believe all of our workplaces and related factors to our workplaces would be a lot worse of without our MECA. This multi-employer collective agreement, in my eyes is the glue that sticks us all together, and what unifies us all.

So, to conclude, I would just like to say a big happy birthday to our MECA and long may it prevail and be there for us!

 


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Employment law changes – the long answer

ERA changesA couple of days ago, on Facebook, a member asked what NZNO were actually going to do about the changes to employment law, apart from posting stuff on Facebook.

Well, good question. The short answer is lots! The long answer is… longer – I’ll make a start here and see how far I get today.

The first thing I want to stress is that NZNO is its members. We are a member-run organisation. That means staff are essentially employed by members, through their membership fees. The strength of our organisation comes entirely from how many members there are, and how willing those members are to get involved in the work of the organisation.

Thousands of NZNO members are workplace delegates, thousands belong to Colleges and Sections. Thousands are active sharing information and having discussion about our issues on social media. Many inform themselves and their colleagues by reading our monthly publication Kai Tiaki Nursing NZ. We have a Board of Directors and a Rūnanga elected by NZNO members. You can be as involved as you want to be.

NZNO is as strong as its membership. 

So – the next bit of the answer is about the changes to employment law. They are wide ranging changes that have been touted by the Government as fair, reasonable and just “tweaking” things. If only!

These changes have the potential to drive wages down, increase poverty and tip the balance of power between workers and employers firmly into employers’ hands.

We have been fighting these changes for a long time. In 2013 over a thousand NZNO members wrote submissions against the Employment Relations Amendment Bill to the Transport and Industrial Relations Select Committee. Over 10,000 submissions were received by the committee. I can’t remember the exact numbers but something like 98% of the submissions received were against the changes being proposed.

The Government didn’t have the numbers to pass the legislation last year, but it was first on their agenda after the Election.

We have been working hard along with the Council of Trade Unions and other health unions over the last 18 months to mitigate some of the worst changes of this new employment legislation.

Our risk assessment when the changes were first signaled showed us that our vulnerabilities were most focused around three key areas of the Act:

The 30 day rule is repealed

This means that new employees who are not union members will not be covered by the collective agreement even if their job comes within the coverage clause. Until last week, new employees were covered by the collective agreement in their workplace for the first 30 days. This protection is now stripped away so a new employee can be they can be paid less than the collective agreement right from the start. Over time this will reduce everyone’s pay and conditions.

Employers opting out of MECA bargaining

Employers will be able to opt out of multi-employer collective agreement (MECA) bargaining. An employer who seeks to opt out of MECA bargaining must give written notice to all intended parties to the bargaining within ten days of receiving the initiation notice. This could dismantle MECAs that have brought steady improvements in pay and conditions for NZNO members over the years.

Removing the duty to conclude bargaining

It is no longer a breach of the duty of good faith to fail to enter into a collective agreement.

Employers are now able to apply to the Employment Relations Authority to declare bargaining is over. Once that happens:

  • employers will be able to put pressure on individuals to agree to lesser pay and conditions
  • industrial action will be unlawful for two months

Here are a few examples of what we have been doing and will continue to do to address these attacks on workers fundamental employment rights.

We have been implementing our strategy to address both the 30 days and the conclusion of bargaining issues with new clauses in our collective agreement bargaining over the last 12 months and this work is ongoing as collective agreements reach the end of their terms.

We have been including in bargaining clauses to address the issues around conclusion of bargaining.

We will be back around the computer making sure initiation of bargaining for collective agreements is undertaken at the soonest opportunity and that conversations happen with employers around this matter to ensure coverage of collective agreements remains as it is currently.

Our sector groups (DHB, Aged care, Primary health and Private hospitals and hospices) have been identifying strategies for each particular sector.

We have developed resources for organisers to discuss with delegate the process for new employees.

We have been able to initiate all our MECA bargaining prior to the Act coming into force and maintaining collaborative relationships with as many employers as possible to secure our future MECAs and national collective agreements.

We have been participating in conversations with the CTU around the Code of Good Faith.

We have been educating our delegates and members through the Bad Medicine Campaign, delegate training and other processes.

We are strong, growing and ready for the future. We need to maintain the upmost vigilance with our employers who we have collective agreements with – we have learnt from the 1990s that our aged care employers pose the greatest risk in this type of industrial relations environment. We have been here before and thrived.

Kia kaha. We will build power through our unity.

Talk to your NZNO delegate or organiser if you’d like to become more involved.

 


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Count us in!

2015 International womens dayNZNO’s representatives on the Council of Trade Unions Women’s Council discuss what International Women’s Day on 8 March means to them. Lyn Olsthoorn is the NZNO representative on the NZ Council of Trade Unions Women’s Council and co-chair as well. Georgia Choveaux is the StandUp representative on the Council. StandUp is the youth arm of the union movement.

Both Lyn and Georgia are passionate advocates for workers rights, women’s rights and hold a firm belief in the power of collective action to change lives, workplaces and society.

Lyn: Well hello Georgia, what a lovely way for us to have a conversation! For me, the way to honour the theme of this International Women’s Day, “Count us in!” is by telling our stories. I love listening to a story, thinking about it and passing it on. It feels like it is part of our nature, as women. We enjoy being together and talking about what is important in our lives comes easily.

Georgia: Hey there Lyn. Yeah, and I want more women’s stories, more often. My passion, enthusiasm and commitment to the advancement women is something that kuia , the ones who have gone before me and the one I stand gladly with now (that’s you Lyn!), have gifted me. Their stories of struggle and strife and solidarity and success call me to join them like no flyer or facebook invite ever could.

Lyn: And it’s not just those who currently stand with us that we should share stories with. Stories are an invitation to other women to come stand with us as we deliver meaningful change. Last weekend I had over an hour talking with a nurse friend about things we value in our community. The conversation developed and we ended up talking about how we had to work six day weeks, every week, when I started my career. She was astounded that we had not always enjoyed a standard 40 hour week! We yarned over that and a whole lot more. My friend is not the kind of person to read a flyer or a paragraph in the paper, but she loved chatting!

Georgia: Yup, when I hear stories like starting nursing with a six day working week, not having paid parental leave, or it being okay, by law, to have a different male and a female pay rates in a collective agreement, I hear that there are changes to be made; we can overcome, and we can win.

Lyn: By sharing our stories we also ensure women are a part of setting the agenda for change. Our stories talk of things that are important to us and our families.  We have never been afraid to fight for our whānau. And let’s not forget that when we fight for our rights, we’re also fighting for the rights of our families and our communities.

Georgia: More broadly too, our stories can not only set the agenda, but reclaim and refocus them. Pay Equity and the Kristine Bartlett case is not really about the legislative interpretation of section 3 (1) (b) of the Equal pay Act 1972. It’s about finally listening to the work stories of those women who do such valuable work and saying at long last – ‘I hear you, I hear about the work you do and the value it has’. It’s about ending the stories of poverty and deprivation of our caregivers on such low wages. And it’s about new stories yet to be written for the women and families who could soon have a life-changing fair wage.

Lyn: So true! Let’s make 2015 a happening year for women and my challenge is to us all. Talk about it, share your stories, and make sure the decision-makers who effect our working and family lives know to “Count us in!”.