A Cranbourne East nurse is fighting for better nurse to patient ratios. 74988
By Emma Sun
A LOCAL nurse has expressed her frustration and disappointment at the negative portrayal of the nurses who are currently taking part in the industrial action.
The Cranbourne East nurse, who asked not to be identified, said the action is more than just a pay dispute and it is the patients that will suffer if fight for better nurse to patient ratios is lost.
She said nurses are having finding it hard to deal with an increasing number of patients and no extra staff to look after them.
“I work in the emergency department and over the last year or so, the patients have increased by about 5000.
“They don’t put on extra staff to deal with the extra patients so a lot of the patients don’t get the care that they need.”
She said the nurses are forced to divide their time unevenly between patients who deserve the same amount of care.
“It happens every day. Each patient must have their vital signs checked every hour.
“When you have seven people to look after, that allocates you about eight minutes per patient but in that time you have to do their hygiene, medication, take them to X-ray and then you have to move on to the next patient.
“If you’ve had a new admission, it can take up to half an hour and it could be two to three hours before you get back to your once stable patient.
“You find that they sometimes have fallen out of bed, their blood pressure has dropped, they could be vomiting or bleeding or even wet the bed because they haven’t gone to the toilet.”
She said the situation has taken its toll on all the nurses, who are finding it hard to cope with the added pressure.
“It’s very distressing – it was only a couple of years ago that we weren’t as busy as we are now, when we had time to take our breaks.
“Now you could start a shift and be run off your feet the whole time, you get to the end of the day and you haven’t eaten anything, you haven’t had a chance to go to the bathroom and you’d get home mentally and physically exhausted.”
Nurses and midwives are protesting against their conditions by wearing shirts demanding respect.
The limited action comes after nurses were banned from closing beds earlier in their three month industrial action in which they are demanding 18.5 per cent pay rise over four years and improved patient to nurse ratios.
The State Government is offering a 2.5 per cent pay rise per year.
She asked the public to back the nurses in their action.
“We need the public support behind us because we’re there to look after them and without nurses, the public health service won’t run.
“We’re doing it for the patients to make their care better.”
Minister for Health David Davis said the Government has put patient care, health and safety first.
“Health services are committed to nurse/patient ratios but want some flexibility to better match nurses to local needs,” he said.
“The Government wishes to ensure that these arrangements also deliver to nurses better wages and conditions.”
