Unions
“Taking this support away is unjust and simply just cruel”
Emergency nurse and NSW Nurses and Midwives’ Association member Josh spoke out against the NSW government’s proposed repeal of legislation which will make it more difficult for nurses and midwives to access workers compensation if they are diagnosed with COVID-19.
Good afternoon everyone. My name’s Josh. I’m a registered nurse working in metro hospital in the emergency department. I’ve been doing this for the past five years.
Like all other nurses and midwives across the state, whether here in Sydney or a regional town, we’ve all been working exceptionally hard to ensure we provide our patients the best possible healthcare we can possibly do.
Through our work, we are exposed to high-risk situations every shift. And this pandemic is an ongoing issue, as we still have unvaccinated people in our communities.
While working in emergency, I myself have been identified as a close contact twice. I was isolating in hotel quarantine for a total of four week, as my sister is an asthmatic and mum has had collapsed lungs. On top of this, I was recently diagnosed with COVID-19 requiring me to isolate again for a further two weeks; away from my family and away from my friends, not only dealing with the physical side effects of COVID-19, but also the psychological impacts of this disease.
In May last year, special legislation passed through both houses, with the intent of offering workers compensation to nurses and midwives who needed it, if we became infected with COVID-19.
This is something I am currently utilising with strong support from union, my employer, my GP Dr Jamal Rifi who has also done a great deal already for South West Sydney. Ongoing support I need for myself, such as physiotherapy and psychological support so I can return to work.
The emergency department and specialised wards never stop. Nursing and midwifery is a 24/7 service. With this comes nurses who are full-time, part-time and casual.
If the NSW government withdraws these supports it will leave all health staff, especially casual nurses and midwives, financially burdened – as they would have to prove they contracted the deadly disease from work and on top of that, contest workers compensation claims. This in turn will lead to casual nurses and midwives to not risk working as they would be financially, physically and physiologically impacted by COVID-19 and with no supports. This will in turn lead to no patient ratios, with more patients to less nurses, putting even more strain on an already burnt out workforce.
As we all know this pandemic has taken a toll on everyone. But all frontline staff have done an exceptionally good job in attempting to best care and protect the people of NSW. Taking this support away from one of the most essential services is unjust and simply just cruel.
We are asking all politicians, in the lower and upper house, to do the right thing and block the government’s shameful repeal.
Josh provided this statement at a press conference on the workers compensation legislation on 16 November 2021. You can check the speech with his delivery here.