Workplace News
Armband protest widens
Nurses don grey armbands and badges to highlight workplace violence as survey reveals the problem is commonplace but under-reported.
A rally of NSWNMA members at Blacktown Hospital has called for stronger measures to tackle workplace violence.
The rally coincided with the release of a NSWNMA survey, which shows violence towards nurses is widespread but under-reported.
For the second year running, Blacktown nurses, doctors, allied health staff and cleaners wore grey armbands to highlight violence in the workplace.
Nurses at other NSW hospitals joined the armband protest on 30 October, with many nurses also wearing “Stop Violence” badges.
The NSWNMA’s Blacktown branch started the grey armband protest last year after a nurse suffered knife wounds to her wrists and arms when attacked by a patient in a medical ward tea-room.
The branch successfully moved a resolution at a NSWNMA Committee of Delegates meeting calling for grey armbands be worn statewide to signify that health care staff will not tolerate workplace violence.
Blacktown branch president Christine Boxsell said staff chose to wear grey armbands “in the hope that we never have to wear black ones.
“The armbands get people talking about the issue,” she said. “The public ask what the armband is for and we tell them that violence towards health workers is an increasing problem.
“With October being national safe work month, it is a perfect opportunity to bring the issue to the public.”
New model of care for dementia needed
The branch has also responded to the growth of dementia-related violence by pushing for safer staffing, better training and improved security measures in 2019.
In just one three-week period there were eight assaults on staff in an eight-bed specialised aged care unit.
The unit adjoins the aged care ward and is accessed with a swipe card.
“On occasions we have had to put three or four violent people in the unit together and they tend to feed off one another,” Christine said.
She said a NSWNMA safety inspection of the facility helped the branch to identify a need for more nurses and security staff, improved staff training and greater involvement of allied health staff.
A branch meeting resolved to keep the connecting door unlocked and opened. At the request of management, negotiations immediately commenced.
Negotiations resulted in rostering of extra security staff and an additional nurse on every shift, to maintain at least three nurses on duty at all times.
And more staff received training in managing and de-escalating violent behaviour.
“We had nurses in that unit being sexually harassed and nurses and security guards being punched in the stomach,” Christine said.
“It was a terrible time, but it seems to have settled down a lot.
“The response from management has been pretty good, and we continue to have regular meetings with them to try to keep on top of the issues.”
The branch argues a new model of care is needed for dementia sufferers.
“We need a more holistic approach to care for people with dementia rather than putting them behind locked doors,” Christine said.
Safer Work Safer Care Resources
The NSWNMA has produced a number of resources for our anti-violence campaign to ensure every nurse and midwife in the state is safe at work. You can download them at: https://www.nswnma.asn.au/safer-work-safer-care/
Incident reporting still takes too long
Blacktown Hospital nurses are exper-iencing a new incident reporting system being trialled in Western Sydney hospitals.
However, the new system called IIMS Plus is just as time consuming as the old version, said Blacktown branch president Christine Boxsell.
“We know hospital staff under-report issues, not just at Blacktown, and that’s something we need to change,” she said.
“IIMS Plus was introduced because people were having trouble reporting incidents using the old one.
“The new version does give you the option of asking for email feedback, which is an improvement.
“However, it takes just as long to complete as the old one did.
“We need a system that’s simple to navigate and input data. Many staff often don’t report verbal abuse because they don’t think it’s worth the time, but ongoing verbal abuse from patients or family members of patients can take a toll.
“Nurses don’t often have time left at the end of the day, so they find themselves sitting in front of the computer in their own time having to log an incident. It just discourages people from reporting violence.”