Workplace News
More nurses are a priority
Theatre nurses at Newcastle Private Hospital want improved staffing arrangements and a reasonable pay increase as priorities in the next enterprise agreement, said NSWNMA branch steward and theatre RN Sheoni Corrigan.
“We don’t have the number of staff we need to run our theatres efficiently,” Sheoni said. “We need to find a way to staff our theatres better, or not do so many operations.
“We need more nurses on shift and ‘like-for-like’ replacement of nurses on leave, to reduce excessive workloads. We need our meal breaks enforced.”
Sheoni said theatre staff believe an increase in parental leave – currently 10 weeks – is also important.
“Our staff are pretty much on the same page and generally disappointed that Healthscope didn’t offer anything that reflected our hard work and dedication.
“The overwhelming feeling was that the company offer was inadequate, and I believe that feeling is shared by other areas of the hospital, which are all short-staffed.”