NSW Nurses and Midwives Association (NSWNMA) delegates and members from around the state will join Global Nurses United’s first international day of action on 17 September, as part of their ongoing Ratios put patient safety first campaign to get the O’Farrell Government to provide guaranteed, safe nurse staffing levels in all public hospitals, public hospital clinical units and community health services and equal ratios in all hospitals around the state.
As well as NSWNMA workplace delegates and members from Sydney hospitals, community health services and aged care facilities, workplace delegates from the following regional and rural facilities will participate in Sydney’s day of action events:
|
Branch |
Local Health District |
|---|---|
| Albury Mental Health Community Nurses | Albury-Wodonga Health |
| Albury Mental Health Nurses – Nolan House | Albury-Wodonga Health |
| Gosford Hospital | Central Coast LHD |
| Gosford Mental Health Unit | Central Coast LHD |
| Long Jetty Continuing Care | Central Coast LHD |
| Broken Hill Base Hospital | Far West LHD |
| Far West Senior Nurses and Midwives | Far West LHD |
| Armidale Community Health & Hospital | Hunter New England |
| Barraba District Hospital | Hunter New England |
| Belmont District Hospital | Hunter New England |
| Calvary Mater Newcastle | Hunter New England |
| Child and Family Health Nursing Greater Newcastle | Hunter New England |
| Dungog Community Hospital | Hunter New England |
| Forster/Tuncurry Community Health Centre | Hunter New England |
| John Hunter Hospital | Hunter New England |
| Kanangra Centre | Hunter New England |
| Lower Hunter Cluster Community Health Nurses | Hunter New England |
| Maitland Hospital | Hunter New England |
| Manning (The) | Hunter New England |
| Muswellbrook District Hospital | Hunter New England |
| Narrabri District Hospital | Hunter New England |
| Newcastle Community Mental Health Nurses | Hunter New England |
| Scott Memorial Hospital | Hunter New England |
| Tamworth Base Hospital | Hunter New England |
| Taree Community Health Nurses | Hunter New England |
| Werris Creek District Hospital | Hunter New England |
| Bulli District Hospital | Illawarra/Shoalhaven LHD |
| Illawarra Shoalhaven Mental Health Nurses | Illawarra/Shoalhaven LHD |
| Shellharbour Public Hospital | Illawarra/Shoalhaven LHD |
| Shoalhaven District Hospital | Illawarra/Shoalhaven LHD |
| Wollongong Hospital | Illawarra/Shoalhaven LHD |
| Coffs Harbour Community Nurses | Mid-North Coast LHD |
| Coffs Harbour Hospital | Mid-North Coast LHD |
| Coffs Harbour Mental Health Nurses | Mid-North Coast LHD |
| Grafton Base Hospital | Mid-North Coast LHD |
| Hastings Area Community Nurses | Mid-North Coast LHD |
| Macksville & District Hospital | Mid-North Coast LHD |
| Port Macquarie Base Hospital | Mid-North Coast LHD |
| Port Macquarie Private Hospital | Mid-North Coast LHD |
| Griffith Base Hospital | Murrumbidgee LHD |
| Gundagai District Hospital | Murrumbidgee LHD |
| Hay Health Service | Murrumbidgee LHD |
| Lake Cargelligo District Hospital | Murrumbidgee LHD |
| Lockhart & District Hospital | Murrumbidgee LHD |
| Mercy Health Service Albury | Murrumbidgee LHD |
| Wagga Wagga Base Hospital | Murrumbidgee LHD |
| West Wyalong Health Service | Murrumbidgee LHD |
| Yass District Hospital | Murrumbidgee LHD |
| Blue Mountains Community Nurses | Nepean Blue Mountains LHD |
| Blue Mountains District Hospital | Nepean Blue Mountains LHD |
| Lithgow District Hospital | Nepean Blue Mountains LHD |
| Nepean Hospital Penrith | Nepean Blue Mountains LHD |
| Portland District Hospital | Nepean Blue Mountains LHD |
| Ballina District Hospital | Northern NSW |
| Byron Bay District Hospital | Northern NSW |
| Byron Shire Community Nurses | Northern NSW |
| Lismore Base Hospital | Northern NSW |
| Lismore Community Health | Northern NSW |
| Murwillumbah District Hospital | Northern NSW |
| Tweed Heads Community Nurses | Northern NSW |
| Tweed Hospital (The) | Northern NSW |
| Tweed Valley Community Nurses | Northern NSW |
| Urbenville Multi Purpose Service | Northern NSW |
| Garrawarra Centre For Aged Care | South Eastern Sydney LHD |
| Liverpool Hospital | South Western Sydney LHD |
| Macarthur | South Western Sydney LHD |
| Macarthur Mental Health | South Western Sydney LHD |
| Wingecarribee Health Service | South Western Sydney LHD |
| Batemans Bay Hospital | Southern NSW LHD |
| Bega District Hospital | Southern NSW LHD |
| Bombala District Hospital | Southern NSW LHD |
| Braidwood District Hospital | Southern NSW LHD |
| Cooma Health Service | Southern NSW LHD |
| Delegate Multi Purpose Service | Southern NSW LHD |
| Moruya District Hospital | Southern NSW LHD |
| Queanbeyan District Hospital | Southern NSW LHD |
| Bathurst Nursing Home | Western NSW LHD |
| Canowindra Memorial Hospital | Western NSW LHD |
| Coonamble District Hospital | Western NSW LHD |
| Cowra District Hospital | Western NSW LHD |
| Dubbo Base Hospital | Western NSW LHD |
| Dunedoo Hospital | Western NSW LHD |
| Forbes District Hospital | Western NSW LHD |
| Gilgandra District Hospital | Western NSW LHD |
| Gulargambone Hospital | Western NSW LHD |
| Justice Health Bathurst | Western NSW LHD |
| Lightning Ridge Multi Purpose Service | Western NSW LHD |
| Mid Western Mental Health | Western NSW LHD |
| Orange Community Health Nurses | Western NSW LHD |
| Parkes District Hospital | Western NSW LHD |
| Wellington District Hospital | Western NSW LHD |
| Justice Health Court Liaison | Western Sydney LHD |
| Marsden Centre | Western Sydney LHD |
| Rydalmere Centre | Western Sydney LHD |
| Western Sydney Community Nurses | Western Sydney LHD |
| Westmead and Parramatta Hospitals | Western Sydney LHD |
In June this year the NSWNMA helped form an international nursing organisation – Global Nurses United – strongly committed to overcoming injustice and resisting and reversing the attacks on affordable public services, including hospital and other health services, and the growing attacks on workers’ rights here in Australia and around the world.
So far peak nursing and midwifery unions from 14 countries, from Europe, Africa, the Americas and Australasia, have signed the San Francisco declaration as part of their membership of Global Nurses United.
- Argentina
- Australia
- Brazil
- Canada
- Costa Rica
- Dominican Republic
- Guatemala
- Honduras
- Ireland
- Israel
- Philippines
- South Africa
- South Korea
- United States
And growing
They have all committed to the San Francisco Declaration:
We, the leaders of international nurse and healthcare unions affirm our intention to work collectively together to protect our professions, our patients, our communities, our health, and our planet.
To achieve these goals we declare the formation of Global Nurses United dedicated to international solidarity, support, and assistance dedicated around the following principles:
We oppose the harmful effects on our nations, our people, and our communities of globalization, neo-liberal policies, austerity, poverty, income inequality and mal distribution of wealth and resources, attacks on public workers, and climate change.
We will resist the privatization of our public health systems and cuts in health care services.
We will assist the efforts of nurses in all of our countries to secure safe care for all patients with safe nurse-to-patient staffing ratios.
We pledge our commitment to universal, health care as a fundamental, human right for all.
NSWNMA assistant secretary, Judith Kiejda, said there is no doubt working people, including nurses and midwives, need the global capacity to respond to the excesses of global capital and its bullying of workers and governments.
“To now have an international nursing organisation with this strong social justice and protection of public services focus has been an objective of the NSWNMA for many years. It is vital that working people, including nurses and midwives, have global capacity not just state and national capacity here in Australia.
“You only have to look at last weekend’s tweet attack on public sector workers in Australia by Rupert Murdoch from the disgraced News Corporation media empire to see what the agenda of conservative governments, being supported by big business and the likes of Murdoch’s media empire, is.
Rupert Murdoch has attacked Australia’s public servants while lauding the Coalition victory in Saturday’s Federal election.
The US-based media mogul took to social media site Twitter on Saturday evening to accuse public sector workers, along with “phony welfare scroungers,” of sucking the life out of Australia’s economy.
He predicted that “other nations” would follow Australia into more conservative politics.
“Aust election public sick of public sector workers and phony welfare scroungers sucking life out of economy,” Mr Murdoch, a US citizen, wrote.
“Others nations to follow in time.”
Mr Murdoch, whose Australian newspaper empire campaigned for a Coalition win, returned to Twitter in the early hours of Sunday morning to accuse public sector workers of taking many more sick days than their private sector counterparts.
“Small item: Apart from higher pay, public workers in Australia take many more sick days than those in hard working private sector!” he tweeted. (Canberra Times, 8 Sept 2013)
“One of the biggest groups of public sector workers in Australia is nurses and midwives, who keep our free public hospital and community health services going.
“Nursing and midwifery are also highly mobile professions, with many nurses and midwives spending many years in foreign countries learning new skills, getting more experience and making an important contribution to the health and welfare of people in those countries. This important international work by nurses and midwives should be free from exploitation by companies, profiteers and unscrupulous governments, which put profits or surpluses before good quality, safe patient care.
“For example, here in Australia the NSWNMA now has the support of Global Nurses United as it continues campaigning to have safer nurse-to-patient ratios extended throughout NSW public hospitals and community health services. We also have the support of, and receive assistance from, Global Nurses United for our campaign against the State Government’s and federal Coalition’s policy of privatising public hospitals.
“Global Nurses United’s member unions have vowed to work collectively to guarantee the highest standards of universal healthcare as a human right for all, to secure safe patient care, especially with safe nurse-to-patient ratios, and safe health care workplaces.
“Global Nurses United has only just started, but it is a big, important and positive step for nurses and midwives here in NSW, the rest of Australia and around the world, as we step up our resistance to those vested interests that want to put profits before patient care and those governments that support them,” Ms Kiejda said.
