pommie bastard

If I was you I would jack it in and get into the building trade you must have the muscles for it after all the lifting you have to do.
What a nice change ladies with bulders bums and whistling at guys , now that would be worth seeing.


HEALTH Minister Bob Kucera's initiative, Nurse West, a State public-sector nurse pool, is just another example of a no-answer Government to our ailing public health system in WA.

The Gallop Government's sole purpose with Nurse West is to keep the choice of employment and remuneration limited for the nurses of this State, in many ways forcing them to work for lower pay for the Government.

Nurses are members of our essential services - police, teaching, ambulance and fire fighting - yet they are the lowest paid with the most important and difficult of occupations.

The Gallop Government is again showing nurses that it lacks commitment to and trust of the nursing profession of this State and that it is interested only in its immediate term of office and not the future health of all West Australians.

ANDREW BRAGG, Maylands.

renth

Isn't Nurse West so the hospitals don't have to pay inflated prices to agencies for nurses?

Would be a good idea in the UK.

pommie bastard

Yes could be but all hospitals already have their own bank nurses tied to them both here and the UK, most nurses prefer to go private more cash.
It would be a far better idea to pay a living wage and better conditions.

lucinda75

yeah, nurse salaries are terrible if you are junior, ie Im 2 years out from uni and only earn 35k pa, but there is flexibility in nursing that you cant get from other jobs.

I am working a lot of nights at the moment to fit around the Bubs, and with enhancements my salary has gone from 900 bucks a fortnight, to 1300 a fortnight, and I work in the public system.

My sister is a lawyer ( engaged to a dentist) and she does not have the freedom to travel the world like I could.....I think sometimes earning mega bucks is not everything...sure I would like to earn more...but here in Oz the grading system is reflected in how long you have been qualified....so at 8 years post qual + I would earn 45 k pa...basic, which is not to be sniffed at?

I know most nurses would want to earn more money, but the fact is..we do the job because we are a certain type of person...and helping your fellow man is sometimes all the karma you need.!!

pommie bastard

My wife was a grade F in the UK in less time than it took her here to obtain a top grade 1 its a bad system and limited on career .
Night shift only gives 17% extra in the week on the whole pay is worse than the UK, most nurses I know want the cash the thanks are great but to most its a job which is getting harder to do thanks to cut backs and over paid management.

crocoonimper

Lucinda
Nice to see some nurses on here. Im currently working p/t in the uk as a cardiac rehab nurse in primary care - have 6 years experience in ccu - do you know if there is an equivalent service in Oz?

Roger

PB is correct on this one. Whilst praise (not too common) and reward are all very well it's the money that takes us to work in the first place. I've been a nurse for over twenty years and know that fellow senior nurses (without wealthy husbands) love the job but aren't happy with the salary.

The years of service sytem in Oz/NZ (with flat career structures) are okay for the average nurse but for the UK grading system are better for the dynamic, career minded individual. A flat career structure doesn't encourage staff to develop (why bother for the same money). From talking to Ozzie A&E nurses and visiting NZ Departments they are far behind UK in developing nursing and the employment conditions are worse.

However I'm happy in dropping a few grades to buy a house outright, be in the sun, and be comfortable about where I live. It's a Work/Lifestyle balance.

Ginny

Hi there PB,

So what you're telling my is that it's much the same in Oz as it is here in the UK. At least it won't be too much of a shock to the system being treated the same (crap!).

I agree that whilst I enjoy my job as a neonatal nurse I do get so frustrated at being paid such a low wage.

After my basic training and then all the post reg qualifications I can fit under my rather expanding belt I really am not all that better of. And to top it all I can't even rely on a rich husband to subsidise cause he's a nurse as well!! (Spelling a bit wonkey!)
Good job we ain't coming to Oz for the Money!

Ginny

pommie bastard

Yes its not better if not worse you will have to pay for any work rated courses could be up to $4000 my wife went on a 5 day course cost $900 she paid even though work related.
You will get less here and have less room to farther your career they do not give free training its upto you go to Uni and pay full course fees in order to get on , if that requires unpaid time off hard luck.
The number of back injuires here is far above the UK lifting hoists are few and far between , management out number Nursing staff .
Shifts same crap as the Uk late/early , only 2 weeks sick money and less holiday pay to.
I have no idea why any nurse would come here but ifs its the beach life you will see very little of it , as for wages you have no idea what low pay is yet.
Housing can be cheaper but you get what you pay for and location costs same as the UK.

pommie bastard

I love pollies this reads like look we spent loads of dosh on agences some of which gave you lackies far too much money , so we will regulate this over paying by having all the market , its take what we give or else .
Will they sort out the Doctors who use the public hospitals for private work and have a very good closed shop that sees them alright thank you very much I think not .




THE State Government's decision to create a central nursing pool has been made in the best interests of patients and our permanent nursing workforce (Nurse West is no answer, 25/3).

Last year, taxpayers spent $29 million on agency nursing staff. If nothing is done to address agency use, that bill is expected to blow out to more than $50 million.

The creation of Nurse West will mean all casual and temporary staff will go through a single entry point into the public health system, rather than through individual agencies. It will retain the flexibility that attracts nurses to agency work in the first place.


Nurse West will finally allow us to tackle the exorbitant fees being paid to the private nursing agencies and channel that money back into building our permanent nursing workforce. It will also ensure that quality standards of nursing care are maintained while rebuilding a sense of community in our hospitals.

BOB KUCERA, Minister for Health.

lucinda75

You have to balance up the whole quality of life thing, with this argument.
Nursing is indeed a craply paid profession..but its not that we didnt know that is it..?
All Im saying, is that it IS frustrating to some whom want the same career structure and opportunities that are available in the UK, but the fact is, its another country, and everything is different. I didnt appreciate how 'the job' would be different (I work in OR) and how practice here is not the same...from my friends on the ward you are indeed more autonomous and left to your own devices than in the uk.

And yes..those free courses that we know and love, dont seem to exist here...and no decent nursing journal every week either!!( although NT is available....3 months old at $5..)

and you have to pay for the ambulance service!!

but think of why you are here...the beaches..the space!! no mortagage....

pommie bastard

You have no mortgage I take it or owe any money and beaches are not the answer to all that makes up a life , space equals empty and whats in a void nothing.
We spend a lot of time at work and advancement counts in peoples outlook as does having work opportunities that lead to a better paid appointment .
You did not mention the wonderful sick pay here in this other country which values you not enough to train you for free .

lucinda75

dont ever come a wandering in to my public hospital PB......

should you ever need an operation...........

Im sure the junior doctors would love to practice: cadavers ARE full of shit, after all.

pommie bastard

The beaches also tend to get drift wood and all kinds of nasty rubbish washed up on them too.
My wife having worked in a Public hospital here we decided to have private health cover better class of nurse and care.
Does truth hurt or is it better to make excusses for your new country , one thing I do admire here the nurses unions are far more militant and do strike in order to make a point unlike the Royal Collage of Nurses who sold out to the Tories for little reward.

pommie bastard

Not just me as this nice letter gives a nurses view.


AS AN ex-nurse it doesn't surprise me that some of today's youth rebel against society (the flag-burning incident) or live as if there was no tomorrow by their abuse of alcohol and drugs.

Part of the reason could be that they see little of substance to look forward to. Even access to the noble career of nursing is being made too difficult for some of the young who would make great nurses.

The latest move by the Gallop Government to encourage older, experienced nurses back into the health system has a darker side. It is a cheaper and easier option for the Government than training hundreds of raw recruits with no experience. Yet doesn't nursing also require the energy, idealism and enthusiasm of youth?

In my opinion, far more places should be made available for the young to train as nurses or to enter other worthwhile careers.

PATRICIA HALLIGAN, Mandurah.