Dispondency means a state of being despondent; depression of spirits from loss of courage or hope; dejection. Today I certainly feel that and then some. I have been feeling 'down' from the minute I learnt my new wage rate at a differing aged care facility was to be over 5 dollars less. What is a good Registered Nurse to do. On reading a posting from 2005 by Kim Durance she stated "...it could be argued that aged care nursing remains in essence the purest form of nursing given that “nursing” is all that is done: that is, the only real focus of nursing activity in an aged care setting is the person in the bed or lounge chair and not the machines that go “ping!” I am quoting this as after careful examination of my nursing future, I do not want the technology yet I have a lot of skills; other skills that I feel are more valuable. They are the 'people skills', 'communication skills', ability to empathise and willingness to crouch at the foot of a senior citizen and say 'I respect you and I want to help you today'. I want to be employed in aged care where I am valued for those skills as right now and with the 2005 award, 22 dollars an hour does not cut it for this fine employable respect filled individual of our older generation.

Just over a week ago, I decided I'd contributed enough posts to OLO and would retire gracefully from the scene, but your post caused me to temporarily rethink my position.

I too am a nurse (Div 2, Vic) and work in geriatric psych. I receive far less than $22 an hour and am now faced with a new EBA that wants to remove some holidays, penalty rates and other rights that were fought for by disgruntled nurses like yourself in time passed since the Victorian nurses strike over a decade ago. The pay offer on the table is a 3% increase over three years, which will equate to a wage far less than what nurses in other States receive already.

Do you think we're disgruntled? You bet we are! The situation is made worse in my case as I live alone and work only half time hours. Some weeks, my income is little more than the invalid pension, but it's not the money that worries me, even though I don't have the wages of a partner to fall back on should I decide to leave nursing, it's the fact that nurses in general are under-rewarded for the tireless effort they put into their profession. Not only are they under-rewarded in financial terms in a country presently experiencing great prosperity, but they're undervalued for the contribution and sacrifice they make to a system where upper management often treats them little better than hired help. At the same time we have a Government, both State and Federal that adds a new pile of paperwork to the heap every other week, paper work that keeps us in the office and away from our areas of need. Oh, did I mention the ongoing education we have to undertake in order to comply with our registration? Often this is done gratis by the nurses concerned.

For just a few years, nursing seemed close to being recognised as the great profession it is, but of late, that notion has slipped away as once again, we've become part of the penny pinching ways of a flawed system which is the 'burden gift' of both the Government and private system. And now, to add insult to injury, some private facilities are sacking trained nurses and replacing them with untrained staff who are required to manage the medication needs of aged and frail residents.

If our new EBA refuses to recognise nurses for the professional people they really are, then it's a given that Vic nurses will leave the profession in droves, never to return. The next few years may not be a good time to get sick or enter an aged care facility in Victoria. There may not be enough trained nurses in those facilities to make that vital difference.

Does nothing ever change? I'm now 75yrs and lived with and loved you great people"nurses". Have I lost it? $22 an hour sounds alright to me.
I also know a few people I also respect, on less!.
I am listening?
fluff

The following occupations are listed on the Migration Occupations in Demand List:

Registered Mental Health Nurse 2325-11
Registered Midwife 2324-11
Registered Nurse 2323-11

Along with many other health workers, the Australian Government doesn't have to pay you decent rates when they can get plentiful, cheap labour from overseas. I personally know two nurses from Iran (both Muslims by-the-by. both planning to settle long-term as permanent residents) who are currently working on these visas. I know one other nurse, an Australian, on extended maternity leave.
I know the demands of the work are unbelievably high, but the work is not voluntary, and some consider the pay rate fair. However, if there is a petition circulating to pay nurses higher wages, I will happily sign it. Increased tax to Australian taxpayers is a much harder sell....

Hello fluff if you're there again. 22 dollars does seem a lot for some but when I realise how my untrained for now, 23yo daughter flipping burgers is making only a few dollars less an hour when I have a Nursing Degree and many years of different nursing positions, it grieves me. My dispondency is thick this week. Is it so wrong to want to be paid for our worth as nurses. I do nursing agency work and after a year wish to 'dig my heels into one establishment again' and then I can 'make more of a difference'. With Agency I moved around many different aged care facilities; what an education! There are a lot of commonalities across the board of which high workloads and poor morale stands out most, and management with budget restraints trying to ever apologise for cutting back on staff. In agency I am the only RN on my shift and I can be superviser to over 80 older citizens, plus the staff. I trouble shoot. I send the acutely sick to hospital. I ring the after hours doctor. I have to make life and death decisions. Isn't that worth something to the public who continue to feel exasberated on nurses' behalf because in aged care nurses are paid a lot less than those in the hospitals yet aged care nurses have a responsibility of dozens and dozens of lives. Aged Care Nurses are worth more.