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.

Hello Cakers, I have greater understanding of your position, thanks.
I've read of workloads you speak of, and its a scandal that any nurse should be asked to accept such a workload.
Your employment contract should, must, be addressed, if only for the sake of patients!
I'm retired, a pensioner and healthy, and in no position really to do much but to accept that costs of work and living in a city should require such money. Being remote and living simply has its downside, I lack personal experience of up to date employment conditions and pay.
Having asked around I've learned I have privilege, I was unaware of, my car is fixed by myself and friends. I have learned that I should be paying $50 an hour for such service if I were to go to a service station, and this in the bush!
Forgive my ignorance please. I recognise now that nothing has changed
good people are still being abused, now probably by private enterprise at that.
An aid, being Maori, I know was in Aussie and working in aged care must also have been ripped off? She has since returned to NZ, was one of the loving kind, loved the old people she assisted to the point of inviting some of them to her home socially where I met them. They were more like fans than patients.
Don't do as I know others have and breakdown please, even if needs be you must find less stressful an occupation.
my best wishes and thoughts are with you.
fluff

Fluff 4. Thanks for the little insight into your life. You sound a lot like myself in that you're a self sufficient person.

I believe that what Cakers is saying is related more to lack of recognition of nurses and what they have to endure under certain circumstances, than the hourly pay rate. Nurses continue to work in that field because they're dedicated and caring people, although we might see a change in coming years since Centerlink has lately been pushing unwilling people into En/Div 2 nursing,Personal Care Attendants and Assistants in Nursing courses that they only do because "they have to do something." We've recently had students who only did the course because of Centerlink pressure and who definately were not interested. Hopefully, they won't be tempted to work in the field.

No, pay rates is a secondary aspect, but you're right when you mention a mechanic making $45 an hour. I recently paid a plummer $225 for a simple job that took just 30 mins and while it's fair to say he had to travel 30 mins and used his own equipment, it's also no wonder he drove a brand new ute.

Wages today are skewed and not in favor of nurses, but the whole point is that wages are simply another weight added to the non-recognition of a worthy profession .

Cakers, all I can say is hang in there. It took awhile, but eventually I found my little nitch in Geriatric Psych following a period of casual work. I love my job and the people I work with, both residents and colleagues. If you look around, I'm sure that in good time you'll settle somewhere too.

By the sounds of things, you're working in the private field. Do you have the chance to move over to the public system?

And remember, if all else fails, although nurses are often under-valued by the very system that employs them, such is not the case in the outside world. If you have a good and reliable work history, someone will snap you up soon enough, especially if you work in a capital city.

Also, if all else fails, you can always do as I did. Buy a bush block, build a modest cabin and downsize, downsize, downsize! You won't need the money then and life will once again seem sweet.
Cheers,
Aime.

fluff4

I thank you for your understanding and comments. I do work in private rather than the public system. I will only work where the
union aids the workers. I have had to educate myself big time this
week. I am not feeling as despondent today. Knowledge is power :)
I grew up in NZ (you mention the Maori worker) I too am one of those types more likely to take residents home as I do a car full each Christmas. Is a blessing for me and I have one friend nearly 92 from my old place of work over a year ago. I go in to visit and if this dear lady isn't up to going out, we just sit and hold hands. Is a precious relationship.
Aime...
It is so truly wrong for sure to train people into aged caring (Cen'link), if it isn't chosen. The workers who truly love the older folkers stand out a mile while there will always be workers doing no more than necessary, rushing and saying little who for them is just a 'job'. But this work is a privilege. I will not be leave nursing as it is 'me'; I am a service minded people person. I have something to offer and that I will; I begin orientation at a new site next Monday! It would appear I bowled over the manager with enthusiam ... Big Smile. This nurse will make a difference.

I can understand you nurses feeling aggrieved when comparing your wages with others. The good news though is that you are doing something far more worthwhile than most of us. You are the unsung heroes of our nation.

Oh Runner, you're embarrassing me :-) I simply love my job and the people I work with, but thanks for the comments. Wish you were running my organisation. Moral is pretty low thanks to the cut-throat attitude of upper management at present.

And good on ya Cakers. Looks like your little 'nitch' is also in sight. People with a caring nature like yourself will always eventually find what you're looking for. All the best with the new position.

A lovely thread!

I too pay tribute to the valuable work you all do. I wish you well and hope dearly that your value is realised in dollars and cents.

All the best!!

Cakers I read your post on another thread!!
Whilst I hope the advice you received is valid, please be careful!. Equity courts and tax spies are not what you need. I was once an employer who tested the water, and lost.
fluff4

Lo! a site all in this thread may be interested to read.
http://cpd.org.au/node/4438
The language may perhaps be academic but read carefully is important!!
There is a forum and all could/should perhaps contribute.
fluff4

Aime and Fluff4

My new 'niche' is nigh and I thank you, Aime, for your well wishes and indeed anyone here with words of encouragement as it has helped. I did an aged care RN agency shift last night and even though I ran out of time to get things done before 'home time', I still approached each and every older person with a big smile and wishes for a nice day. There you go, I feel valued by the residents (their cheery responses), and I know when I leave each room I have left just a little bit of my caring self and 'made a difference'. I love my work and yes, in the end the dollar per hour value isn't the be all and end all since job satisfaction and love of the job ought to come first. Hey....Nurses Are Worth Listening Too. I've that somewhere before.

As a “CONSTITUTIONALIST” I look at matters differently then most do.
My latest book published on 27-5-2007 about the deceptive judgment of the High Court of Australia of 14 November 2006 about WorkChoices sets out what was wrong with that judgment. We were all conned.
See my blog at http://au.360.yahoo.com/profile-ijpxwMQ4dbXm0BMADq1lv8AYHknTV_QH and see also website; http://schorel-hlavka.com.

While in 1946 the Federal Government obtained the constitutional right to deal with hospital benefits, medical services, etc, it has however ongoing failed to ensure that there is sufficient funding for this. The States lost their powers about this in 1946! As such, blaming the States is a useless exercise.
While the States can still dictate workers conditions (see my blog) the appropriate funding is a Commonwealth responsibility.
My wife (74) made clear she would never want to end up in a nursing home, where her late husband died many years ago, because of the lack of proper care. After I filed formal complaints (having been the attorney for my wife’s late husband) the nursing home was closed down. There was simply insufficient staff to appropriately care for the people in care in that nursing home. In my view, nothing to do with wages but rather to do with nursing homes being in private hands geared to the maximum to make profits and by this both the nurses and the elderly are suffering as result.
I do not accept it appropriate to expect a nurse to having to work all kinds of night times and weekends without appropriate financial reward. And, my book set out why the 14 November 2006 judgment is NULL AND VOID.
You cannot expect that nurses who are underpaid can give the best to the people in care, as it will affect their ability in performance, regardless if the nurses desire to provide the best care possible.
People must look past the deceptive conduct of the Federal Government to blame the States and hold the Federal Government accountable for its failure to provide appropriate funding so nurses can be paid appropriate remunerations!