cont'd .

According to Wikipedia - the Westmead Hospital
was established and opened by Neville Wran
in November 1978. Apparently Askin wanted to
establish it but did not have the funds, then Whitlam
offered the funds - but by then Wran was the Premier
and he went ahead and did it.

Anyway as far as nurses are concerned - the following
link may be of interest:

http://newmatilda.com/2014/04/22/nifty-and-nurses

Nursing is NOT a "profession", unless you want to use the loose dictionary definition of deriving an income from gainful employment. In which case, a garbo is also a professional. But if you mean "professional" in the same terms as doctors, lawyers, engineers and even real estate agents: that they subscribe to an independent autonomous governing body (we don't), and that charge fees rather than work for wages (we don't), and a third criteria that eludes my memory (which I know we don't as well), then no, nursing falls miserably short of the criteria. That's not to say we can't have a professional attitude, but strictly speaking, we aren't a profession. Other nurses hate me for pointing that out, but hey! It's a good idea to understand a term before one uses it.

If Suse was qualified and worked in disabilities and/or mental health under the old "Fifth Schedule" system, I'd be interested to hear her thoughts. If not, then it's moot, since she couldn't draw a meaningful comparison.

Jenny Haines?!?!? Ha!! She sold nurses out and I wouldn't spit on her grave. I was a union rep at the time of the transition, and together with members of the other union, put together a proposal to improve the standard of training, staffing and short falls created by gaps in the new system. The members of the other union (H & RNA) of course, couldn't attend the meeting, since Haines was president of the NSW Nurses Association, but here's the result of the meeting that a couple others and I had with her...

After a 2 hour meeting, being able to address her every concern favorably, her parting words were, "I can't accept your proposal due to the fact THAT YOU ARE PREPARED TO NEGOTIATE WITH THE GOVERNMENT". She then walked off.

We were flabbergasted! That piece of excrement sold us all down the river in an attempt to gain favor with the government in the hope for a political appointment, since she had aspirations to politics.

So PLEASE, don't use anything she says as your argument, since she NEVER represented nurses, but only her own self-serving aspirations.

Westmead hospital...Whitlam made the commitment, Askin eventually accepted that federal funding, and construction commenced. Wran opened it. You should read your own links more thoroughly.

Dear DD,

Firstly I do not agree with your statement
that nursing is not a profession.
A profession - is a type of job that requires
special education, training, or skill.
And most professions in the medical field require
years of training. Nursing requires special
knowledge and long and intensive training. It
certainly qualifies as a profession. Comparing
nursing to garbage collectors is just plain
silly and can't be taken seriously.

Did you look up Wikipedia under Westmead Hospital.
That I did read quite thoroughly.

As for your take on the author of the New Matilda
article. That's your personal experience and I
don't doubt it. However, it's still interesting to
read what she had to say about Neville Wran and
nurses.

We're all entitled to our opinions.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westmead_Hospital Look under "History" and it reiterates what I said.

Apparently you think 1-10 hours of lectures qualifies as "special training and skill" to call yourself a professional mental health nurse. I don't. I call it an insult to the term profession and to psychiatry.

I listed 2 of the 3 criteria by which an occupation may call itself a profession, none of which nursing meets. So loose dictionary definitions may be good enough for you, but try putting that one past a doctor, lawyer or engineer, and then stand back for the raucous laughter. But I suggest that you learn what a "profession" IS, before you start espousing terminology that you have no understanding of, as you're using a definition that is no different to calling a garbo professional. Your not liking the analogy is meaningless in the context of you not understanding the terminology. I know you think you do, but while you're excluding the 3 criteria of a "profession", you don't. But don't worry, most of my colleagues are illiterate too, so don't beat yourself up about it, but please do some research before attempting to use the word "profession"...at least with me.