The murder of remote area nurse, Gayle Woodford, has triggered an outcry of public concern. More than 100,000 people have signed a petition urging federal Health Minister Sussan Ley to make it mandatory for all remote area nurses to work in pairs.
If this petition is successful there will be at least one positive outcome from this terrible tragedy. But if the past is anything to go by, people will soon forget about it — and the disturbing deficiencies in health care delivery to remote communities will continue to be swept under the carpet.
While actual murder is thankfully rare, for decades nurses and other health professionals working in remote communities have voiced their concerns about the inadequate and unsafe nursing conditions out in the bush.
Twenty years ago, remote area nurses and Aboriginal health workers from the Northern Territory went on strike claiming they were unable to provide a safe standard of care. After their protests fell on deaf ears, the Council of Remote Area Nurses of Australia wrote a submission to the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission detailing numerous cases where inadequate staffing had endangered the safety and lives of patients and staff.
Nurses often have to work alone for several weeks at a time. On one occasion a nurse had to fend off drunk men armed with spears.
Several remote area nurses have been raped. One nurse sued the hospital she worked at for more than $2 million, claiming that her employer failed to evacuate her, despite being warned about the danger she faced.
A similar incident occurred in 2006 and eventually led to an inquiry by the Queensland Crime and Misconduct Commission, which found the Queensland health department had failed to act on a report warning of safety concerns at nurses‘ quarters on Thursday Island.
In her 2005 book, Sounding the Alarm: Remote Area Nurses and Aboriginals at Risk, Jennifer Cramer warns of the potential consequences of ignoring nurses concerns.
For the sake of both the nurses and the patients they care for, the government cannot continue to remain deaf to the sound of the alarm.
Home > Commentary > Opinion > If an alarm goes off and no one hears it, did it make a sound?
If an alarm goes off and no one hears it, did it make a sound?
If this petition is successful there will be at least one positive outcome from this terrible tragedy. But if the past is anything to go by, people will soon forget about it — and the disturbing deficiencies in health care delivery to remote communities will continue to be swept under the carpet.
While actual murder is thankfully rare, for decades nurses and other health professionals working in remote communities have voiced their concerns about the inadequate and unsafe nursing conditions out in the bush.
Twenty years ago, remote area nurses and Aboriginal health workers from the Northern Territory went on strike claiming they were unable to provide a safe standard of care. After their protests fell on deaf ears, the Council of Remote Area Nurses of Australia wrote a submission to the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission detailing numerous cases where inadequate staffing had endangered the safety and lives of patients and staff.
Nurses often have to work alone for several weeks at a time. On one occasion a nurse had to fend off drunk men armed with spears.
Several remote area nurses have been raped. One nurse sued the hospital she worked at for more than $2 million, claiming that her employer failed to evacuate her, despite being warned about the danger she faced.
A similar incident occurred in 2006 and eventually led to an inquiry by the Queensland Crime and Misconduct Commission, which found the Queensland health department had failed to act on a report warning of safety concerns at nurses‘ quarters on Thursday Island.
In her 2005 book, Sounding the Alarm: Remote Area Nurses and Aboriginals at Risk, Jennifer Cramer warns of the potential consequences of ignoring nurses concerns.
For the sake of both the nurses and the patients they care for, the government cannot continue to remain deaf to the sound of the alarm.
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