A survey into nurses in very remote parts of Australia has found remote area nurses (RANs) still spend too dangerous hours doing solo call outs, a Mount Isa conference has heard.
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The findings by Flinders University’s Associate Professor Sue Lenthall to the “Are You Remotely Interested?” health conference in Mount Isa come in the wake of the shocking murder of South Australian RAN Gayle Woodford in April.
Assoc Prof Lenthall said Ms Woodford’s death had rocked the industry, traumatising a lot of people and prompting a focus on safety.
“It’s sad to see it take a murder to do it, but we are now starting to see some action,” she said. “Hopefully it will be a lot safer environment and it needs to be a lot safer environment.
a community person should be employed by clinics on a casual basis
- Heather Keighley
Assoc Prof Lenthall surveyed RANs and health managers in remote Indigenous communities about their occupational stress levels and found there was an acceptance of poorer standards in remote Australia that should no longer be tolerated.
She said the survey found that most experienced verbal aggression, while there was also high instances of property damage, sexual harassment and physical violence.
The top two hazards they faced were attending to patients at home and the inability to securely lock the after hours consulting area.
She said solo call-outs at night were not safe.
“It’s still common practice in some parts of Australia, but it needs to stop, it’s too dangerous” she said.
Her call was backed up by NT Department of Health Senior Nursing and Midwifery Advisor Heather Keighley.
Ms Keighley said she co-ordinated the NT government’s own review after Gayle Woodford’s death.
That review is ongoing but she said the Northern Territory already had a “second responder” policy which she recommended in 2015 after growing concerns about remote nursing safety.
“That policy states that a community person should be employed by clinics on a casual basis to act as drivers and chaperones and to help as needed loading patients on to a stretcher and into an ambulance,” she said.
Derek Barry
Editor of the North West Star Mount Isa since January 2016. Prior to that, an editor at several regional southern Queensland newspapers. Passionate about telling local stories. Comes with a strange accent to due an Irish accident of birth.
Editor of the North West Star Mount Isa since January 2016. Prior to that, an editor at several regional southern Queensland newspapers. Passionate about telling local stories. Comes with a strange accent to due an Irish accident of birth.
