A new campaign has been launched to increase the community’s awareness and understanding of acceptable and non-acceptable behaviour towards nurses and other workers, including midwives, who make up the ACT’s health system.
Minister for Health, Rachel Stephen-Smith said the campaign Be kind and respectful to our nurses and midwives will call out violence and aggressive behaviour to them and aim at increasing understanding of what was and wasn’t acceptable when interacting with healthcare workers.
Ms Stephen-Smith said the campaign was developed with input from ACT Health, Canberra Health Services, Calvary Public Hospital Bruce, and the ACT Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation.
“Canberra has more than 7,000 nurses, midwives and nurse practitioners providing care every day in our homes, community health centres, Walk-in Centres and hospitals,” Ms Stephen-Smith said.
“We know most Canberrans value our nurses and midwives, treating them with respect and kindness,” she said.
“Yet our nurses and midwives still experience a high rate of occupational violence from people in our community.”
Ms Stephen-Smith said occupational violence was not just physical.
“Yelling, name calling, sneering, rude gestures, intimidating body language and other non-physical behaviours are also aggressive and can significantly impact the safety and wellbeing of healthcare workers,” she said.
“This campaign has been informed by consultation with ACT nurses, midwives and the Canberra community in recognition that we all have a role to play in creating a safe and respectful environment for nurses and midwives.”
Minister for Mental Health, Shane Rattenbury said Canberra’s nurses, including its mental health staff, were caring, dedicated, professional and resilient.
“They do an extraordinary job in what can be a challenging environment at the best of times – especially so, during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic,” Mr Rattenbury said.
“They deserve to be treated with respect, and they deserve to be safe at work,” he said.
