Latest / 360 with Katie Woolf / Katie Woolf spoke with Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation NT Acting Branch Secretary Cath Hatcher

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Katie Woolf spoke with Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation NT Acting Branch Secretary Cath Hatcher · 360 with Katie Woolf

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: We know that over the course of the weekend.
• 0:02
  Speaker 2: The Northern Territory News was reporting yesterday that a nurse
• 0:04
  Speaker 2: was allegedly held at knife point in a remote community,
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  Speaker 2: in an incident that the Union says is not uncommon.
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  Speaker 3: Now.
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  Speaker 2: The episode happened on Friday last week apparently, and is
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  Speaker 2: one of several shocking alleged incidents in the community so
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  Speaker 2: in Number War, which is situated about six hundred kilometers
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  Speaker 2: east of Darwin. So joining me on the line right
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  Speaker 2: now to tell us a little bit more about the
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  Speaker 2: situation is Kath Hatcher, the Australian Nursing and Midwiffree Federation
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  Speaker 2: NT acting Branch Secretary.
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  Speaker 1: Good morning, Cath.
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  Speaker 3: Good morning Katie.
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  Speaker 1: How are you not too bad? Kath? I tell you
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  Speaker 1: what you know. My mum's a nurse.
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  Speaker 2: So I always feel really quite disturbed by these stories,
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  Speaker 2: particularly of nurses out in remote communities who are threatened.
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  Speaker 2: And this one that I read in the paper on
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  Speaker 2: the weekend of a nurse being held at knife point
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  Speaker 2: in Number War was shocked.
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  Speaker 3: King, It is shocking, and I hate the fact that
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  Speaker 3: I said that it's a common incident, but it's terribly
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  Speaker 3: The truth is it is and it shouldn't happen. No
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  Speaker 3: one should go to work and have occupational violence, whether
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  Speaker 3: it's physical or verbally. We should be able to go
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  Speaker 3: to work and feel safe and respected. And it's not happening,
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  Speaker 3: and it hasn't happened for quite some number of years
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  Speaker 3: around Australia. It's not just remote rule or it's happening
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  Speaker 3: in the urban settings as well.
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  Speaker 2: It's it is a terrible situation and everybody has the
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  Speaker 2: right to go to work and feel safe. But you know,
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  Speaker 2: the frightening part for some of our nurses in remote
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  Speaker 2: communities as well, is it that sometimes I'm assuming cath
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  Speaker 2: that they're potentially working on their own.
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  Speaker 3: No, they shouldn't be won. From what I can understand,
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  Speaker 3: Number one is a five nurse clinic station. The sad
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  Speaker 3: thing is that there is no police or police station
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  Speaker 3: at Number one, so that makes it an added stress
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  Speaker 3: on those nurses or anyone else in the community that
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  Speaker 3: need the police presence.
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  Speaker 1: Kas what happened in this instance.
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  Speaker 3: Look, initially the office, our office, the Nursing Amography office
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  Speaker 3: didn't know what had happened. Obviously, the nurse or the
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  Speaker 3: nurses involved in all of that didn't need our help.
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  Speaker 3: So they didn't give us a call, but it wasn't
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  Speaker 3: until the media had informed us that there was an
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  Speaker 3: incidence with a nurse in number war and we put
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  Speaker 3: a call out to see if they needed our assistance.
• 2:51
  Speaker 3: They didn't and they are getting the support as they
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  Speaker 3: should by the Department of Health. There was other incidences,
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  Speaker 3: I believe, at the same time around that from people
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  Speaker 3: from group that were in number, so that may have
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  Speaker 3: sparked some heated arguments and violence within the community from
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  Speaker 3: number people from group people, and you know, I don't
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  Speaker 3: know the full circumstances that may maybe the nurse got
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  Speaker 3: sort of in the middle of that and very unfortunate
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  Speaker 3: for everyone.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, I reckon it's it's actually terrifying, you know, it's
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  Speaker 2: a terrible situation. Yeah, to hear that the nurses has
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  Speaker 2: been put into and you know, we know that nurses
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  Speaker 2: do such a phenomenal job and they're there to help
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  Speaker 2: people in every situation. So to me, it's it's, you know,
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  Speaker 2: it's really horrifying to think that that they've been put
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  Speaker 2: in such a harmful, harmful situation.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, I mean even when I started nursing back
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  Speaker 3: in the beginning of the eighties, there was violence happening. Then,
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  Speaker 3: you know, people, I can understand people's acting out when
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  Speaker 3: people die or their loved ones is unwell, and the
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  Speaker 3: doctors and nurses are taking their time to assess and
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  Speaker 3: diagnose and treat their loved one, and we're in the
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  Speaker 3: forefront of that lash out, and you know, as nurses
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  Speaker 3: and midwives, we can fully understand their reaction to you know,
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  Speaker 3: verbal violence. But when it becomes you know, held at
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  Speaker 3: knife point or being physically injured by a knife or
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  Speaker 3: some sort of a weapon or fifths, that people should
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  Speaker 3: realize that that's not something that should happen and they
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  Speaker 3: should be accountable in some way.
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  Speaker 2: Oh for sure, Kats, you did say or you did
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  Speaker 2: tell the paper on the weekend that an incident like
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  Speaker 2: this is not uncommon. How often are these types of
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  Speaker 2: incidents occurring?
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  Speaker 3: I don't have the handle on the statistics, but I
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  Speaker 3: would say that in a community setting like number, it's
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  Speaker 3: probably at least a verbally on a weekly basis, and
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  Speaker 3: maybe more often I'm not sure, but it's definitely happening
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  Speaker 3: in somewhere in the NT on a daily basis.
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  Speaker 2: How terrible you know, in a situation like what we're
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  Speaker 2: hearing about in number Wah, does it get to the
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  Speaker 2: point where sometimes, you know, the department and sometimes we
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  Speaker 2: need to sort of look at whether whether it's safe
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  Speaker 2: for nurses to stay in a community.
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  Speaker 3: Yes, definitely that that particular nurse involved, depending on her
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  Speaker 3: mental health and you know, she may have come out
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  Speaker 3: of the clinic, come out of the community sorry, and
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  Speaker 3: maybe has come back gone to go or come back
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  Speaker 3: into Darwin or somewhere else just for a couple of
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  Speaker 3: weeks relief, or whether she has been transferred to another community.
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  Speaker 3: Those are types that sort of circumstances does happen. I
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  Speaker 3: don't know what the answer is going to be, but
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  Speaker 3: we've definitely the Union has been talking to the Health
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  Speaker 3: Minister and I'm going to be talking to the Chief
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  Speaker 3: Executive Officer of Health tomorrow about what we can do
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  Speaker 3: about the occupational violence at work and what we can
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  Speaker 3: do about it and whether we can make some sort
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  Speaker 3: of a legislation in the future.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, so potentially some legislative changes. I mean, what would
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  Speaker 2: that look like, do you think, Catherine? Is it too
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  Speaker 2: early to know until you've had those discussions.
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  Speaker 3: Too early to know, but definitely, if it happens within
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  Speaker 3: the workplace and it's happening all the time by a
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  Speaker 3: particular person, then that person should be accountable for their
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  Speaker 3: actions or if it's physical violence, they definitely should have
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  Speaker 3: some sort of law enforcement and maybe not just a
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  Speaker 3: slap on the wrist that you've been a naughty person
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  Speaker 3: and realize that it's not right to affect or harm
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  Speaker 3: someone else.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, well, particularly when you're talking about people who are
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  Speaker 2: you know, in various parts of the Northern Territory community
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  Speaker 2: to care.
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  Speaker 1: For other people. You know, that's the part that I
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  Speaker 1: find so astonishing.
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  Speaker 3: Yes, but what comes into that is their loved one
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  Speaker 3: has passed away or their loved one is un well,
• 8:00
  Speaker 3: and they want their very best for that person. And
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  Speaker 3: you know, it is stressful being on the side waiting
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  Speaker 3: watching your loved one getting treatment, and if the treatment
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  Speaker 3: doesn't go well or the person passes away, you know,
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  Speaker 3: people do become violent. And I don't know what the
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  Speaker 3: circumstances of the nurse in number one was beginning of
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  Speaker 3: last week, but people need to let out their anger,
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  Speaker 3: but they don't need to do that on the person
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  Speaker 3: that or the people who are caring for their themselves
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  Speaker 3: or their loved ones.
• 8:40
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
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  Speaker 2: Well, Kas Hatcher Australian Nursing and we're free Federation into
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  Speaker 2: acting Branch Secretary. I really appreciate your time this morning.
• 8:50
  Speaker 2: Thanks for speaking with us.
• 8:52
  Speaker 3: You're welcome, Katie, thank you