ozzierock

Hi, my husband and I are hoping to go to England (preferably Kent) from Brisbane Australia in July 2006 and return Jan 2007 (12 months also an option). I have searched the common home swap sites and found little in the way of long term swaps. As many nurses use the freedom our profession offers to travel during their careers I thought I might see what you all think??

I've rad through most of the responses and while I can understand the sentiment I can't agree with the majority of responses. Firstly, as was said many times, reporting rarely gets you anywhere because of the power of the dollar and the powerlessness of nurses as a group. Secondly, answering this doctor (or any for that matter) back in such a way recommended by many of the replies I read only serves to lower ones own dignity down to his level. What I found most troubling was the notion that it was not OK to say anything to this doctor in front of the patient. No wonder the public sees us as subseriant to the medical profession if we let doctors speak that way to us in front of them. My response would have been something like "I would thank you not to speak to me in that manner, and think your focus would be better spent attending to your patients needs". This response lets the doc know you are prepared to stick up for yourself, redirects the focus on the patient (where it should be), and last, but by no means least, leaves the patient with the knowledge that representatives of two different professional groups (not one professional and one handmaiden) were in the room attending to their needs and only one of them was acting professionally

thanks gwenith, sadly my workplace has many problems not the least of which is that in August last year they changed our award without informing us they were going to, or any of the other legally required associated bodies. Not only did I warn the QNU they were about to do it, but I also informed them once they had. Apart for one phonecall from an organiser who said much (and subsequently did little) nothing. The silence is deafening. Huge problems with pay and conditions of service, but nothing from the QNU and over half the staff are members (about 6 of whom I recruited for them after my first warning phone call), so if they can't (won't) deal with these industrial issues which are supposed to be their forte, I don't hold out much hope for their ability to assist with handling a doctor with a god complex.

I work at a private hospital in Australia. On day at a staff meeting we took the opportunity to point out to our manager and director of nursing that one of our medical consultants treated the nursing staff badly and was very rude and arrogant. They responded by telling us that this doctor admitted patients to our hospital and because he did that he was effectively responsible for our ability to earn a living there. so we were literally asked to accommodate his needs and tolerate his rudeness............You know it really annoys me when I see it constantly reported that the cause of the nursing shortage is because younger women are choosing professions previously dominated by males because those professions have become more female friendly and the requisite university courses are not gender biased. I agree this contributes, but they'll never cure the shortage until there is a greater understanding of: -women will no longer tolerate working at a profession which isn't compensated financially for the level of responsibility the profession requires them to carry, and -women will no longer tolerate working at a profession where the knowledge and skills are great and complex, but the position is not respected by the other professions they work alongside. That lack of respect is not only silently supported by the employer but goes so far as to tolerate workplace bullying to such a degree as to instruct the recipients of the bullying that they must not only tolerate it, but work harder to please the bully (as in the example above). Many is the time I have said if I wasn't 46 (the mean age of nurses now), or had my time over I too would have chosen a different profession. Not because I don't like caring for my patients (I love that), but because the inequities and sociology of the system we work in render it soul destroying at times. Oh to be an engineer, a pilot, a marine biologist.....................

I am a nurse in Australia, anything you want to know just ask!!

melanie, I wasn't expecting anyone to come and visit me in the near future, these things take time. I do thank you for you kind words though. Glad you had a great time in Brisbane....paradise on earth

must be a bit scary this concept!! I see 21 have had a look at my proposal but no responses as yet. Well how about we forget the visiting stuff and just get friendly. I'm really interesting you know, really....LOL :), and quite normal despite my outrageous suggestion. (What's normal anyway)

I know this is outrageous and am not sure yet if I'd do it but here goes. I am an RN, 45 years old and live in Brisbane Queensland Australia with my husband of 24 years. We have 2 sons 22 and 20 who are taking care of themselves now and consequently we would like to start travelling to places we've never been. I have always wanted to travel to the US and have a look around (especially your national parks). I do however recognise that when travelling to places never visited before not only can this be daunting, but it also means one is caught in the tourist trap. Usually the only experiences are those designated by tour operators and the little gems get missed. So here is my idea. What if a nurse and their family in America would like to visit Australia, specifically Queensland, but were put off by the same things I mentioned above. What if that nurse and I became friends online and we got comfortable enough with each other over time that I would be happy for them to come visit with us and we could show them around. Then, what if the experience was so great that the American nurse felt OK about us coming to visit them and they could show us around. Wouldn't that be great. Anybody interested in exploring this idea with me further please feel free to email me so we can make tentative steps towards this goal. Sounds great to me...... Hope to hear from an interested person/s soon. Roxane email: [email protected]

I know this is outrageous and am not sure yet if I'd do it but here goes. I am an RN, 45 years old and live in Brisbane Queensland Australia with my husband of 24 years. We have 2 sons 22 and 20 who are taking care of themselves now and consequently we would like to start travelling to places we've never been. I have always wanted to travel to the US and have a look around (especially your national parks). I do however recognise that when travelling to places never visited before not only can this be daunting, but it also means one is caught in the tourist trap. Usually the only experiences are those designated by tour operators and the little gems get missed. So here is my idea. What if a nurse and their family in America would like to visit Australia, specifically Queensland, but were put off by the same things I mentioned above. What if that nurse and I became friends online and we got comfortable enough with each other over time that I would be happy for them to come visit with us and we could show them around. Then, what if the experience was so great that the American nurse felt OK about us coming to visit them and they could show us around. Wouldn't that be great. Anybody interested in exploring this idea with me further please feel free to email me so we can make tentative steps towards this goal. Sounds great to me...... Hope to hear from an interested person/s soon. Roxane email: [email protected]

I don't believe what I am hearing. Are those of you offended by this mans behaviour seriously saying that his wifes care should have been delivered by an African American despite their wishes. We are not there to make moral judgements about who should recieve our care and by whom, we are just there to provide the care. Personal opinions and feelings have nothing to do with what we do (although we can have those opinions and feelings, but keep them to ourselves). If we imposed our view on one group of people then we on the slippery slope of our personal views being imposed on other groups which becomes an untenable situation due to the socially and culturally diverse situations in which we work and which we all come from. For example my experience here in Australia is that I have had veterans refusing to be cared for by Japanese nurses and Jewish patients refusing to be cared for by moslem nurses. These wishes are honoured where possible, if it is not possible the patients has it explained to them that the staff rostered for that day is all we have and if the ethnic mix doesn't meet their needs they are free to sign a release against doctors advice. It is not up to us as nurses, or hospitals as institutions to educate the public about morals and ethics, racism and bigotry. Delivery of care remains fundamental, delivered professionally with the patients consent. If we become dictators of morality to our patients then how would we be able to cope with providing care to the likes of Martin Bryant (Tasmanias mass murderer who required hospitalising after his shooting spree), or paedophiles, rapists, and other scum of the earth types. The same attitude which allows a nurse to care for these people despite their personal feelings needs to be displayed by a nurse who is offended by a patient who refuses their care. Personal feelings are irrelevant, care is fundamental. Just don't take it personally. We have enough to do getting these people well enough to return to society, the many and varied personality flaws of the people we look after are embedded in the imperfect societies in which we live and work and society as a whole needs to address them. To suggest that we can change the attitudes of patients gained over a lifetime during a short stay in hospital is ludicrous.