International Nurses Day

The Hon. R.B. MARTIN (17:51): I move:

That this council—

1. Recognises that 12 May 2023 is International Nurses Day;

2. Observes that the theme for the 2023 International Nurses Day is 'Our nurses. Our future.'; and

3. Acknowledges that nurses are integral to the healthcare system and commends all nurses and nursing staff for their commitment, dedication and tireless efforts to maintain public health.

International Nurses Day is celebrated each year on 12 May: the anniversary of the birth of Florence Nightingale. Although every nurse is surely a hero in the stories of the patients whose lives they touch, Florence Nightingale stands out as a particularly well-known figure whose influence has helped to shape the modern profession of nursing, as well as drive significant reforms in sanitation and hygiene practices, hospital planning, administrative autonomy for nurses and many other areas of medicine.

Not only that—one of the most interesting things I learned in my first year of maths at university was that Florence Nightingale was also a talented mathematician and statistician. She was a highly influential pioneer in the visual representation of data and is credited with bringing several models of graphs into popular use, including one we are all familiar with today: the pie chart.

For those reasons and others, Florence Nightingale's legacy is well worth celebrating, so what better day of the year than 12 May to mark International Nurses Day, recognising the crucial role that nurses play in the health and wellbeing of our society.

Probably like every person whose primary occupation is nursing, Florence Nightingale was a well-rounded person who accomplished many things. She chose to pursue a career in nursing—indeed, she did so against the preference of her very wealthy and well-connected family—because she was passionate about public health and passionate about caring for people.

I would expect that must be something that every nurse has in common: a high level of care and compassion for all people. It is easy to speak glowingly and at length about how wonderful nurses are and about all the good they do for our community, most particularly the vulnerable people within it: our babies and children, the chronically ill, and our elderly.

When we need them, nurses are always there. At our scary moments, at our difficult moments and, often, at our final moments. I think many South Australians would agree that nurses are the lifeblood of our health system. What may be considered less often is how physically and psychologically demanding it can be to work in nursing, especially in acute and emergency care settings. The hours of work can be gruelling. The sacrifices of time with family, the disruption to sleep and the difficulties of managing life as a shiftworker can take a significant toll.

Like many workers in client-facing roles—or in this case, patient-facing roles—they can be subjected to aggressive behaviour and occasionally violence and, quite rightly, these should be considered abhorrent. Security arrangements are being reviewed at a regional hospital after a recent incident, in fact. More broadly, the safety of nurses is certainly on the radar of this government, because every South Australian worker deserves a safe workplace.

Nurses are called upon to work through any and every circumstance, no matter what is happening in the world around them. The past three years have been a particularly hard time in which to be a worker in the healthcare sector and certainly this also applies to nursing.

Nurses around the world are one of the groups of workers who did it toughest during the worst phases of the pandemic—working amid conditions which were distressing and difficult. Nurses during this period put their own health and that of their loved ones at risk to continue supporting patients at the most critical times.

The International Council of Nurses has determined that the theme of International Nurses Day for 2023 is 'Our nurses. Our future.' They explain that this theme urges us to learn the lessons of the pandemic and translate them into actions for the future to ensure nurses are protected, respected and valued.

The Malinauskas government has been working hard to embed that respect into the policies we took to the election last year and have been delivering on since, including a well-deserved pay rise in the new enterprise bargaining agreement, doubling the number of graduate nurses joining our hospitals this year, and working to boost nurse numbers in our health workforce.

South Australian nurses are the beneficiaries of the dedicated representation and advocacy of the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation. Their recent and ongoing campaigns have seen the ANMF standing up strongly in the media and in the community on behalf of their members, fighting for good outcomes for some of our state’s hardest working professionals.

I acknowledge and commend Elizabeth Dabars, the CEO, and the ANMF leadership team and staff for all that they do on behalf of their members. This government looks forward to continuing to work with the ANMF on the matters now before us and those that lie ahead of us.

Finally, to all the nurses in South Australia, I sincerely commend and thank you for everything you do for our community. We are so grateful for every person who chooses to work as a nurse across our health system—in our public hospitals, our private hospitals, our aged and residential care facilities, our general practice clinics, our community health services, our schools, and, in fact, everything in between.

For the three years remaining in this term of our government Labor intends to demonstrate in all our efforts the level of esteem in which we hold both your profession and your professionalism. I commend this motion.

Debate adjourned on motion of Hon. L.A. Henderson.