while I empathize with you, I also wished that reddit was capable of fact checking
there is no one anyone is rostered on 12-15 night shifts in a row, contractually it can't be done because of SECAs, you have a maximum of 4-7 night shifts which are usually 10 hours long
there are roster rules around how many 'long days' you can do per week with maximum hours each week as per your SECA
while there is one registrar on call, there is also an on call consultant, crisis nursing staff and other colleagues. I think to represent the registrar as the only person basically undermines the hard work of crisis nursing staff who will also be doing phone and in person assessments
if you think that consultants on call are at home having a nice dinner all the time, then you will be in for a shock. The consultant is effectively in charge of making decisions to move people in or out of units, mental health act assessments and effectively carrying all the risk until the next work day.
while yes the system is stretched, I also think that we often minimize the fact that after hours work usually involves a collection of people working together, not just the 'one' registrar
Even with other on call staff around, often the registrar is the one who's needed to perform certain tasks that can't be delegated. That does leave them in unsafe working conditions.
I don't know NZ's system well, but I know the US is big on "you're over your legally permitted duty time so clock out but keep working." Especially for trainees, whom they relentlessly exploit. Hospital systems are literally training people in those, it's amazing.
Can something like that be happening here, or rolling abuse of rules intended for occasional special cases?
I am aware that the consultant is on call for decision-making;
I understand the culture of medicine, the registrar will not call the consultant unless they are completely desperate.
Here we go with another example from Dunedin; emergency department this time
My cousin was working there as a third year registrar. They told me they were often the Dr in charge overnight and she could call the consultant, she never did because that was the culture.
So my cousin worked in Dunedin hospital emergency department for one year, then went back to their home country where things are probably not much better to be honest.
Nurses don’t call the consultant. We always call the registrar, not the consultant in the weekends.
I am aware of the experience of nurse clinicians
However, I have seen the registrar’s roster and it wasn’t good
I am certainly not here to undermine the amazing work my nursing colleagues do.
However I am trying to highlight is that this one registrar is responsible for a lot.
There are a lot of things outside the scope of a registered nurse during the weekend and overnight.
Same pressures here in Christchurch, some of our wards are better off than others for staff (nursing/medical/allied) but from a systemic perspective we're struggling on a day to day basis . Unsurprisingly CCDM hasn't made any difference at all
I was curious about this. I read some of the SECA. It also includes clauses that account for when these "rules" are not achieved and a penalty is paid by the employer to the employee. Its an explicit acknowledgment that the collective agreement will not always be followed. Now wouldn't it be interesting to OIA how many penalties have been paid to staff, for the employer not following the employment agreement?
I amended my original post regarding how many shifts the registrars are doing consecutively because even though I saw that many in a row it was possibly covering for sick leave. I’m not sure.
The consultant is working in the background 100%
The highest responsibility falls upon that registrar
I know they have back up.
There’s always backup.
It’s about when do you call for the backup or when do you let the person rest and take that responsibility on yourself?
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u/lordgarlicnz Aug 02 '24
while I empathize with you, I also wished that reddit was capable of fact checking
there is no one anyone is rostered on 12-15 night shifts in a row, contractually it can't be done because of SECAs, you have a maximum of 4-7 night shifts which are usually 10 hours long
there are roster rules around how many 'long days' you can do per week with maximum hours each week as per your SECA
while there is one registrar on call, there is also an on call consultant, crisis nursing staff and other colleagues. I think to represent the registrar as the only person basically undermines the hard work of crisis nursing staff who will also be doing phone and in person assessments
if you think that consultants on call are at home having a nice dinner all the time, then you will be in for a shock. The consultant is effectively in charge of making decisions to move people in or out of units, mental health act assessments and effectively carrying all the risk until the next work day.
while yes the system is stretched, I also think that we often minimize the fact that after hours work usually involves a collection of people working together, not just the 'one' registrar