Nursing at The Northern Hospital 

Caring for patients, made easier
Nurses at The Northern Hospital work alongside some of the best credentialled, most experienced practitioners in Australia, in modern, clean, light-filled, well-equipped facilities.

We pride ourselves on looking after our staff as well as we look after our patients.  Here's how...
 
No Lift Policy at The Northern Hospital

Electric Beds
All overnight bed areas are equipped with state of the art electric beds, with the comfort and safety of both patients and staff in mind.

All beds are fully adjustable with electric back rest, foot rest, knee bend and floor height adjustment. The beds are fitted with large double wheels to push easily over carpet and are fitted with bed rails, 'monkey-bar' and IV pole. Flat to floor beds are available for 'at risk' patients.

Patients are transported on their beds to theatre or x-ray; the footboard and headboard are replaced with transport handles for pushing and steering.

Lifting Equipment
The Northern Hospital is fully equipped with a variety of lifting equipment, including patient slide sheets, hydraulic hoists, standing walkers, turning frames, 'monkey bars', adjustable beds and chairs, as well as an adjustable mobile bath to reduce the need for manual patient handling.

Nurse Paging System
The patient call bell activates a light outside the patient room, a display outside the nurse stations and a pager held by the nurse caring for them. The nurse can activate a "nurse assist" page which activates the room light, the nurse station display and two nurse pagers. The emergency button activates the same displays and all nurse pagers in the ward.

Enterprise Bargaining Agreement
There has never been a better time to work in a public hospital thanks to the Enterprise Bargaining Agreement negotiated in 2007. The agreement has brought with it many advantages including more study and conference leave, a qualifications allowance, increased paid maternity leave, continuing nurse:patient ratios and fairer rates of pay for all nurses.

Salary Packaging
Salary packaging is run in-house by Northern Health, enabling staff to salary package a proportion of their salaries to pay for a range of ongoing and one-off expenses and services in pre-tax dollars. This the tax they pay on their income. For more information phone:                                   

Northern Employees Advantage Packaging (NEAP) on (03) 8405 8034

Self-Rostering
Wards work on the principle of self-rostering, which means staff cooperation and compromise result in more flexibility in an out of the workplace.

Night Duty
Most wards offer permanent night duty for those who want it with minimal night duty rotations for staff who chose not to work these hours.

Staff Health
Through the dedicated staff health nurse staff have access to vaccinations such as influenza and Hepatitis B, as well as man toux testing. The role also incorporates the confidential follow-up of all reported needlestick incidents.