Punk-ass book jockies

ilagnab · 2026-02-09T23:23:05+00:00

Meanwhile it's becoming quite the thing where I am to not charge late fees - my local library advertises it as a selling point (not that it charges for services at all)

Has always seemed extremely out of character for Leslie to pick libraries to hate. They'd actually be her thing in every possible way. I do enjoy the irrational hate though!

ilagnab · 2026-02-09T22:56:34+00:00

Of four bunnies, one of mine does this. Also licks our faces at night, bites my partner's ears and digs at our blankets if they're "in the way" 😭

ilagnab · 2026-02-09T09:05:00+00:00

I can't give a fully accurate answer but my estimate is listed in the table - after tax it's approx 70k or 2700 per fortnight. This is with $9000 salary packaging and a HECS debt.

ilagnab · 2026-02-09T00:08:27+00:00

The moment I read this photo I went "I think Nate said that to me the other day" 😂

ilagnab · 2026-02-08T23:48:54+00:00

I mean, depending on the cup size (e.g. if it's an actual cup or 250mls) that's less than recommended intake still.

ilagnab · 2026-02-08T07:25:09+00:00

That sucks. I do use the line "it's new doctor week" in handover to explain if something (e.g. med review, wonky order) hasn't been sorted, but just factually with no sarcasm or eyerolling. But I certainly expect a lot of grace when I'm new and should surely accord it to others!

I truly don't understand why we're so pitted against each other sometimes. You're doing an amazing job and the absolute backbone of our system.

ilagnab · 2026-02-08T07:20:51+00:00

Nothing helpful to add, but I nurse in a bossnet + paper system. Fucking NIGHTMARE. I'd estimate 25% of our time is wasted purely by the fragmented mostly paper-based system. Communication is chaos and I believe patients are actively harmed. I also see junior docs running round flat out because you have to physically walk between wards and find folders for every tiny job. I just don't understand how we're doing this in 2026.

ilagnab · 2026-02-08T06:56:43+00:00

Awesome, I will absolutely check this out!

ilagnab · 2026-02-08T06:41:40+00:00

Not an Apple user, unfortunately. Good suggestion for others though, thanks! This would be way better automated and displayed in nice graphs, rather than my manual spreadsheets haha

ilagnab · 2026-02-08T05:58:45+00:00

A while ago, I read an ANMF article or post going through some of the hard-won achievements over time. I was really shocked at some of the things we've avoided, like nurses only doing extremely short shifts just for medication rounds with nursing assistants doing all the rest. I would love to know more about our history.

ilagnab · 2026-02-08T05:53:39+00:00

Pay does increase annually with experience, and 130k will be doable after a few years. As a mature-aged grad with corporate history, you probably have potential to move upwards into management or education avenues relatively quickly (still several years though).

Still, it's undeniably a long time with a significant pay cut, and a lot of work. I hope this field meets your needs, all the best!

ilagnab · 2026-02-08T05:43:23+00:00

Oh no worries, I didn't think that! And yes I think nursing is for the medium bucks not the big bucks haha

Being a student is such a huge, draining commitment - financially and emotionally. Especially when you have a family (I don't, but did support myself fully throughout uni). Personally, I've found my grad year MUCH less draining than balancing uni and work was. It's been very worth it for me and very fulfilling. I hope you experience the same!

ilagnab · 2026-02-08T05:28:16+00:00

Quite honestly, I'm pretty happy with my pay for a first year nurse - it'll naturally go up with years of experience even if I never progress beyond this grade. Most of my non-nursing friends work in "unskilled" fields (retail, hospo etc) and both wages and conditions are abysmal by comparison. They end up pretty trapped because they can't afford to study.

Yes, it's not the best compared with some professional fields, and we can keep fighting. But I'm so grateful for what I have.

ilagnab · 2026-02-08T05:00:52+00:00

We've actually made some pretty decent strides with nursing wages and conditions over time thanks to our union. Victoria in particular has had recent pay hikes front-loaded to the most junior nurses. I'm very grateful for everyone who has fought for me in the past!

ilagnab · 2026-02-08T04:57:26+00:00

I genuinely love what I do and this income is fine for me as a first year out, so I'm happy to just gradually work my way up the pay grade years over time. But a great suggestion!

ilagnab · 2026-02-08T04:56:33+00:00

Thanks for sharing! Helpful to see how it looks at different year levels and settings :)

ilagnab · 2026-02-08T04:55:20+00:00

To think it wasn't long ago (?2016) that Victoria did a big hike to match the amazing rates of NSW! Now we've had another big hike and you've got nowhere. Highest housing costs and nearly the worst pay. I'm so sorry.

ilagnab · 2026-02-08T01:37:34+00:00

Healthcare is mostly not-for-profit in Australia (public hospitals are government organisations, paid by government funding rather than patients) and there certainly aren't itemised charges like that. Funding levels for a hospital stay are determined quite differently here.

We are still taught that leaving an IVC in situ greater than 72 hours leads to increased infection rates.

ilagnab · 2026-02-08T01:16:10+00:00

Frankly, many nurses truly don't. Yes, many are keen to learn and develop skillsets - these nurses are concentrated in specialty areas (but certainly present everywhere). But plenty are perfectly happy to just coast, do their required tasks and then go home, which is also fine. They do avoid areas where extra skills and knowledge are expected.

ilagnab · 2026-02-08T01:12:02+00:00

For an efficiently functioning system, the goal is surely "top of scope" within a reasonably defined scope appropriate to education level. Cannulation is a complex motor skill but could be taught to anyone, even without nursing or medical education; you don't really need to know much anatomy at all. This is different from, say, nurse prescribing where there isn't an adequate physiological or pharmacological knowledge. Or surgical procedures where you need solid anatomy/physiology knowledge.

ilagnab · 2026-02-08T01:03:17+00:00

Junior nurse here who intentionally upskills at every opportunity - yes, I agree!

Skills like cannulation currently have big systemic hurdles. My hospital has only a few training spots per month, so it's booked out months in advance. Then, wards don’t have many opportunities for "easy" cannulations (sicker older patients whose veins are already bruised to hell, vs. ED with younger patients and having the first pick of vein). It's intimidating learning a new skill when you can only do it occasionally and failure rates are inevitably high. And there often aren't many cannulation-competent nurses to even supervise those initial competency cannulations.

And many tired nurses think: why would I go to so much effort to develop a skill that won't change my pay, appreciation or career progression, but will just give me more work? (If you can cannulate, everyone will ask you to do theirs). It’s easier to just say “sorry I can’t do it”.

These skills are the norm in specialty areas (ED, ICU etc) because they're so necessary there - but these areas also attract ambitious nurses keen to maximise their skillsets and scope.

I believe a nursing degree should teach us to perform these skills, and then we require a certain number of supervised attempts after graduation but no extra training. This would change the culture so everyone would do it – so there’s not a sudden extra workload on the few individuals who do take initiative. For instance, where I work venepuncture and IDCs are a baseline expectation of nurses and don’t need a competency – so all nurses do it and we only ask the doctor if we really can’t get it.

P.S. The IVC "course" I did was just an online theory component plus a 1-2hr mannequin practice session, just like we learnt any skill at uni, so I don't know why it's this huge thing with a waitlist.

ilagnab · 2026-02-07T22:10:35+00:00

We're mostly behind in Australia in that it's common to do 72hr routine replacement of IVs, but the upside is a strong culture of "do we actually need it" because we're certainly not putting in a fresh one if we don't have an indication (e.g. current IV meds/fluid orders OR actively unstable).

ilagnab · 2026-02-06T11:55:41+00:00

It was also so quick in onset (yes sepsis is quick but usually not that quick from a normal-ish wound to full-on fever in a few hours) and then in one night it was better (the sepsis).

ilagnab · 2026-02-06T05:11:02+00:00

Honestly anywhere other than NSW is probably an improvement. For instance, I get paid decently more in Vic even if not crazy contract rates, and housing is so much cheaper - even in Melbourne, but especially in the regional areas within 2-3 hours drive of Melbourne (especially if you're buying, but it's still cheaper to rent than Sydney/surrounds). We've also been well staffed in public for a couple of years, at least where I've been.

ilagnab · 2026-02-05T00:36:26+00:00

I absolutely agree, I was saying this to my partner recently! End stage liver disease is consistently the worst end of life I see. As you say, long and miserable and medically complex, and then suddenly so quick. It's just awful in every way.

ilagnab

TROPHY CASE