Page 1478 - Week 05 - Thursday, 13 May 2021
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One nurse wrote this to me:
I loved working as a nurse. However, it was the workplace environment, the culture I worked with, that broke me to pieces like shattered glass. What I experienced in working for CHS I know I am not alone in, as I have encountered many who have had similar experiences or worse, for which in the year of 2021 is pretty sickening and disgusting and something that would cause change but hasn’t and it doesn’t. Why? Because despite documenting, reporting, having witnessed and evidence of those events, when meeting with HR and workplace resolution officer they refuse to even warrant the need for an investigation or address any of my or the other staff members’ ongoing issues. Even the head of people and culture and the CEO, which I received correspondence from, stated that it was “not their job”—
this is in inverted commas—
to deal with these types of issues in the workplace.
Here are only just a few of the things that I experienced so one can understand what working in some areas of CHS is really like. I was intentionally spat on a number of times by a colleague whilst being verbally abused. Threats spoken at me, then having a staff member physically assault me in the staff toilets. A number of times being intimidated and verbally abused by a manager, not only in her office but in hallways of the healthcare facility and public areas. Being mobbed, harassed, intimidated, humiliated in the treatment rooms, and in front of patients and their families by work colleagues. Repeated threats from colleagues in leadership roles on how they would intend to cause psychological harm, and physical harm, so that I would just leave. Asked to do certain tasks with the threat that if I don’t do it, then I would be reported for misconduct and ensure that they would organise for my dismissal. False accusations made to staff in leadership positions and to the manager. Discrimination in decision-making around training and job opportunities by the then leadership positions. Repeated and intentional verbal abuse, humiliation, gaslighting and intimidation by other healthcare professionals that worked in the same area. Threats of physical and sexual assault by a work colleague. Threats of intentional physical assault even to the point where a work colleague joked about lacing my water bottle with medication so that I would potentially die. Witnessing bullying, harassment and intimidation of graduate nurses and student nurses.
The repeated intentional and inappropriate behaviours to myself and other staff members—such as acts of sabotage, intimidation, verbal abuse, physical and sexual assault, threats of violence, gaslighting, coercive control, isolating, humiliating, undermining, manipulation—go on constantly within the Canberra Health Service. Targeted to the point where taking your own life seemed like the only option for me, and something I did attempt in the end. On reflection, this is not the answer to coping with or dealing with workplace violence and bullying. I am glad I survived and am speaking out to highlight the lack of action employers like CHS undertake to deal with these issues.
For me ACT Health and CHS has failed in their vision role statement of creating an exceptional health care together. And also in workplace values of being reliable, progressive, respectful, kind. If anything, what the above quoted statements of what CHS is supposed to be about are just words on a piece of paper and part of the required business policy. Because in my and many other cases, none of this has been shown by
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