Quality Care: Respecting Our Elderly

New Zealand Nurses Organisation

1 October 2007 - International Older Persons Day

Quality Care: Respecting Our Elderly

Members of the New Zealand Nurses Organisation and the Service and Food Workers Union Nga Ringa Tota say that International Older Persons Day is the perfect time for New Zealanders to change our mindset when it comes to caring for our elderly.

Today, NZNO and SFWU members working in Residential Aged Care facilities around the country will join in celebrations marking International Older Persons Day by making a small presentation to the residents they help take care of. Union members will sign a simple card that acknowledges just how valuable our elders are to our society, and telling residents how privileged the caregivers, nurses and support staff feel to be involved in their lives.

"Today is a great day to tell the older people in our lives that we care about them, that we respect them and we love them," says caregiver and NZNO delegate Anne Galloway.

"Unfortunately, as a society, we don't exhibit those feelings very well. As carers at the front line, we still don't receive the resources needed to care for these wonderful people the way we or their families would like us to. Individually, we all love the older people who are dear to us. Today, we need to think about how we can turn that love and respect into a genuine change in the way we as a nation approach the care we provide for the elderly," says Anne Galloway.

SFWU delegate Marianne Bishop, also a caregiver, welcomes the recent Government commitment to targeted funding to lift the wages of caregivers and other Aged Care workers but says that she is disappointed that some employers have refused to hand this money on. Marianne Bishop says that as well as wages there is more to be done to achieve high quality care in this sector.

"The real barrier to providing the type of care our elderly truly deserve is not having enough staff on duty to ensure both residents and staff are safe. Long-term, this means Aged Care workers get burned out and leave the sector, creating a spiral effect that's impossible to get out of. As a community, we need to say "No, this isn't good enough." We need to value our older people by making their care a genuine career option, with on-going education to develop caregiving skills and safe staffing levels that allow a more acceptable level of care," says Marianne Bishop.

Today NZNO and SFWU call on everyone to celebrate our older people and to think about what we can all do together, Government, families, providers, unions and the whole community, to properly acknowledge the respect and value our elderly deserve.

ENDS

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