ANNUAL report - Queensland Nurses Union

OrganisationalStrategic objective:»»Achieve union growth, influence and power through the provision of adequateinfrastructure and support.In the face of the very considerable challenges andopportunities presented to the QNU over the past year,we have utilised all available infrastructure and supportto ensure we have continued to grow in strength,influence and power.Membership growthQNU membership has continued to surge over thepast financial year. A concerted recruitment effort(through our Because We Care campaign for aged care inparticular), workplace enterprise bargaining campaigns,and a number of national reform agendas (in health andindustrial relations) have given nurses and midwiveseven more reason to join the QNU.We expect our membership to continue growing overthe next financial year as more nurses and midwivesbecome aware of a new national registration andaccreditation standard (from 1 July 2010) which requiresthem to hold professional indemnity (PI) insurance.Under this requirement a nurse or midwife cannotpractise without appropriate PI insurance in place. Aspart of membership of the QNU, financial members areprovided with professional indemnity insurance thatmeets the standard.At the QNU’s 2009 Annual Conference we launched ournew and improved QNU website which featured an onlinejoining function. Somewhat surprisingly, we have seena substantial number of nurses and midwives use thisonline function to join the QNU. According to our websitestatistics, members join at all times of the day and night. Itappears the facility is extremely popular with nurses andmidwives working night shift, with many logging on tojoin at very early hours of the morning.Significant recruitment efforts around our Because WeCare campaign for aged care have also delivered highmembership growth in the aged care sector. Nursesin aged care have recognised the critical importanceof union membership and of the strength we have toachieve our objectives when acting as a collective.Member servicingDemand from members with individual matters continuesto grow, both in complexity and number of cases. We haveallocated additional resources and implemented bettersupport mechanisms to ensure we are best placed to meetour objectives in this key priority area.In particular, the QNU’s Member Servicing Centre(QNU Connect), as the first point of contact at the4 | Annual Report 2009-2010 | Queensland Nurses’ Union of Employees