12 hour shifts the Nambour Hospital experience

Union members have a lengthy history of campaigning for fair working hours and conditions. The success of such campaigns has led to the implementation of the eight hour working day and the 40 hour and then 38 hour week as industrial standards. More recently though, calls for greater flexibility in their shift arrangements by nurses at Nambour Hospital have led to a voluntary 12 hour shift being implemented in their Intensive Care Unit. While union members are protective of their hard won gains in achieving reduced working hours through the 8 hour day--ICU nurses at Nambour Hospital say the voluntary 12 hour shift initiative goes a way in addressing their work/life balance issues.