Nurses unite to honour killed Outback health worker Gayle Woodford

HUNDREDS of health workers across the nation have worn symbolic arm bandages to honour the memory of murdered South Australian remote area nurse Gayle Woodford.

• IN COURT: Alleged outback nurse killer tries to hide his identity
• CHANGES: 80,000 back push for Gayle’s Law
• CONCERN: Is this one of Australia’s most dangerous jobs?
• REMEMBERED: Gayle Woodford’s family speak out
• SHOCKING: Abducted nurse’s body found in shallow grave

HUNDREDS of health workers across the nation have united to honour the memory of murdered South Australian remote area nurse Gayle Woodford by wearing arm bandages.

The act of solidarity is being shared by nurses and doctors on social media to not only honour the mother-of-two but show support for “Gayle’s Law”, which calls for an end to single-nurse posts in remote communities.

Flinders Medical Centre nurses Tegan, Megan and Bill wearing white armbands in honour of Gayle Woodford. Picture: Matt Turner.

The 56-year-old nurse was abducted from her home in Fregon, in the APY Lands, and her body was found in a shallow grave two days later on Saturday. Her accused killer appeared in court on Tuesday.

Pictures of nurses in arm bandages from Yuendumu, northwest of Alice Springs, to Gilgandra, north of Dubbo, and up to the Gold Coast, in Queensland, have been posted on social media.

An online petition calling for a mandatory requirement that remote area nurses respond to after hours emergencies in the company of another has reached more than 92,000 signatures since Saturday.

Emergency department workers at Sydney’s Royal North Shore honour Gayle Woodford.

The page has also become a forum for remote nurses to discuss their experiences with violence while helping others.

One nurse — who had worked in a remote NT community for four years — wrote a post in that stated she knew a colleague who had been sexually assaulted.

“In my role I was expected to go out at all hours of the night alone to consult with a patient,” she posted.

“Often these call outs were for domestic violence, drunken assaults and recently drug-related behaviour.

“If we needed police in the community they would have to come from Mataranka, 2 hours away, or Ngukurr, 1 hour away. There should be a strict policy in place that nurses go out in pairs rather than alone.

“How many more remote nurses need to be assaulted, abducted or worse still, murdered before action is taken to prevent these things happening.”

Nurses at Gilgandra wear arm bands in Gayle Woodford’s honour.

Nurses at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital wearing bandages in Gayle Woodford’s honour.

Health workers and nurses wearing bandages for Gayle Woodford at Alice Springs.

One woman said she had been sent out to a community after a remote area nurse was sexually assaulted to help friends and colleagues deal with the trauma.

Another nurse said she was subjected to daily verbal and racial abuse while working in remote areas.

“Always being dragged out of bed in the middle of the night for minor things because the person wanted to be seen now,” she posted.

Federal Rural Health Minister Fiona Nash sent condolences to Mrs Woodford’s family but has not commented on the petition.

Staff from Community Health Minlaton show their solidarity. Source: Facebook

Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation state secretary Elizabeth Dabars said she was supporting efforts by SA Senator Nick Xenophon to change federal laws to better protect remote area nurses.

It was crucial to secure more federal funding to hire enough nurses to work in pairs, Ms Dabars said.

“The best way to honour this woman — a wife, a mother, and also a nurse — is to ensure that we have a system in place in future that prevents against this (kind of tragedy),” she said.