Julie Klaric. Photo: supplied
Northampton-trained RN Julie Klaric arrived in Australia in 1992 with three nursing friends and working holiday visa in hand. Three decades later she’s still here.
Initially finding herself in Darwin, Julie had planned to work her way down the east coast, doing the backpacker thing, but soon realised that the money she had saved back home wouldn’t be enough. So, along with one of her other friends, she got a job at the Royal Darwin Hospital. ‘And on my orientation day, I actually met my husband,’ she says.
Julie’s husband is from Merbein, a little town outside Mildura, and as they became more involved Julie’s plans changed. She emigrated to Australia in 1994 and, the rest is, as they say, history.
From a family of nurses – both her mother and aunty were nurses – Julie worked on a medical ward back in the UK, but upon arriving in Mildura the only position open to her was on the surgical ward. Within a few months, however, that ward transitioned to ‘a Monday-to-Friday’ ward, she says. This didn’t suit: Julie’s husband, an emergency department nurse, worked shifts and Julie wanted to continue doing the same. So when the opportunity arose for a position in ICU, she took it.
She quickly felt at home, and soon after did her critical care certificate. ‘I’ve not looked back since,’ she says.
Safe Patient Care in the ICU
The ICU at Mildura Base, where Julie works, is a diverse unit. ‘It is called ICU, but we’re rural,’ being 600km from Melbourne she explains. ‘We’ve got eight beds. We can be anything from ICU, CCU, high-dependency, paediatric, medical, surgical and any complex cases really. Depending on skill mix, we can care for three to four ventilated patients, patients that require CRRT, or HDU patients requiring NIV, inotropic/vasopressor support.
‘It’s different all the time,’ she adds, while noting the exception of being bed blocked ‘Which always makes it interesting. It keeps me stimulated and motivated.’
As an ICU nurse and ANMF Job Rep, Julie is particularly interested in the Safe Patient Care Act amendment Bill which has just been passed by the Victorian parliament. The additional EFT that the Bill delivers will have a staged implementation. Additional funding has been secured to ensure all the improvements can be implemented by 1 July 2026.
‘At the moment it is unclear how the amendments will affect our unit,’ Julie says, ‘but a team leader or resource person would be fantastic. We have got two great critical care educators, but they are not always clinical and have duties outside of our unit.
‘I understand that a team leader/resource position will be supernumerary, which will be a huge advantage for us,’ she adds. ‘So then there’ll be lots of opportunity to provide bedside support and guidance to all staff in advancing their skills in a safe and timely manner.’
The family that works together…
Julie notes that they already have an ICU liaison nurse at Mildura – the incumbent is her husband! (for two days a week). It is one 8-hour shift per day, seven days a week. ‘So amending ratios to increase that FTE would be fantastic,’ she says.
Speaking of Julie’s husband, she jokes that because he’s also a mental health-trained nurse he can double as her counsellor when things get tough. All jokes aside, working together helps them support each other she says. ‘I’m very lucky that my husband’s a nurse as well. We can debrief together. He knows what I’m talking about. I know what he’s talking about. Often, we will be looking after the same patient: as a liaison nurse he assists in all clinical areas, and some of those patients are transitioned to ICU.’
How change happens
Both Julie and her husband are longtime ANMF members, and Job Reps. For Julie, membership offers many benefits – professional, industrial and even social – but perhaps most important is how it has helped her to better understand the EBA and her entitlements and rights at work. And to be involved in improving conditions at work.
A few years ago, after receiving feedback from the ICU staff, their NUM advocated for a supernumerary in charge position on night shift. During this time Julie saw an opportunity to help nurses and midwives by seeking ANMF support in securing this position. She put forward a motion at the 2021 Delegates Conference:
That this conference requests that the ANMF (Vic Branch) work to include in the next iteration of the Safe Patient Care Act the ‘In Charge’ position on night duty to become supernumerary for Victorian Public Sector Hospitals with unique mixed wards ICU/HDU/CCU.
‘It was quite nerve wracking,’ Julie says. But it was worth it: the motion was carried, became a resolution and, following ANMF advocacy, has become part of the Act. Mildura Base Public Hospital implemented it in 2023, and Julie confirmed that it has positively impacted their clinical environment.
This is how ANMF members make change happen.
