21
July 2004
ALP
nursing policy recognises nurses' vital role
Today's
announcement of the ALPs nursing policy by Shadow Minister for
Health Julia Gillard at the NSW Nurses' Association (ANF NSW
Branch) Annual Conference in Sydney is a long overdue acknowledgement
of the critical role of nurses in the provision of health care
to the Australian Community. The ANF particularly applauds the
commitments to appoint a principal nurse adviser at a national
level and to increase undergraduate nursing places.
ANF Federal Secretary Jill Iliffe said the ANF has been calling
for a national principal nursing advisor for a long time to provide
leadership and advice and to coordinate at a national level activities
and issues of importance to nursing and nurses.
'Nurses, as almost 50% of the health workforce will welcome a
voice at a federal government level,' Ms Iliffe said.
'This appointment will enable the Australian Government to address
national nursing issues in a way that is relevant and beneficial
to nurses and to the community.'
Ms Iliffe also welcomed the ALP commitment to increase the number
of university places for nursing.
'For the last four years, there has been insufficient places
in undergraduate nursing courses for the number of eligible applicants.
Creating another 1,100 places each year is the minimum required
to ensure there will be a sufficient number of nurses to care
for the community into the future,' Ms Iliffe said.
'An additional 500 full-time postgraduate nursing HECS places
from 2005, will also assist more nurses to study in high demand
specialist areas including emergency and intensive care, cardiothoracic,
neonatal intensive care, midwifery, aged care and mental health.
'These are all positive steps and we await with interest to see
whether the Government is prepared to make a similar commitment.'
The National Review of Nursing Education predicted nursing vacancies of 31,000 by 2006 (Commonwealth of Australia, 2000, The National Review of Nursing Education 2002, DEST no. 6925.HERC02A)
This
year, 4545 eligible nursing applicants missed out on an undergraduate
nursing place (Australian Vice-Chancellors' Committee 2004. Applications
for undergraduate higher education courses, 2004)
MEDIA
CONTACTS
Jill
Iliffe, ANF Federal Secretary 0419 576 590
Ged Cowin, ANF Assistant Federal Secretary 0417 053 322
Heather Witham, ANF Federal Communications Officer 0417 359 907
The ANF, representing 140,000 members, is the professional and industrial voice for nurses in Australia.