Media Release
16 November 2007
Who will do the caring?
The Australian Nursing Federation (ANF) says the Coalition’s $250 million aged care package which includes more transition care places for older Australians leaving hospital, increased community care packages and double the current capital funding for nursing homes, will assist older Australians to remain well and in their homes and in their transition from hospital to more appropriate care.
However the ANF is unclear about how the Howard government intends to staff the extra beds and care for the extra patients without one extra aged care nurse.
Acting Federal Secretary Ged Kearney said “Aged care requires appropriate numbers of qualified nurses to deliver safe care and there is currently a critical shortage of those very nurses.”
“It is a travesty that the dedicated nurses still working in the aged care sector earn around $250 per week less than their colleagues in other sectors and struggle under very difficult conditions to provide safe quality care. Little wonder it is virtually impossible to recruit staff to aged care.”
“Many people in the community are unaware of the qualifications of the staff looking after their loved ones in aged care facilities. They would be surprised to know that sometimes there is only one qualified nurse on duty for an entire facility. This means safe care is compromised, and puts undue pressure on dedicated but less qualified care staff.”
The ANF is calling on all parties for an ongoing commitment to quality care delivered safely through better working conditions, wages and workloads for nurses in aged care. The ANF says this can be fixed by federal government initiatives including;
- the establishment of dedicated funding to close the wages gap where nurses in aged care currently earn up to $20,000 per annum or $250 per week less than their colleagues in other areas;
- the licensing of all direct care staff; and
- the establishment of minimum nursing staff levels and an appropriate skill mix of direct care staff, and registered and enrolled nurses throughout the aged care workforce.
For more information regarding the election go to the ANF campaign webpage at:
http://www.anf.org.au/federal_election/election_index.html
Media inquiries:
Ged Kearney, Assistant Federal Secretary, 0417 053 322
Libby Muir, ANF Communications Manager 0413 834 979
The ANF, representing 150,000 members, is the professional and industrial voice for nurses and midwives in