Archived Media Releases: 11 May 2006

International Nurses Day May 12 2006 | Safe staffing saves lives

The Australian Nursing Federation joins nursing organisations around the world in calling on governments and policy makers to tackle an emerging crisis in the health care workforce on International Nurses Day.

The theme for International Nurses Day (IND) 2006 is Safe staffing saves lives. ANF Federal Secretary Jill Iliffe said while nurses have a lot to celebrate on IND the profession faces many challenges in the immediate future.

‘Research evidence consistently demonstrates that safe care for patients is dependent on having an adequate number of nurses available to provide the level of care needed.

‘There is a worldwide nursing shortage that has no quick fix solution. We need policy makers and governments in every country to make sure serious attention is given to the adequate staffing of all health care facilities. Nurses are at the forefront of highlighting this issue because we are passionate about providing quality health care.’

Australia will need to graduate 10,000 nurses a year to replenish the workforce and meet the demands of an ageing population, Ms Iliffe said.

‘We are seeing around 5,000 nurses come into the profession every year which will increase to 6,000 with the recent Federal Government commitment to provide an extra 1,000 university places. However there is a lot more to be done in educating, training, recruiting and retaining nurses if we are to avoid a crisis in our health care system in the very near future.’

Ms Iliffe said nurses and the whole community could celebrate International Nurses Day this year by recognising the essential role nurses play in the health care system and commit to the international theme of Safe staffing saves lives.

Click here to download the IND kit 2006 from the International Council of Nurses website

Click here [link removed] to view the IND Fact Sheet

Media Contacts
Jill Iliffe, Federal Secretary  0419 576 590
Ged Kearney, Assistant Federal Secretary 0417 053 322

The ANF, representing 150,000 members, is the professional and industrial voice for nurses and midwives in Australia