Too late to fix nursing shortage...

Oh so true,

a lot of younger people dont want to do nursing anymore and I dont blame them, I mean, crap pay, long hours, double shifts, no respect most of the time from doctors, abuse from patients, the list goes on and on ...

Somethings got to be done and done now otherwise god help us all,

and iam only 24 so thats a long way off ..

Az

Globally, there is no shortage of unskilled labour. I think as this problem starts to bite, Australia will start to open up our immigration programme. My fear is a question of training - Will conservatives use a labour shortage as an excuse to employ untrained staff (hence poorly paid)? Or will we see a move to the left in Australian politics - and potentially educate and nurture unskilled migrants?

Governments and private enterprises are starting to train up lower skilled workers - ENs and PCAs giving medications in Victoria for instance. We may question their motives, but there is no problem if done properly. And this is an opportunity for us of course - nurse prescibing and nurse practitioner roles (for instance I just completed a course on cannulation for nurses).

There are more than enough able bodies to care for us - and it's important to remember this is a political issue, not a economic or physical issue (like a shortage of bananas). Its a question of priorities - where do we dedicate our resources; education and training, housing, tax cuts, private hospital insurance (health care with carpets!), baby bonuses etc

my ward manager employ quit a lot asian RN, most of them from phillipine. they want to leave their country, so they studied nursing and get a job in other countries. they work hard and they are very nice.

if the time can go back, i wouldnt study nursing

increase the wage can attract more people get into nursing profession. however, it cannot solve all the problems. Lot of people think that nursing is not a glamour job. big responsibility, shift work. I am quite ok with the shift work and long hours. However, if i have a family or have a kid, i may have to change my career or just something that is not so physical demanding job. I would more prefer to work 9 to 5, stay home with my family after work .

i can understand why some nurses leave the profession and lot of young people dont want to do nursing.

It's funny. I'm entering into the career to have greater flexability. I look forward to having a family in a few years and want to be able to work around the family more than being restricted to Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm as many other jobs are. Then at least there's overtime/penalty rates for shift-work which are good.

Hello All,

I'm Mary, a registered Mental Health nurse in the UK. After reading this thread I just had to post a comment. I'm well qualified, youngish, no kids, lots of experience and post grad training. Hubby and myself have decided to move to Victoria to work. I've applied for lots of jobs over the last three weeks to about 6 Victorian agencies and directly to hospitals as well. None have replied with any interest - just a couple of standard emails.
I'm sure that my experience, quals, and all other factors meet all the requirements of the job ads. Aussie press is full of stories like those in this thread.

Can anyone please suggest whats going on. Surely shortage + good applicant = job?

Am I missing something?

Being in the final year of my nsg degree I will soon be entering the hospital environment. After working in hospitals in various roles throughout the years I have talked to alot of RNs about the "nursing shortage".

Is it fact or fiction. From one side (the nurses) clearly it can be seen as frustrating that due to increased patient allocations there is a perceived feeling that patient needs are not being met, which as the QNU report, is a major contributer to burnout. From a managerial perspective, they want budgets to fall within allocation and we all know what blows budgets out, wages. As nurses are the biggest group of workers in the health sector it is reasonable to assume we are the biggest expenditure.

Know don't get me wrong, I'm all for more dollars in the pocket but with limited coffers where is the money going to come from. Health budgets are allocated by Govts so either we get paid more or some people will sit on the waiting list forever and a day.

Also, I have begun to inquire about the work prospects in my central Qld town and have been told there are NO FULL TIME JOBS. RNs inform me that when a full time job comes up they are competing with each other to apply for it. This makes me wonder what it is that is actually going on.Is this just a push by managements of hospitals to get more nurses trained leading to more people on their books so wages remain low, and also, it seems that they just want nurses that can fill the gaps on a casual on call basis.

Nurses are getting older and yes younger people are not taking to nursing as a career but when I was younger I would not have given nursing a second thought either. Maybe, just maybe, when these younger people age a little and find they need a higher sense of personal fulfillment then maybe they will do as I am doing now.

This remains a purely skeptical look at this issue and I do realise that there are many more complex factors involved. However, this argument may very well be a legitimate issue as the modern workforce is slimming down and management are always looking for ways to spend less to get more.

MaryUK: please remember this is purely from my perspective. I am sure other much more experienced nurses may very well blow my argument out of the water.

I am in no doubt that certain specialised areas of practice and indeed certain geographical areas are in need of nurses. However, this is not really the case where I am located. I am more than happy to go "wherever the work is" but at this stage I'm still searching.

I wonder how many people like myself, have been out of the nursing field, for a period of time, and find it difficult to acces information regarding retraining programs. Seems I keep coming up against brick walls with no one able to give you advice. I wonder if this information was easy to get too, more of us "older experienced" En's could get back in the game. If anyone has overcome simular obsticles i would love to know.

Obviously I cannot comment on what things are like now but as a 22 year old when undertaking work in a hospital as an assistant, I was treated very harshly by nursing staff and subjected to treatment that put me off nursing entirely.

Now that I have a more mature outlook and accept that I was unfortunate to have copped a few bullies in the workplace, friends of mine who are enrolled nurses often complain that they, too, are not treated well by nursing staff. One particular sticking point was the introduction of the medication endorsement. The feedback I have received from them was that the reaction to this was aggressive and unrelenting. To combat this, they obtained other jobs in areas that they felt they were able to succeed in their roles. Good for them, I say for persevering but I really can understand why people leave or just won't consider nursing at all.

Back then as a young girl, I couldn't wait to get out of there fast enough. Now as an older, more experienced woman, I am well prepared for anyone who attempts to pull the same behaviour on me again.

In addressing the shortages, I would suggest that perhaps one could also look to how the workplace is run rather than just the job spec itself.

Just my 2c.