Latest Nursing News

The Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation (ANMF) has renewed calls for an overhaul of the aged care system amid ongoing allegations of mistreatment of nursing home residents and concerns the sector faces a major staffing crisis.

A recent survey of nurses and carers working in Aged Care has highlighted the disparity in wages for nurses and carers working in residential aged care relative to nurses and carers working in the public hospital sector.  The survey of 242 nurses and carers also revealed the extent of aged care workers resentment at their wages and work loads, with 98% of PCAs, AINs and ENs responding that they do not believe they receive a fair wage for the work they do.

Aged care workers say their industry is facing a staffing crisis, with claims of abuse and neglect as patients struggle to get even basic care. In phone calls and emails with scores of carers, nurses, facility managers and even former health bureaucrats, ABC's Lateline program has uncovered a pattern of failure in many facilities.

PRIME Minister Kevin Rudd has promised to invest an extra $30 million in training for early childhood educators, nurses, allied health professionals and disability support carers. The two-year funding pledge, which is already included in the budget, came two days after Mr Rudd announced Labor would invest $35 million in training young disadvantaged people.

Mental health nurses are likely to play a key role within the mix of care providers made available to recipients of the National Disability Insurance Scheme through nursing agencies. Simon Schweigert, secretariat of the Association of Nursing Recruitment Agencies (ANRA), told NCAH that mental health issues were often part of a greater disability issue.

MANY psychiatric nurses in Rockhampton are struggling with their own health, working in an environment that is challenging beyond most people's understanding. Added to an often abusive and physically threatening environment dealing with illicit drug users are the demands of shift work and a roster that places unreal demands on staff.

A NSW nurses conference has welcomed a government promise of extra jobs, but there was no hoped-for commitment on minimum staff-patient ratios.

Former arts minister Ros Bates has been referred to the Parliamentary Ethics Committee over her claims she was a registered nurse. Ms Bates made the claim while speaking on the government's Industrial Relations Transparency and Accountability legislation in early June.

QUEENSLAND: disgruntled bureaucrats one day, angry nurses the next. About 300 nurses and midwives, armed with high-pitched whistles and catchy slogans, descended on state parliament on Thursday to protest against plans to privatise Queensland's new hospitals. Just two days earlier, about 1000 public servants met in the same spot to demonstrate against pay rises for politicians and their own pay offer.

QUEENSLAND Nurses Union secretary Beth Mohle says new laws revealing the paypackets of union bosses are "just another distraction". She says her union's members had never been kept in the dark when it came to the pay and perks of QNU officials. "We already declared that before it was a requirement to do it. We've got nothing to hide," Ms Mohle said.