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Aged Care Nurse Sham
By Ben Packham, The Herald Sun
March 16, 2009
Australia
The Herald Sun has learned there is just one registered nurse for every 42 high-care residents living in Australian aged care homes.
Many homes are without a senior nurse on the wards overnight or at weekends.
Low-paid care workers - some with just three weeks' training - are handing out medicines.
The chronic shortage of university-trained nurses comes as more aged care homes are being accused of endangering residents.
Bedsores, poor nutrition and the failure to administer medication are common problems in homes that fail official checks.
TAFE-trained nurses and unlicensed care workers are increasingly expected to pick up the slack in nursing homes.
The Australian Nursing Federation said the lack of registered nurses, also known as division one nurses, was placing residents at risk.
"Aged care is health care," ANF national secretary Ged Kearney said.
"These people need high-quality health care from people who are qualified to look after them."
The ANF will launch a major campaign tomorrow aimed at boosting recognition for aged care nurses, who are paid about $300 a week less than those in the hospital system.
"The fact is, nurses working in aged care are paid significantly less than their counterparts in other sectors, which is one of the reasons we are having difficulty recruiting nursing staff to the industry," Ms Kearney said.
The Aged Care Association of Australia said nursing home providers wanted to employ more division one nurses but couldn't do so.
"They're just not there," chief executive Rod Young said. "The Federal Government for quite some time has failed to train enough nurses to meet future demand."
Mr Young said that providers were also unable to match nurse salaries in the hospital system.
"The Government gives us on average $108 a day. You can't get a Melbourne CBD hotel for that price."
Minister for Ageing Justine Elliott said that aged care homes were given about $43,000 a resident by taxpayers each year.
Providers also received an average of $20,000 in contributions from each resident.
"We acknowledge that aged care operators are operating businesses and have to see a reasonable return on their investments, but this should not be at the expense of care or their workers," she said.
There are about 154,000 high-care nursing home residents in Australia.
The National Institute of Labour Studies reports there are about 13,000 full-time equivalent division one nurses employed across the country.
Allowing for sick leave, holidays and three nursing shifts a day, this leaves 3665 division one nurses available at any given time.
They are supported by 2727 division two nurses and almost 14,000 personal care workers.
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