A national nursing shortage is wrecking plans to improve aged care despite a looming federal bid to fix the troubled sector, with the deficit likely to double by 2030 as demand for nurses continues to rise. Source: The Age.
Aged care managers are warning of a “knife fight for staff” to ensure they can meet a federal edict to guarantee 40 minutes of clinical care for every resident each day, in a major flashpoint for a reform plan due within weeks.
A shortage of nurses comes despite the Government expecting providers to boost the care delivered by a registered nurse to 44 minutes per resident per day from October.
Labor is seeking Coalition support for new rules to spur more investment in residential aged care by asking older Australians with more assets to pay more for daily services, as providers warn they will close beds without reform.
But the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation is calling on aged care providers to do more to meet the federal Government mandate for daily care, and says the industry has to lift its standards to attract and retain nurses.
While the Government expects providers to increase the care delivered by a registered nurse to 44 minutes a day per resident from October, it also forecasts a shortage of nurses this year and every year until at least 2035 because demand will outstrip supply.
The official figures show 50,232 nurses are in aged care this year, but the Government forecasts demand for 55,572 nurses, which means there would be a shortage of 5340 nurses.
Catholic Health Australia director of aged care policy Laura Haylen estimated the nurse shortage was far greater than some of the official figures showed, saying the sector had 60,000 care and nursing vacancies.
“The introduction of care minutes has required a significant uplift of staff,” Ms Haylen said.
“While we welcome the Government’s decisions to fund a wage increase and begin to recognise the importance of enrolled nurses by letting their minutes count towards the requirements, more needs to be done to address the workforce crisis.”
FULL STORY
‘A knife fight for staff’: Nurse shortage threatens aged care fix (By David Crowe, The Age)
