Coalition Plans For Medical Workforce Lacks Strategy, Australia

Main Category: Primary Care / General Practice
Also Included In: Nursing / Midwifery
Article Date: 01 Nov 2007 - 2:00 PDT

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The Australian Nursing Federation (ANF) welcomed the Coalition's election pledge to extend funding to employ a practice nurse in all GP clinics, but said it lacks a strategic workforce plan.

"The ANF welcomes any initiative that supports GPs and practice nurses. However where will Mr Howard find the nurses to work in GP surgeries?" said ANF Assistant Federal Secretary Ged Kearney.

Ms Kearney said the plan to train enrolled nursing students in 25 hospital based training schools will not deliver a single undergraduate nurse into the system.

"The hospital based training strategy to deliver 500 enrolled nurses into the system is misleading and Mr Howard should stop claiming that it will relieve the shortage of registered nurses. If Mr Howard is serious about addressing nursing workforce issues he would listen to nurses and fund an extra 1,000 undergraduate nursing places."

The proposal to fund 800,000 home visits by practice nurses to older Australians and Veterans is much needed but the plan lacks any detail on where the nurses are coming from, Ms Kearney said.

"There is no doubt we need to provide more home based care services to older Australian's but the real problem remains that we do not have enough nurses working in the profession at the moment.

"One of the main problems we face is the large number of nurses who remain registered (*30,000) but refuse to work as nurses as a result of the rising pressures of the job in an overstretched health care system and the lack of decent wages and conditions on offer," Ms Kearney said.

Australian Nursing Federation