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Aged care split on nurses’ qualifications

By RHIANNA GALLAGHER
A Canberra nursing home is demanding the Government review its policy of what qualifications are needed by nurses working in aged care, suggesting it is contributing to the staff shortage in the sector.

The CEO of Goodwin nursing homes in Ainslie, Bruce McKenzie, believes staff in aged care face unique challenges on the job that require specialised skills different from nurses working in public acute care.

He wants an aged-care specific diploma to covers skillsareas commonly used in aged care and not skills needed for general public nursing.

“It is ridiculous for those working in the aged care services to have to get a four year university degree where they learn things that will never be used in aged care,” he said.

He believes that many nurses leave aged-care after becoming qualified leaving a servere shortage of skilled workers.

“Many work in nursing homes until they get registered when they leave for hospitals, to work in acute care where the wages are higher and the work appears more glamorous,” he said.

But nurses unions point out that while some skills, such as midwifery and pediatrics are not used by nurses in aged care, any changes to the qualifications of a nurse could lead to unskilled workers replacing nurses.

A spokesperson for the ACT Australian Nursing federation, Jenny Miragaya, believes any changes could jeopardise the care of those most vulnerable.

“While it’s true aged care deals with more specific conditions such as dementia and degenerative disorders, any move by nursing homes to replace qualified and experienced nurse staff with unskilled, unqualified careers would lead to a decrease in care of the vulnerable and elderly,” she said. “Homes are seeking to introduce this so that they don’t have to pay wages to qualified and registered nurses.”

Under current regulations nursing homes must have qualified nurses on staff to administer drugs and intravenous care but many nursing homes compete for registered staff with public hospitals where the average weekly wage can increase by up to $300.

The ANF agrees this disparity in wages makes it increasingly difficult to attract sufficient nurses to aged care. This is an issue they are hoping the Rudd Government will address should its proposed health care reform get through.

Figures released on the ANF website suggest the number of registered and enrolled nurses in aged care was decreasing despite an aging population.

“We are an aging population, set to increase dramatically in the coming years,” Miragaya said. “The current system of services cannot cope with the demand on aged care that will increase. This issue needs to be addressed urgently and we hope the public will get behind the proposed federal health takeover which would see nurses’ weekly salary rates standarised across all services”.

The 2010 Intergenerational report released by the Government inquired into aged care. It reported that the population of Australia is expected to grow from 22 million to 36 million by 2050. This increase would see extra strain on an already under-funded area.

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