The Victorian Government’s move to provide free university training for nurses and midwives has met with criticism from the aged care sector, with fears that a requirement for graduates to work in the state’s public health system will divert new nurses away from aged care.
The $270 million scheme will see the state pay for scholarships for 17,000 nursing and midwifery students, including 10,000 undergraduates, with all new students who enrol in professional-entry nursing or midwifery courses in 2023 and 2024 to receive up to $16,500 for course costs.
Announcing the plan, Premier Dan Andrews (above, centre) encouraged anyone thinking of studying nursing or midwifery in Victoria to “go for it”.
“Every health system in the country is under enormous pressure due to the pandemic. The best thing we can do to support our hardworking staff is give them more support on the ground – that’s why this package will train and hire more nurses than ever before,” he said.
However, the full $16,500 may not be available to nursing students who go into aged care: the base scholarship is $9,000, with the remaining $7,500 only going to students who commit to working in Victorian public health services for two years after they graduate.
According to Paul Sadler (below), CEO of the Aged and Community Care Providers Association (ACCPA), residential facilities and home and community care providers are struggling to fill staff vacancies, and are having to turn clients away or leave beds unfilled.
“ACCPA welcomes moves to encourage more people to enter nursing training; however, it is difficult to see how this scheme would provide an immediate benefit for the aged care sector as it appears to require successful study candidates to work for two years in the state public hospital system on graduation.
“The shortage of Registered Nurses in aged care is acute, and providers are facing enormous challenges as they prepare to try to meet requirements to provide additional minutes of care per resident per day and to ensure every aged care home has a RN on duty 24/7. This is especially difficult to achieve in regional and rural areas,” he said.
ACCPA has estimated that the Federal Government’s figure of 869 new nurses to meet the 24/7 mandate, based on Department of Health and Aged Care modelling, is too low.
