COVID dramatically accelerated nurse and midwife shortage

Labour shortages have been on the rise in Australia but dramatically so in essential occupations like nursing, midwifery and teaching, a report by respected labour market academic Professor David Peetz from Griffith University says.

The research he compiled found that by 2022, the number of internet vacancies for “essential” occupations – such as nursing and midwiferywas 98 per cent higher than it had been in 2018. For other occupations the number was just 26 per cent higher than in 2018.

In NSW there has been a progressive worsening in the shortage of registered nurses for more than a decade, with an acceleration over the last five years and in particular during the pandemic.

Internet vacancies for registered nurses trebled between 2012 and 2022 – rising by 205 per cent, with a 125 per cent increase over the past five years and a 48 per cent increase over the two years to 2022.

The report notes a strong gender dimension to essential work: 75 per cent of workers in essential occupations are female, compared to 47 per cent in the workforce as a whole. Some 46 per cent work parttime, compared to 34 per cent in the economy as a whole.

The shortages of essential workers are particularly marked in regional areas, the report says.

Between 2017 and 2022, all internet vacancies grew by 22 per cent in Sydney but by 117 per cent in provincial and rural regions. Vacancies in essential occupations grew by 74 per cent in Sydney but trebled – growing by 203 per cent –in provincial and rural regions, with the fastest growth in the North Coast and Riverina-Murray regions.

“Vacancies for essential occupations are more consequential in provincial and rural regions than they are in metropolitan regions and, in some non-metropolitan regions, advertised vacancies for essential occupations disproportionately dominate vacancies in that region,” it says.

The report notes there have been high rates of dissatisfaction with aspects of work, and high rates of attrition leading to a worsening of shortages. Some job-related factors such as work intensity, burnout and stress may also be contributors, it says.

Conditions of employment – in particular pay – also help to explain labour shortages.

“When employers say there is a labour shortage, it sometimes is better interpreted as a shortage of wages they are willing to offer to attract labour,” the report says.

“As recent public sector pay policies have led to declines in real wages for many people in essential occupations, it is highly likely this has depressed the supply of labour to essential occupation labour markets and thereby promoted labour shortages.”

“An easing of public sector wage restraint could not be the only solution to shortages of essential workers. There is no single solution. But it is difficult to see shortages being overcome in the absence of appropriate changes to wages policy.”

NSWNMA Assistant General Secretary Michael Whaites says the Peetz report is the latest in a long line of studies that reinforce the need for ratios.

“The report clearly shows that NSW nurses and midwives are stretched to the limit. We know that puts lives at risk. We also know ratios save lives.

“The election on 25 March will be pivotal for our public health system going forward. It is vital we all support candidates who support our ratios claim.” n

The community’s shock about our conditions is palpable

RN Skip Blofield and colleagues from Westmead Hospital have been spreading the word about ratios in Parramatta.

“Any time you have someone’s attention for any extended period, I find the same pattern – when told about the conditions that nurses and midwives have experienced over the last few years, people overwhelmingly support our claims,” he says.

“Several times when the ratios claim is explained in contrast to workloads of six, eight, or ten patients without breaks or support, the shock is palpable.

“A young woman was reminded that in that same year during the Delta wave, when we were called the ‘Heroes of the Pandemic’, our wages were frozen. At that point she then pledged to change her long-standing party allegiance and to instead vote for another candidate friendlier to our claims, in an effort to change the state government.

“In truth, this is our great strength in speaking our demands to power –when the community understand the state of their healthcare system, they readily come on side with us.”

Campaigning for change makes me excited

Rachel Hughes from John Hunter Hospital says she has been meeting with local candidates with her colleagues, “talking about our real life experiences”.

“We also talk about ratios and why it is just so important. We’ve been letterboxing and approaching local businesses to display posters and flyers. Campaigning for change makes me excited: I want to make things better for all nurses and midwives.

“This election will be a catalyst for so many nurses and midwives. We will either retain the staff we currently have and entice more to the profession or we’ll see the largest exodus of nurses and midwives we have ever seen. As a profession we cannot deal with any more of this.”