Research Confirms Australian Nurses on Endangered Species List
SYDNEY, 22 October 2008 — Kronos® Incorporated, a leading health workforce management specialist and the Australian Health Workforce Institute (AHWI) today announced the findings of a three month meta-research project into the nursing workforce in Australia.
As the first part of a two stage project, the research was designed to assess all the available data on the state of the Australian nursing workforce to determine whether there is enough valid information to propose solutions for a sustainable nursing workforce in Australia. This project also enabled researchers to identify a set of consistent findings across all current research and data in Australia from 1986 to 2007.
Some of the key findings of the meta-research were:
- Almost half (49 percent) of nurses currently work part time;
- There has been a significant rise in the average age of nurses from 40 years to 45 years;
- One in five nurses is working 45 hours or more a week; and
- One in three undergraduate nurses are not completing necessary degrees.
With the proportion of registered nurses that are 55 years and over increasing from 11 to 20 percent between 1999 and 2005; 14 percent of the nurse workforce retiring every five years; and only 70 percent of people qualified as nurses actually working as nurses; the research paints an unsustainable picture for the Australian nursing workforce.
"This meta-research is designed to offer Governments and industry a consistent, comprehensive analysis of all the research that has been carried out in Australia on the nursing workforce," said Professor Peter Brooks, interim director at AHWI. "In this project, we found that Australia has sufficient information, both at a national and State level, on the key nursing workforce indices to progress to an action phase. Rather than further studies into the nursing workforce problems, the focus should now be squarely placed on orchestrating solutions," Prof. Brooks added.
"Solutions must include a range of coordinated policies and implementation plans designed to recruit and maintain the necessary workforce to meet Australia's healthcare needs. It is not a simple matter to reconcile a growing demand for high quality health services with financial constraints and a shrinking workforce. New thinking on how to achieve improved productivity, innovation, workforce management, stakeholder collaboration and resources will be required if Australia is to successfully address Australia's predicted workforce issues," Professor Brooks concluded.
Sharon Lowry R.N., Manager, Healthcare Division, Kronos Asia Pacific said, "To simply categorise the current situation as a 'nursing shortage' is a gross oversimplification that could misinform potentially sustainable solutions. This research has diagnosed the complexities involved in addressing the entry, workforce management, and exit aspects of the issue. At a macro level, it shows us that the nurse workforce indicators across Australia are falling behind the increased need for nurses due to the growth and ageing of our population."
A good example of how the term 'shortage' can misinform policy decision makers is in skilled migration policies. Immigration has often been seen in Australia as a short cut to nurse (and other skills) sustainability. "The World Health Organisation has warned OECD countries that there is a global health workforce shortage of approximately 4.3 million workers. 'Nurse poaching' from third world or developing nations merely redistributes the shortage problem and in fact takes away vital healthcare skills from countries where they are most needed," Ms Lowry said.
The meta-research found that the number of nurses born overseas rose from 22.2 percent in 1986 to 27.3 percent in 2006, and in 2006-2007 there were 3090 visas granted to nurses under subclass 457. England, New Zealand, and The Philippines were the most common countries of birth for nurses who arrived to live in Australia in the five years prior to the 2006 Census.
"This says to me, skilled migration should not form a core role of any move toward achieving a sustainable nursing workforce. This is not just a 'replace the numbers' game. We need to be looking more deeply at sustainability in domestic skills training, adopting best practice workforce management practices, and managing the migration and attrition of the 90,000 nurses expected to retire between now and 2020. Failure to do so will undoubtedley result in a serious deterioration of the quality and sustainability of our healthcare services," Ms Lowry commented.
This research will now form the basis for the next phase of the project which will be a solutions-focused, stakeholder workshop (similar in style to the 2020 Summit) involving key public and private sector healthcare workforce experts across Australia to develop a sustainable action plan in early 2009.
"This important industry initiative is open to any healthcare workforce strategists and planners. The results of this meta-analysis would suggest we have the data to initiate action. What is now required is a committed, concerted, collaborative effort from State and Federal government as well as healthcare educators and industry leaders, in the development and implementation of the actions plans required." concluded Ms Lowry.
Notes to Editors
A full version of the research is available on request. It is a two volume report of over 250 pages. Please refer to the executive summary for an overview of the key findings.
About the Research
The research was commissioned by Kronos and conducted by senior AHWI staff.
- Prof. Peter Brooks, MBBS Monash, FRACP, FAFRM, FAFPHM, FRCP(Edin),
MD Hon.Causa (Lund). Executive Dean, Faculty of Health Sciences, UQ.
- Prof. Cathy Turner, RN, BA (UQ), Grad Dip Ed (ACU), MN (Flinders), PhD (UQ). Head of School, School of Nursing and Midwifery, UQ.
- Dr Michele Sheumack, Faculty of Health Sciences, UQ.
- Dr Brendan Moloney, Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences, UM.
It was conducted between July and October 2008 using an existing sources review from standard databases for locating journal publications, internet for reports and studies from governments, associations, institutes and references from reports and papers.
About Kronos Incorporated
Kronos Incorporated empowers organisations to effectively manage their workforce. At Kronos, we are experts who are solely focused on delivering software and services that enable organisations to reduce costs, increase productivity, improve employee satisfaction, and ultimately enhance the level of service they provide. Kronos serves customers in more than 60 countries through its network of offices, subsidiaries, and distributors. Widely recognised as a market and thought leader in managing the workforce, Kronos has unrivalled reach with more than 30 million people using a Kronos solution every day. Learn more about Kronos at www.kronos.com.au.
About AHWI
The Australian Health Workforce Institute (AHWI) was established in December 2007 to address and find innovative solutions to the serious shortage of health workers both in Australia and worldwide. Working closely with Commonwealth and State jurisdictions, AHWI is conducting research and developing policy that will help deliver Australia health workforce sustainability by 2020. AHWI is a joint venture between the University of Melbourne and the University of Queensland. Although the Institute's head office is located at the University of Melbourne, it draws expertise from a wide range of local and international sources.
