New nurses `only add to burden’: [6 NSW Country Edition]
Nicola Berkovic, John Stapleton, Additional reporting: Tamara Davis. The Australian; Canberra, A.C.T. [Canberra, A.C.T] 04 Jan 2008: 4.
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Abstract
“We’ve taken a number of small steps to address the issues here at Royal North Shore, as well as to improve health services across the state,” the Premier said. “These small steps become a quantum leap today, with 1600 nurses graduating from our universities taking up positions at the end of January in our hospitals.
“Evidence given to the Royal North Shore Hospital inquiry showed a desperate need to fill over 100 nurse vacancies at the hospital not with new graduates but with experienced nurses,” Ms [Jillian Skinner] said. “These 128 new graduates will only add to the pressure on the existing hospital staff. They need experienced staff to help train them.”
“If we don’t nurture these new graduates they are not going to stay,” she said.
Full Text
A RECORD number of graduate nurses will not solve NSW’s health problems — it will only place more pressure on the state’s already stretched hospital system, according to the nurses association and the Opposition.
Premier Morris Iemma said a record 1618 new registered nurses would enter the public hospital system this month, following thestate Government’s $1.8million campaign to attract school-leavers into the profession.
Mr Iemma made the announcement yesterday at Sydney’s troubled Royal North Shore Hospital, which will receive 128 of thegraduates.
“We’ve taken a number of small steps to address the issues here at Royal North Shore, as well as to improve health services across the state,” the Premier said. “These small steps become a quantum leap today, with 1600 nurses graduating from our universities taking up positions at the end of January in our hospitals.
Opposition health spokeswoman Jillian Skinner said rather than alleviating staffing pressures, the new registered nurses would place an additional burden on existing staff.
“Evidence given to the Royal North Shore Hospital inquiry showed a desperate need to fill over 100 nurse vacancies at the hospital not with new graduates but with experienced nurses,” Ms Skinner said. “These 128 new graduates will only add to the pressure on theexisting hospital staff. They need experienced staff to help train them.”
Ms Skinner urged the Government to ensure new graduates had experienced mentors and educators to help them adjust to pressured work on the wards.
NSW Nurses Association acting general secretary Judith Kiejda said it was pleasing to see so many graduates entering theprofession, but she echoed Ms Skinner’s concerns.
She said there were already 1300 vacancies across the state for experienced nurses.
“If you have a system carrying 1300 vacancies, that is going to put added pressure on your experienced staff because you need to show these new people how to transit from the university system to the clinical setting,” she said.
Ms Kiejda said it was critical new graduates were given appropriate mentoring so they remained in the profession.
“If we don’t nurture these new graduates they are not going to stay,” she said.
Mr Iemma said he had been advised that every ward at RNSH had a clinical nurse educator.