The invaluable contributions of nurses will be celebrated throughout Queensland and the world on International Nurses’ Day (IND) today.
Queensland Nurses and Midwives’ Union (QNMU) Acting Secretary Kate Veach said the International Council of Nurses (ICN) celebrated IND on the anniversary of Florence Nightingale’s birth on May 12 each year.
The theme of this year’s IND is Our Nurses. Our Future.
Ms Veach said this year’s theme highlighted the importance of nurses and the need for immediate national planning to safeguard nurse numbers and the wellbeing of all Australians.
“Today we celebrate nurses throughout Queensland, Australia and the world and the invaluable contributions they make to communities everywhere,” Ms Veach said.
“Nurses are there for people when they are most vulnerable. We are the backbone of the health system and we are present in communities state-wide. Unfortunately, chronic understaffing and associated dangerous workloads are forcing growing numbers of nurses out of the profession.
“In keeping with the theme of this year’s International Nurses’ Day, we again call for investment and national workforce planning to secure the future of this incredible workforce and the Australians they care for."
Ms Veach said in 2014, pre-pandemic and conservative predictions pointed to an overall national shortfall of 85,000 nurses by 2025 and 123,000 nurses by 2030. These figures included shortfalls across all sectors including acute, aged care, critical care, emergency and mental health.
These projections are now considerably outdated. Significant economic and social pressures including population growth, an ageing population, the pandemic and the rising cost of living have greatly impacted workforce demand.
Ms Veach said coordinated state and federal government planning had not been conducted to meet existing or forecast future nursing needs throughout Queensland and Australia.
“Unfortunately, there is no silver bullet to fix critical nursing and midwifery shortages throughout Queensland or Australia,” Ms Veach said.
“State governments are introducing recruitment measures to attract nurses to their jurisdictions. However, states and the federal government must work together as a unified whole to develop and implement a consistent and coordinated national workforce plan.
“There is also opportunity for both the state and federal governments to implement new models of care which enhance local provision of care and increase the authority and delegation of nurses and midwives to provide care where and when it’s needed.
“We welcome the state and federal government's recent investments in nursing and hope to work constructively with them to develop a national model that sustains our critical nursing workforce well into the future.”
QNMU events will be held state-wide to celebrate Queensland nurses and their incredible contributions.
Contact: 0422 550 278