QNMU calls for more than 11,800 new nurses and midwives on Labour Day
Published: 06 May 2024
QUEENSLAND nurses and midwives will call for at least 11,800 additional Full Time Equivalent (FTE) Queensland Health (QH) colleagues this Labour Day.
Queensland Nurses and Midwives’ Union (QNMU) Secretary Sarah Beaman said the QNMU and 73,000 members would today again call for a state government budget commitment to more than 11,000 additional nurses and midwives.
Ms Beaman said Queensland was experiencing a workforce crisis across the public and private health system and the recruitment, retention and respect of nurses and midwives was key to solving the problem.
“The Queensland Nurses and Midwives’ Union is run by nurses and midwives for nurses and midwives,” Ms Beaman said.
“This Labour Day, the QNMU and our 73,000 members will call on the state government and all political parties to commit to funding and planning for at least 11,800 Full Time Equivalent nurses and midwives.
“Vast numbers of Queensland Health nurses and midwives are overworked, burnt out and thinking about leaving their professions.
“To continue to deliver a free public healthcare system Queenslanders can rely on, the state government must invest in thousands more nurses and midwives – and they need to do it now.”
The QNMU’s call for a state government commitment to at least 11,800 additional, permanent, full time equivalent (FTE) nurses and midwives in Queensland by mid-2029 is one of more than 40 asks contained in QNMU’s State Budget 2024-25 nursing and midwifery priorities document available here: State Budget Priorities 2024 (qnmu.org.au).
“The Queensland Nurses and Midwives’ Union and our members have provided the state government with solutions to the state’s workforce crisis,” Ms Beaman said.
“We have put forward more than 40 recommendations to achieve safe staffing numbers into the future, including workforce planning, free nursing and midwifery courses, payment for student placements, a Nurse and Midwife Mentoring Program, local health hubs, dedicated support and accessible and affordable housing in metropolitan, regional, rural and remote areas.
“This Labour Day we call on the state government and all political parties to commit to funding and planning for the new nurses and midwives needed to help solve the state’s health workforce crisis.
“The state budget is our target for increased funding and planning for more nurses and midwives in the public system, but our efforts won’t stop there.
“Nurses and midwives across private hospitals are desperate for more staff and regardless of where a patient receives care, they deserve access to safe staffing levels.”
QNMU members will march today in QNMU shirts with First Nation artwork and the slogan Making a Difference.
The QNMU continues to campaign for improved culturally safe and responsible health services for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. The QNMU expresses our continued commitment to working in partnership with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples to achieve health equity outcomes. The QNMU remains committed to the Uluru Statement from the Heart, including a pathway to truth telling and treaty.
The QNMU’s Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) is available at https://www.qnmu.org.au/Web/Media_and_Publications/QNMU_Reconciliation_Action_Plan
Media contact: 0422 550 278