Shortage of Nurses in Australia
November 11th, 2011 | 
Author: In most of the major cities in Australia, there is a critical shortage of nurses across different hospitals and aged care facilities. This has mainly arises from years of neglected recruitment and retention strategies. The shortage of nurses in Australia means that the nurses all around the world would be getting a golden opportunity to try their hands at establishing a nursing career in Australia.
Currently in the State of Queensland there are considerable shortages of nurses in accident and emergency, critical/intensive care, midwifery, mental health, community care, aged care and indigenous health. A lot of people have migrated to this state in the past few years and this has led to consequent demand on health services, resulting in an absolute shortage of nursing professionals.
The number of nurses in most of the important and major states in Australia are below the national average which is 1107 nurses per 100,000 population. Since the population in the major states and cities in Australia are on a rapid rise a major shortfall of nurses is expected by the year 2014 across the public, private and aged-care sectors.
The shortages of nurses in aged care sectors are difficult to determine as there are no reliable information and stats related to staffing shortages. Moreover the poor wages and conditions on offer and the lack of incentives add more to the shortage of nurses. As per the Australian Institute for Health and Welfare (AHWI) (2005), over the next 20 years Australia will be losing around 60% of the existing employed registered and enrolled nurse labour force through retirement. This would surely be posing real issues in the health care sector, and most of the hospitals in Australia will starve of experienced nurses if they do not plan and take necessary actions as soon as possible.
As per Australian Health Workforce Institute, about 15% of the nurses are retiring every 5 years, which creates a projected cumulative exodus of 90,000 nurses by 2026. The irony is that the graduates are not able to replace these nurses due to lack of skills and experience. For the experienced and skill nurses in any part of the globe, this would be a great opportunity and they can surely try to get into the Australian health care sector. Even if Australia hires nurses from abroad, the nurses would have to attend nursing bridging courses and once they clear the nursing adaption programs, then only they would be able to work as a registered nurse in Australia.
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New Nursing Grads and First Career Moves
So where to begin your career. No matter where you want your career to end up, you need to have a starting point and steps to get there.
My advice is to take a position within a medium to large size hospital that is part of a large hospital company. Why you ask? Medium to large hospitals usually have set in place adequate and finely honed preceptor programs. They also have the resources to implement and assess the success of these programs and make alterations accordingly. They have hired newly graduated nurses and may have experienced problems with retention and further recruitment. So they have surveyed and developed programs to combat the problems and obstacles new nurses face.
Next piece of advice, apply for positions on a medical/surgery or telemetry floor. This will give you the opportunity for practicing and advancing your assessment skills, gain experience nursing while developing your organization and time management skills. All of this is necessary for nursing survival.
When interviewing for these positions be sure ask questions about how they preceptor new graduates. Ask about their program? The length of it? Whether they have designated and dedicated preceptors? Will you have the same preceptor throughout your program? What if you and the preceptor aren’t compatible? How will they evaluate your progress? What if, at the end of the program length, you feel you need more time with your preceptor?
Once you accept a position, stay with it a minimum of one year. Longer if you feel you need more experience and have not found your comfort zone. For me, this worked. At the year mark, I was able to feel confident in my assessment skills, speak competently to physicians and other members of the health care team. I was no longer feeling overwhelmed by work load and was able to complete my nursing duties during my scheduled shift. This was opposed to being there 2 hours past shift, charting and giving end of shift report to my relief. That was a great feeling.
Ready for more advice. While in the hospital working, opportunities present themselves for you to take your next step. For me, it was during times of low census. The hospital floated staff to different units to help out. I was able to experience ICU, ER, and PACU this way. It was a great opportunity because the regular nursing staff in those areas understood that I was not able to come in and take a regular assignment, but I was able to help them and lessen their load. I was able to carry out duties that I was quite capable of, while observing and inquiring about duties that I had not yet been exposed too. I learned how to do manual cardiac output while in recovery room. It was a really big deal at the time!
This way was a great way to network. I gained respect of those nurses, which in turn, helped me years down the road in my role as house nursing supervisor. I also had highly skilled and competent nurses putting in good words for me. Their managers and directors knew my name, and in times of need, would tell the staff coordinator to see if I was available to float.
Another thing I was able to accomplish to obtain my career goals, was seeking out and receiving educational opportunities that the hospital provided. Hospitals routinely offer course that aid in career advancement. Some offerings are a unit requirement for employment, such as basic or advanced life support, basic ekg interpretation. Other courses such as, critical care, emergency care and preoperative programs are necessary to obtain a role in a specific unit. Take advantage of these courses. They can be the difference between moving to another unit and staying right where you are now!
If you have a specific area of interest in mind, make an appointment to speak with the nursing manager or director of that unit. They can guide you by explaining to you what they are looking for in a nurse. What qualifications are required? What courses to take to be considered for transfer? They are usually more than willing to have a little chat with you. It is a little self-serving, they may gain a new staff member. But it is a win-win situation, you are helping them and they are helping you too.
I hope you find this advice helpful. I will probably be posting other nursing related articles. I love new graduates. They are our future and salvation. I wish you all the best and happy nursing!
Why Breastfeeding Is the Best Option For Your Baby
Breastfeeding is the best option for your baby because of the many proven health benefits that come from only mother’s milk. The benefits to your baby’s immune system delivered through breast milk can not be duplicated in formula. In premature babies this could be the difference between life and death.
Babies are not born with a mature immune system so as they grow and encounter germs, their bodies are constantly working to create antibodies and fight off sickness. Breast milk contains millions of live antibodies from the mother’s mature adult immune system. These antibodies are shared with the baby every feeding time. Your body is even making new antibodies for new germs, which in turn are shared through breast milk and protect your baby.
Babies need a lot of good calories from good fat in order to grow. As long as the mother is eating the good fats that include the omega 3 fatty acids, the baby is getting that fat. Breast milk fat is also much easier to digest than formula fat because it contains enzymes to help the baby digest it. This is one of the reasons that breast milk is more easily digested than formula.
Breastfeeding is also a great option with regards to your family finances. Breast milk is free. The only costs are the groceries for the mother’s diet, which your family is already providing for. Studies show that breastfeeding will actually decrease mother and child’s healthcare costs for life. Breastfeeding your baby reduces the risks of many infectious diseases. Moms that breastfeed also have a reduced risk of breast cancer. These preventions will significantly reduce a family’s healthcare costs long-term. This is reason alone for breastfeeding being the best option for your baby.
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The Sweet Spot For LPN Courses
There’s a profound shortage of nurses in the United States — as in there is only one nurse out there for every five jobs he or she could fill. No lie: most people who go into an LPN Program quit within the first five years; it’s a very demanding job. But then again, stiff competition and tough conditions mean one thing in every capitalist society: excellent wages. And it’s true; even without a four-year college degree, a Licensed Practical Nurse can attain wages in the middle five digits even without a lot of experience under his or her belt!
Becoming a practical nurse is a serious matter. There are three ways to go about it: you can go straight into a hospital and learn ‘on the job’ as a Certified Nursing Assistant; you can go to college and get a degree in nursing and pass a State-certified test to become a Licensed Practical Nurse; or you can go to college for longer and pass a much more difficult test to become a Registered Nurse.
As a CNA, your job will basically be the hospital equivalent of flipping burgers. You’ll turn down beds, push wheelchairs, and basically be a warm body that blinks occasionally like they understand what someone is saying. But life gets a big bump upward when you become an LPN.
LPNs are still, in a way, assistants — they assist the Registered Nurses. But an LPN is “in the game”, delivering medicine, giving shots, adjusting people in traction, interviewing patients, and generally doing most of what you would consider “nurse work”. LPN training is long and covers a lot of subjects, but it’s not all that difficult.
RNs are the rank-and-file warriors in the fight against disease and injury in the USA; while the doctor will figure out what’s wrong with you, in most cases the RNs do the bulk of the work. Most people who are interested in nursing believe they will eventually become a Registered Nurse, but a surprising amount make it as an LPN and decide that they don’t want to endure the long hours and emotional wear and tear than an RN suffers. RN training blows LPN courses out of the water; it’s longer, more meticulous, and more painful, covering everything from anatomy to nutrition to pharmacology.
The best “landing” a person can make in the nursing field is generally as an LPN. CNAs don’t make enough; RNs have a tough, tough life. LPN training is doable for an average student but still stiff enough to keep the lowest 45% from competing for the jobs. The wages are good because of the demand, but the working conditions are still tolerable.
The best part, however, is that you can currently take LPN school online, which means a lot more flexibility (and usually a much lower cost) than a brick and mortar school. That alone can mean the difference between someone becoming an LPN or failing to become an RN.
In short, there are a lot of reasons to join the nursing profession — and a few good reasons you might want to avoid it. But with the income, lifestyle, and working conditions you can get with some straightforward online LPN training, you can hit the sweet spot where you get most of the good stuff and skip most of the bad.
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Forensic Nursing
So, you have been looking into getting a degree in nursing, but the more you look you notice there are many different types of nurses. One of these types is a Forensic Nurse. What is a forensic nurse? What type of training do you need to become one? And, what are the salary expectations?
A forensic nurse is a nurse with specific training in forensics. This may mean that they are trained in collecting evidence, different criminal procedures, legal testimony or expertise, and many other aspects. They act as the liaison between the police and medical professionals. Most of these nurses use science and legal proceedings in investigating deaths of victims, traumatic incidents, treatment of victims of violence and abuse, and child abuse. During legal proceedings, they may be asked to provide court testimony as an expert witness, or act as a consultant to investigators.
To become a forensic nurse, you must first become a registered nurse (RN) with a specialization in forensics. Training to become an RN normally requires that you graduate from a four year college with a Bachelors of Science in Nursing. Depending on where you would like to work, some places may allow you to become a RN after attending a two year school and getting your Associates degree. Once you have your degree you must then pass a license exam to get your nursing license for the state in which you intend to practice.
Once you have your RN license, you can then receive special training to become a forensic nurse. You can attend forensic courses through different universities, nursing schools, or online colleges. When you finish with all of your specialized classes, you have to apply to become a certified forensic nurse with the Forensic Nursing Certification Board (FNCB). You will probably want to double check with the FNCB before you apply for your certification to make sure you have all of the correct courses that are required.
Salaries for nurses in the forensic field can vary depending on what area of the country you are in, and of course with what your experience level is. You can generally expect to make anywhere from $54,000 to $208,000 a year, or $26 to $100 per hour depending on your employer. Again, salary is somewhat based on your experience, so the more you work within this field, you have more of a chance to earn a higher salary. The job outlook for this area of nursing is very good and is predicted to grow steadily over the next decade or two.
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