Member Stories
Fearful for the future of paediatric nursing
I am a proud paediatric nurse, working with some of the sickest children in our state.
On a normal day in my unit, one registered nurse cares for four sick children. This means that for each hour, I can only give a sick child a maximum of 15 minutes of my time. That is 15 minutes to develop trust, take their bloods, check their vital signs – none of which is a speedy thing to do. I’m sure you can imagine that there are not many toddlers who will happily sit still and lend you their arm to take their blood pressure.
I am lucky that I only have four sick children to care for. Even so, there is always the constant feeling that you are not able to do enough for these children and their families. We are stretched.
My colleagues elsewhere have it far worse. Last week, a colleague was left alone with 26 sick kids waiting in the Emergency. And during this winter, we have had it worse than that.
Paediatric nursing isn’t for everyone – I appreciate that – but even so, we are currently facing a crisis of staff retention. Our experienced nurses are leaving at rapid rates. In my unit alone, we’ve lost one quarter of our workforce.
The stress of dealing with seriously unwell children, bearing the brunt of anger from parents who are frustrated at the stretched system, the onslaught of overtime because “someone has to stay” and the pay rate that is far behind our counterparts in other states, means that for so many, it doesn’t feel like it’s worth it any more.
I am scared for the future of paediatric nursing in this state. I am scared for the children who are the victims of a health system that is short-staffed or staffed by those without adequate experience.
Kate Surian, RN