A recent study has found that nurses working in primary health have been left worse off by the COVID-19, contrary to the popular belief that health workers’ employment had been minimally affected by the pandemic.  

The Australian first study on primary health nurses and COVID-19, as published in the Journal of Nursing Scholarship, found that nearly three-fifths of those surveyed had their employment affected by the crisis. 

This included 28.7% of respondents who had seen a decrease in hours as a result of the pandemic, and 11.5% who had been threatened with the loss of employment. 3.5% of primary health nurses indicated they had lost their job through COVID-19. 

On top of this, the survey also found that 22% of nurses surveyed were considering leaving the profession, with concern for personal safety and lack of job security being cited as the key reasons for this consideration. 

Further, only 48% of respondents felt they were adequately supported by their employers through this time. 

The authors said that the study raise “significant concerns” held by primary health care nurses. 

“Findings from this study indicate that the COVID‐19 pandemic has significantly impacted on the job security, workload, service provision, and safety concerns for nurses working in Australian PHC”, the study stated. 

The NSW Nurses and Midwives’ Association is the union for nurses working in primary health. You can join the Association here and be protected professionally and industrially through COVID-19.