COVID-19
COVID dramatically accelerated nurse and midwife shortage
Even before the pandemic there was a serious shortage of nurses, midwives and other essential workers but the situation has deteriorated markedly in the last few years, new research confirms.
Labour shortages have been on the rise in Australia but dramatically so in essential occupations like nursing, midwifery and teaching, a report by respected labour market academic Professor David Peetz from Griffith University says.
The research he compiled found that by 2022, the number of internet vacancies for “essential” occupations – such as nursing and midwifery – was 98 per cent higher than it had been in 2018. For other occupations the number was just 26 per cent higher than in 2018.
In NSW there has been a progressive worsening in the shortage of registered nurses for more than a decade, with an acceleration over the last five years and in particular during the pandemic.
Internet vacancies for registered nurses trebled between 2012 and 2022 – rising by 205 per cent, with a 125 per cent increase over the past five years and a 48 per cent increase over the two years to 2022.
The report notes a strong gender dimension to essential work: 75 per cent of workers in essential occupations are female, compared to 47 per cent in the workforce as a whole. Some 46 per cent work part-time, compared to 34 per cent in the economy as a whole.
The shortages of essential workers are particularly marked in regional areas, the report says.
Between 2017 and 2022, all internet vacancies grew by 22 per cent in Sydney but by 117 per cent in provincial and rural regions. Vacancies in essential occupations grew by 74 per cent in Sydney but trebled – growing by 203 per cent – in provincial and rural regions, with the fastest growth in the North Coast and Riverina-Murray regions.
“Vacancies for essential occupations are more consequential in provincial and rural regions than they are in metropolitan regions and, in some non-metropolitan regions, advertised vacancies for essential occupations disproportionately dominate vacancies in that region,” it says.
The report notes there have been high rates of dissatisfaction with aspects of work, and high rates of attrition leading to a worsening of shortages. Some job-related factors such as work intensity, burnout and stress may also be contributors, it says.
Conditions of employment – in particular pay – also help to explain labour shortages.
“When employers say there is a labour shortage, it sometimes is better interpreted as a shortage of wages they are willing to offer to attract labour,” the report says.
“As recent public sector pay policies have led to declines in real wages for many people in essential occupations, it is highly likely this has depressed the supply of labour to essential occupation labour markets and thereby promoted labour shortages.”
“An easing of public sector wage restraint could not be the only solution to shortages of essential workers. There is no single solution. But it is difficult to see shortages being overcome in the absence of appropriate changes to wages policy.”
NSWNMA Assistant General Secretary Michael Whaites says the Peetz report is the latest in a long line of studies that reinforce the need for ratios.
“The report clearly shows that NSW nurses and midwives are stretched to the limit. We know that puts lives at risk. We also know ratios save lives.
“The election on 25 March will be pivotal for our public health system going forward. It is vital we all support candidates who support our ratios claim.”
‘The report clearly shows that NSW nurses and midwives are stretched to the limit. We know that puts lives at risk. We also know ratios save lives.’
— NSWNMA Assistant General Secretary Michael Whaites
“It is difficult to see shortages being overcome in the absence of appropriate changes to wages policy.”