Staff shortages and workloads threaten to force many public system nurses and midwives out of nursing altogether, a union survey reveals.
Almost seven in every ten NSW nurses and midwives say they have thought seriously about leaving nursing/midwifery as a profession in the past year – mainly because of poor staffing levels.
In an NSWNMA survey of member attitudes conducted by an independent research company, 67 per cent say the following statement applies to them: “There are times in the past 12 months that I’ve thought seriously about leaving nursing/midwifery as a profession.”
Of those who had thought seriously about leaving, 96 per cent gave workload and staffing issues as the reason.
Breaking that figure down, 74 per cent say staffing levels are inadequate, 62 per cent believe the skill mix is inappropriate and 62 per cent say the workload is too high.
An alarming 60 per cent of those who had pondered quitting are worried about patient safety with even more – 64 per cent – worried about standards of care.
More than a quarter (26 per cent) are concerned about “being asked to do things that compromise my registration.”
Eighty nine per cent of members responding believe proper ratios would benefit patient care and patient safety, 86 per cent believe they would have a positive impact on workloads and 69 per cent believe they would improve work–life balance.
Members strongly support the NSWNMA’s advocacy on ratios. Sixty nine per cent of survey respondents said that the number one goal of 2018 should be improving ratios – ahead of pay rises.
Despite their concerns about the implementation of existing ratios, only 22 per cent believe the union’s main focus should be on this. Instead, three-quarters of members (75 per cent) believe the NSWNMA should advocate for new and improved standards of ratios.
Asked about the performance of the NSW state government, 68 per cent of members said it had done a poor job of maintaining nursing and midwifery staff numbers in the public health system.
Two in every three nurses and three-quarters of midwives feel the Berejiklian government does not value nurses and midwives enough.
The survey covered 2440 public sector members and was conducted between late March and early April 2018.
While a majority of nurses and midwives report some degree of satisfaction with their job, only 17 per cent describe themselves as very or extremely satisfied, while 42 per cent are “somewhat satisfied”.
Among the 41 per cent who are dissatisfied, 18 per cent describe themselves as very or extremely dissatisfied while 23 per cent are “somewhat dissatisfied”.
