I'm sure you have heard about the recent funding cuts to Australia's healthcare system and hospitals and the impact this is having on nurses and the quality of patient care.

However, there has been little recognition of the effect of these cuts on newly registered nurses, many of whom are without employment and are being forced to seek new careers.

Despite paying thousands of dollars and undertaking three years of full-time study, including travelling statewide to undertake clinical placement, hundreds of graduates are being left without employment or options for future employment.

I was one of the 43 per cent of Victorian nursing graduates who missed out on a job or graduate year at the end of my study. Since then I have applied for several jobs across the state in various facilities.

Hospitals, aged-care facilities, nursing agencies and recruitment services have all replied to my application with similar responses: "Not well suited to a new graduate without the experience" - Ballarat Health Services; "Do not offer positions to Grade 1 nurses" - Eastern Health and Epworth Healthcare; "We don't employ Graduates" - Austin Health. Many other facilities have offered to hire me as a personal care attendant, which is far below my qualification, skills and expected income.

These cuts are happening time and time again despite the Australian healthcare system crying out for more nurses due to a nationwide shortage.

On Saturday The Courier reported that Ballarat Health Services had to close more than

eight beds and have lost 25 staff due to a further $2.8 million dollars in budget cuts. These staff members are not being replaced.

If we continue to be unem- ployed in the longterm, we will not be able to practice as nurses because we will lose our competencies and registration.

I have tried to contact Ted Ballieu about this matter - with no response. If I had known three years ago that at the completion of my nursing studies I would be left without a career and with a substantial debt I would have chosen a different career.

It is a disgrace that our govern- ment is willing to put our health care system, once regarded as one of the best in the world, in this position.

We are the future of Australia's nurses and healthcare system! It is only fair for the government and Ted Ballieu to take responsibility for their actions.

If they cannot fix this deplorable miscalculation of funding it is only fair that the government waive our HECS fees to allow us to put the funds toward finding new careers and to cover the costs and burden of facing unemployment.

HANNAH RODWELL

Ballarat