Ballarat universities are cautiously welcoming a state government announcement to provide free nursing and midwifery courses to students from next year to help address the critical skilled staff shortages in healthcare.
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But they want to see the detail and how the scheme will be rolled out, concerned that higher student numbers could add millions to the cost of providing training for universities.
Australian Catholic University had already applied to increase their nursing intake from 115 to 150 students for next year, months before the government's announcement to fund the cost of nursing or midwifery undergraduate studies for more than 10,000 students across the state.
The announcement also includes scholarships for thousands of nurses to complete postgraduate studies in areas of need such as intensive care, cancer care, pediatrics and nurse practitioner specialties, and an expanded postgraduate midwifery incentive program with scholarships to course costs and salary support for 150 existing nurses to complete their specialist midwifery studies.
In Ballarat alone there are around 1200 nursing students currently studying at Federation University and Australian Catholic University.
Federation University vice chancellor academic Professor Wendy Cross said there were many unknowns about the government announcement.
"We don't really know how it's going to work; whether students get funded directly, whether we get funded directly, whether there's going to be some requirement for the student on success," she said.
"It will increase the number of people interested in becoming nurses and midwives but the biggest issue isn't the interest, we could always take more, the problem is getting placements for them and the cost of placements.
Universities pay $60 a day to health services to take on nursing students for work placement.
"If we have 100 days that's $6000 per head. That's what it costs us to train one nurse," she said.
Federation University currently has about 2700 nursing students and 60 to 70 midwifery students across its campuses including about 900 in Ballarat.
"So if we get to 3000 nurses that's $18 million. If we get more students that's a bigger cost for us but the health services also have to find placements for them. There are eight universities in Victoria with nursing and midwifery programs who will all be looking to have more students."
ACU head of nursing, midwifery and paramedicine Professor Elisabeth Jacob said the $270 million package was "fantastic" for the nursing profession but would have little impact on the course itself given the cap on student numbers.
ACU is awaiting the ANMAC's decision whether course numbers there will increase.
She said there were always more students applying to study nursing than places available, but the package should help other solutions to the healthcare workforce shortage.
"One of the things the government could do is look at funding more educators in health services to make it easier to take on more students. If they had more support there they may feel they could take on more students," she said.
While there is a current shortage of nurses and midwives, the demand will surge particularly in western Victoria as both the Ballarat Base Hospital redevelopment, due for completion in 2027, and the new Melton Hospital, scheduled to open in 2029, come online.
"There a massive number (of nurses needed) and unless we can increase the number of students who can graduate there will be a hole there," Professor Jacob said.
But she warned training new nurses and midwives was just one part of the answer to the critical shortage and the booming demand.
"Retention is the biggest issue. It's a hard job, shift work is tough, and there's not a lot of career pathways for nurses and it's not structured particularly well."
Post-graduate scholarships to allow nurses to specialise would help, she said, but this year post-graduate numbers are down largely because nurses are exhausted from working through the pandemic and "don't have the energy for" extra study.
They don't feel they are getting enough support in the system. Everyone is stretched to the limit and ... it is something that needs to be looked at
- Professor Wendy Cross
Professor Cross said exhausted nurses were needing greater support, mentorship and transitions to stay in the workforce and health services needed to "step up" in those areas to retain staff.
"They don't feel they are getting enough support in the system. Everyone is stretched to the limit and ... it is something that needs to be looked at," she said.
She said a combination of overseas recruitment, bridging programs to get overseas nurses working in local hospitals, incentives and training for nurses who have left the profession but want to return, and harnessing retired nurses or those close to retirement to mentor younger workers could all help increase numbers.
IN OTHER NEWS
Grampians Health chief nursing midwifery officer Leanne Shea welcomed any support for expanding the nursing workforce.
In 2021, Grampians Health offered 30,000 clinical placement days across all of its sites to undergraduate nurses doing their Bachelor of Nursing, and those doing their Diploma of Nursing.
Ms Shea said GH was planning to expand its RUSON (Registered Undergraduate Student of Nursing) and RUSOM (Registered Undergraduate Student of Midwifery) programs for undergraduate nursing students to work in the clinical environment while completing their studies, which she said had already proved a smoother transition from studying in to the GH graduate workforce.
"We will continue to partner with our higher education partners to provide quality clinical placements for students in nursing and midwifery courses. We anticipate that this announcement will provide additional opportunities for our enrolled nurses who are looking to study further and embark on their Bachelor of Nursing degree."
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