MANY people believe that nursing graduates just walk into hospitals with their degrees, do their final 12 months in the wards and then sign on to a permanent position.
The government might like you to believe that, but the truth is it’s the opposite.
Currently there are more than 3000 students doing medical related studies at our local University of South Queensland campuses.
That might fill you with great optimism that the days of nursing shortages are over.
Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but here are the cold hard facts.
While the hospitals are desperate for nurses and those that are in the wards are exhausted and over worked the hospitals only have the budget to give permanent places to a few new staff members.
Graduates from the university are left to grapple over short-term contracts for years which gives them no assurances that nursing can be their long term future.
First hand information reveals that many wait and wait to win a position and some just throw up their hands and go off to use their degrees in other areas far removed from working in the critical areas where nurses are needed.
The seasoned nurses who oversee the departments are hamstrung by budgets that say every shift needs to be monitored closely to ensure their ward is not breaking the limited allowances given to them.
Hospital administration teams look over their shoulders and question them about why they put an extra nurse on, they never ask them why they didn’t.
Explanations that their wards were packed with patients hold little weight.
Working to their budget is what they are judged on, not the feedback handed in by the many patients they care for every day.
It’s tough enough for young nurses to cope with the complex and pressurised environment they have just walked into without them also wondering if they will be given any hours to work in a few months’ time so they can pay their rent.
Is it any wonder they are walking away from nursing frustrated and disillusioned.
So, don’t let the government tell you they are doing everything to fix the nursing shortage issue. They simply aren’t telling the truth.
