By Parker McKenzie
A $270 million investment from the State Government will attempt to recruit and train 17,000 new nurses and midwives, with more than 10,000 students having the cost of their undergraduate studies paid for over the next two years.
All new domestic students enrolled in a nursing or midwifery course in 2023 and 2024 will receive a scholarship of up to $16,500 for course costs, Premier Daniel Andrews announced on Saturday 28 August.
“If you’re in Year 12 and you’ve been thinking about studying nursing or midwifery, go for it. We’ve got your HECS fees covered,” Mr Andrews said.
“Every health system in the country is under enormous pressure due to the pandemic. The best thing we can do to support our hardworking staff is give them more support on the ground, that’s why this package will train and hire more nurses than ever before.”
The package includes scholarships for postgraduate nurses to complete studies in specialist areas like intensive care, emergency, pediatrics and cancer care, $11,000 scholarships for enrolled nurses to become registered nurses, $12,000 scholarships for support training and employment of 100 new nurses in acute and community settings and over $20 million to support graduates and postgraduates as they transition into working at hospitals.
The Victorian branch of the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation welcomed the plan to grow the workforce by removing undergraduate and education costs.
ANMF Victoria branch secretary Lisa Fitzpatrick said “the plan builds on previous work and shows a sophisticated and targeted understanding of how to build the capacity of the current workforce.”
“Next year’s students will be tomorrow’s emergency and critical care nurses, maternal and child health nurses, school nurses, aged care nurses, theatre nurses, mental health nurses, acute and community nurses and midwives,” she said.
Australian Private Hospitals Association CEO Michael Roff said the incentives for graduate nurses to work in public hospitals would inevitably mean fewer nurses for other areas like primary care, aged care and private hospitals.
“This move could force the closure of services in the private sector and that is not good news for the state’s public hospital system. Victoria’s public hospitals are already groaning under the strain of Covid-19, influenza and massive elective surgery backlogs,” he said.
“They are currently relying on the private sector to help them manage all of this. If the private sector loses hospitals, the pressure on the public system only increases.”
