The Queensland government should introduce free nursing and midwifery degrees to combat critical staff shortages, the state’s Greens have said.
The party said their “nursebacker” plan would attract nurses to the public health system and retain workers experiencing burnout and exhaustion.
The proposal comes after the Victorian Labor government announced free university degrees and training for nurses and midwives last month as part of a $270m package.
As part of the Queensland Greens proposal, full scholarships would be offered for Tafe and university students enrolling in nursing and midwifery degrees approved by the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (Ahpra) for the next three years, starting from 2023.
This would include scholarships covering the cost for those re-entering the workforce and courses that further nursing careers such as postgraduate studies in specialist areas like intensive care, cancer care and paediatrics.
The Greens have also called for the government to pay Queensland nurses and midwives a $5,000 retention and workforce re-entry payment this year and next year.
The South Brisbane Greens MP, Amy MacMahon, said droves of nurses were leaving the state’s public health system, with hospitals struggling to find workers to replace them.
“By waiving university and Tafe fees for nursing and midwifery courses and covering the costs of requalifying or furthering a nursing career, we can get new nurses into the system and get former nurses back to work,” she said.
“Nurses and healthcare staff have told us they are burnt out, underpaid and suffering – and when nurses suffer, patients suffer too.
“It’s time our state implements a plan to tackle the nursing workforce crisis.”
Under the previously announced five-year Victorian program, all new domestic students enrolling in a professional-entry nursing and midwifery course in 2023 and 2024 will receive a scholarship of up to $16,500 to cover course costs.
Scholarships of $10,000 on average will be handed to postgraduate nurses completing studies in specialist areas.
The Queensland Nurses and Midwives Union (QNMU) had pushed for the state to implement a similar package, with fears Victoria’s announcement could encourage students to move interstate.
“The QNMU has repeatedly called for long-term nursing and midwifery workforce planning in Queensland and nationally,” the union’s secretary, Beth Mohle, said.
“If the Queensland government were to waive fees, this would likely assist with workforce growth and the retention of students and future nurses and midwives who might consider moving, studying and working interstate.”
The state’s health minister, Yvette D’Ath, said Queensland “provides a range of incentives to attract and retain nurses in rural and remote areas”.
She said these include free or subsidised accommodation, an allowance of up to $2,500 in professional development and bonus payments based on length of service.
“We are hiring an additional 770 nursing graduates in 2022/2023, on top of our existing annual intake, as well as an additional 100 clinical facilitators each year for this same period,” D’Ath said.
The minister said the upcoming Queensland Health workforce summit would examine new ways to increase staff levels, develop more First Nations health workers and adapt to new models of care to achieve a sustainable workforce.
