To relieve workforce strains on Victoria’s overburdened health system, more than 10,000 aspiring nurses and midwives will have their university degrees fully reimbursed.
As part of a $270 million plan unveiled by the Victorian government on Sunday, nurses and midwives will be recruited and educated gratis beginning in 2019.
All new domestic students enrolled in professional-entry nursing and midwifery programmes in 2023 and 2024 will be eligible for a scholarship of up to $16,500 to help with course expenses under the five-year scheme.
Over the course of their three years of education, students will earn $9000; the remaining $7500 will be paid off if they complete two years of employment in Victorian public health services.
The Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation (ANMF) headquarters in Melbourne was filled with employees who cheered when Premier Daniel Andrews said on Sunday, “We will cover their whole HECS debt.”
They’re not applauding for themselves; rather, they’re clapping because they realise that having an additional set of hands is the nicest thing.
VICTORIA’S $270 MILLION PLAN FOR HEALTH
* More than 10,000 nurses and midwives will get free university training.
* An extended postgraduate midwifery programme will pay for tuition and provide financial aid to 150 current nurses to finish their degrees
* Nurses participating in courses to become registered nurses will get $11,000 scholarships to pay school fees.
*100 new nurse practitioners in acute and community settings will each receive a $12,000 grant.
* Over $20 million will be provided to assist graduates and postgraduates make their transition to working in hospitals.
Postgraduate nurses will also be given scholarships worth an average of $10,000 to finish their studies in specialty fields including critical care, emergency, paediatrics, and cancer care.
Hospitals all around the state were collapsing under the weight of the most recent COVID-19 wave, according to Mr. Andrews, who said that the Victorian government had been working on the package for months.
‘Our hospital system is under very, very considerable strain,’ he said, noting that this winter, up to 2000 medical personnel were absent from work due to the virus on any given day.
Nurses are not exempt from it, if Covid is out of control.
The opposition will match the pledge, according to shadow health spokesperson Georgie Crozier, who also noted that the coalition would announce its whole staffing strategy closer to the November state election.
Daniel Andrews had eight years to resolve this, but he did nothing, she said.
“This administration lacks ideas and is rushing to make an announcement,” one person said.
Lisa Fitzpatrick, the state secretary of the ANMF, expressed her delight at the commitment made by the Victorian government but expressed worry over the opposition’s promise to equal it.
She referred to a well-known scene from the 1989 movie When Harry Met Sally and stated, “It kind of feels like the Meg Ryan (phrase) “I’ll just have what she’s having.”
“It’s unsettling that they would merely say that without knowing the specifics of the agreement,” you could remark.
The $270 million package, in Ms. Fitzpatrick’s opinion, will facilitate roster filling and encourage more nurses to choose flexible work schedules.
After two and a half years marred by pandemics, both main parties have identified health as a significant topic of attention for the next state election.
If it wins the election in November, the opposition has pledged to scrap the Andrews administration’s multibillion-dollar Suburban Rail Loop project and use the money instead to develop and renovate hospitals in Melbourne and other parts of Victoria.