Australian nurses are being offered an extra $500 a week to work in regional hospitals as the growing nursing shortage crisis worsens.
The Hunter New England health district has offered the weekly bonus on top of existing pay to try to lure nurses to 14 different NSW hospitals facing staff shortages.An internal letter from health bosses to staff said nurses were needed with skills and experience in ‘medical, surgical, emergency and critical care, operating theatres, midwifery, aged care and more’.
The towns and hospitals mentioned were: Tenterfield, Boggabri, Scone, Emmaville, Warialda, Walcha, Moree, Wee Waa, Gunnedah, Glen Innes, Merriwa, Denman, Armidale and Tamworth, the Sydney Morning Herald reported.
‘We encourage you to Google some of these towns and picture yourself working there,’ the letter said.
Hunter New England is one of NSW’s largest health districts but several other regional districts are said to be facing a similar crisis.
It comes after revelations in a parliamentary inquiry into regional hospitals supported claims that patients are sometimes being cared for by cooks and cleaners.
The report urged state and federal governments to address staff shortages.
Unions also said some hospitals have become ‘dangerously unsafe’ workplaces following a violent incident last month.
Nurses wrote to Western NSW Local Health District about conditions at Rylstone District Hospital south of Mudgee after a staff member was struck in the face and doused in urine.
The letter detailed how the same upset patient who threw a bottle of urine on a nurse also tried to use a telephone as a weapon and tried to stab other staff with a fork then a pen.
The document blamed ‘critically low’ staff numbers for tensions.
It comes after revelations in a parliamentary inquiry into regional hospitals supported claims that patients are sometimes being cared for by cooks and cleaners.
The report urged state and federal governments to address staff shortages.
Unions also said some hospitals have become ‘dangerously unsafe’ workplaces following a violent incident last month.
Nurses wrote to Western NSW Local Health District about conditions at Rylstone District Hospital south of Mudgee after a staff member was struck in the face and doused in urine.
The letter detailed how the same upset patient who threw a bottle of urine on a nurse also tried to use a telephone as a weapon and tried to stab other staff with a fork then a pen.
The document blamed ‘critically low’ staff numbers for tensions.