Nurses ramp up aged care campaign

A $3 million TV and radio advertising campaign will go to air around the country this month.

Nursing groups around the country are increasing their pressure on the government to introduce mandatory staffing ratios to the sector.

Developed by the NSW Nurses’ Association and the Australian Nursing Federation, the $3 million national television and radio advertising campaign is going to air across the country this month in the lead up to the federal budget on 11 May.

The television ad features a woman talking about the nurses who care for her mother in a residential facility.

“They do so much for so little,” she says. “Sometimes I fear the nurses may say enough is enough.

“I think the nurses deserve a whole lot better than what they are getting now.”

The ad urges viewers to log on to the Australian Nursing Federation’s (ANF) ‘Because we care’ campaign website to send an email to a federal politician in their state or territory.

The ANF’s national secretary said their would be “dire consequences” if the government did not respond to the union’s call for staff ratios and increased funding.

“We will see nurses disappearing more and more from aged care,” she said.

“We estimate that by 2050 there will be 400,000 people needing nursing home care. If we don’t do something now to recruit and retain the nurses into aged care, there simply won’t be enough nurses to cope.”

Click here to see the ANF television advertisement.

Tags: aged-care, campaign, funding, nurses, staffing,

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