'System is in crisis': CWA calls for action to address nursing shortage

The Galore branch is heading to Coffs Harbour next week, joining 600 members from around the state at the organisation's annual conference.

More than 25 motions will be proposed by branches from across the state during the four-day meeting, addressing issues in sectors like education, the environment, transport and health.

The Galore branch will be putting forward a motion calling for state and federal governments "to ensure that nursing degrees incorporate a minimum of two years paid practical training, undertaken in a hospital setting".

Vice president of the Galore branch, Mackenna Powell, believed a financial incentive would help address the "critical nurse shortage in NSW".

"Hospitals are struggling and theatre times are blowing out, particularly for those without private insurance," Ms Powell said.

"Nurses anecdotally report that university training doesn't prepare them for the realities of the job and contributes to early leavers from the profession.

"This motion seeks to address the issues on two fronts, that nurses receive training that properly prepares them for their career, and that they, in a paid and stage-appropriate capacity, contribute to the nursing needs of the state."

Last year, The Daily Advertiser reported one in five emergency patients were not seen on time at Wagga Base Hospital, with thousands still waiting on surgery.

In February this year, the NSW government announced a major staffing reform that will help boost numbers in public hospitals and the health system between 2024 and 2027, including bringing an additional 500 paramedics to regional, rural and remote communities.

While Charles Sturt University labels nursing as one of its most popular degrees for undergraduates, Ms Powell said the number of people enrolling in nursing is "rapidly declining".

A 2023 survey by the Australian Primary Health Care Nurses Association (APNA) states more than a quarter of nurses "plan to leave their job in the next two to five years".

"In some states, for example Western Australia, for every 10 nurses recruited in the last year, four have resigned," Ms Powell said.

"Resignation of senior nurses leaves an enormous gap in expertise and experience that has always been used to assist and guide university graduates

"The lack of enough real time nursing experience sees some graduate nurses unable to cope with varied and complex tasks.

"We cannot ignore this crisis, action must be taken to ensure we have a functioning health system".

The annual CWA meeting starts on the 6^th of May and runs until the 9^th of May.