MIGRANT nurses employed under 457 temporary working visa arrangements are needed to plug crucial gaps in rural hospitals, according to Charles Sturt University head of nursing Karen Francis.
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Almost 100 nurses – representing close to one-sixth of the nursing workforce – are employed on 457 visas at Wagga Base Hospital in a range of vital positions.
A large proportion of nurses leave the profession once they turn 25, leaving a gap that can’t be backfilled by graduates alone and forcing health administrators to turn to other avenues to fill roles, Dr Francis said.
“We’re actually producing enough nurses to meet our needs but we have a significant attrition from the system,” she said.
“When nurses hit about 25 there’s a sharp drop – they leave nursing either permanently or for a period of time.”
The problem of retaining nurses for extended periods of time is keenly felt in regional areas.
Dr Francis said more needed to be done in order to make regional and rural centres more attractive to nurses to get them to stick around.
“One of the things that we’ve talked about in professional circles is having incentives that encourage people to look at rural practice as an option,” she said.
“At the moment there isn’t much that makes it particularly attractive.”
Despite the rise in recruitment of nurses on 457 visas, graduate recruitment levels at Wagga Base Hospital have remained steady.
This year Wagga Base Hospital took in 28 new graduate nurses, while it plans to offer 30 graduate positions in 2014.
Murrumbidgee Local Health District (MLHD) is committed to maintaining its graduate intake, according to Wagga Base Hospital general manager Denis Thomas.
“Graduate registered nurses are recruited on a merit based selection process and can nominate a preferred site which is in line with the ministry of health recruitment process and equal employment opportunities,” he said.
