Nursing Staff Shortages: Issues in Australian Residential Aged Care

Like many other countries in the world, Australia is grappling with a chronic shortage of registered nurses (RNs). All areas of nursing are currently affected by shortages and high care residential aged care services are no exception. Selection, recruitment and retention of suitable staff to meet the complex needs of residents in aged care facilities are becoming increasingly challenging and must be addressed as a matter of priority. This paper explores the current nursing shortage, looks ahead to identify future threats to a viable nursing workforce in residential aged care, and raises some issues for future consideration. INTRODUCTION Residential aged care services present special challenges for nurses. With few exceptions they provide long-term residential care for frail older people. Though today’s residents in aged care facilities require unparalleled levels of skilled nursing care, the staff mix is quite different to that found in hospitals and other health care settings, with markedly fewer RNs and most direct care provided by assistants in nursing or to a lesser extent, enrolled nurses (Jackson and Raftos 1997).