Student nurses take on part-time work in hospitals

24/9/07
A new program will boost the number of nurses in Western Australia's health system and allow some nursing students to work part-time in hospitals while progressing toward their chosen career.
Health Minister Jim McGinty said the initiative would mean that some undergraduate students training at university to become registered nurses could qualify as enrolled nurses while continuing their studies.
"Under the program, registered nursing students will get the option to work in the industry while they carry on studying and build on their experience," Mr McGinty said.
"The health system will be able to draw on well-trained extra nursing staff and this will have a flow-on benefit for patients.
"The program is a win-win for all involved.
"Next month, almost 50 students from Edith Cowan University will start working part-time as enrolled nurses in WA's public and private hospitals.
"The program will eventually be extended to include registered nursing students at Murdoch, Notre Dame and Curtin universities. This will result in a significant number of student nurses starting part-time work in hospitals each year."
Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital, Royal Perth Hospital, Swan Kalamunda Health Service and Osborne Park Hospital will all employ the student nurses.
The Minister said the students would have to take additional modules midway through their university course to become eligible for registration as enrolled nurses.
"The program will not reduce the training required to become a registered nurse but will allow students to work in their chosen field rather than in areas not connected to health," he said.
"It is important that registered nurses continue with their university education while enrolled nurses continue with their TAFE training - this is a point that Prime Minister John Howard missed recently when he announced that he would re-introduce hospital based training."
Enrolled nurses are responsible for providing holistic nursing care, which has been delegated to them by a registered nurse.
Acting Head of the School of Nursing, Midwifery and Postgraduate Medicine at ECU Christopher Churchouse said the program had been welcomed by the health sector.
"Both private and public hospitals are eager to employ our students once they are registered as enrolled nurses," Dr Churchouse said.
"For the last 18 months of their course, our students can work in the career of their choice, instead of part-time work in totally unrelated fields.
"This will allow them to gain more skills and give them even greater confidence and competence when they graduate and become registered nurses."
Mr McGinty said nurse staffing levels were an area of concern for health care providers, who needed to care for WA's growing and ageing population.
"While we have employed more nurses and increased nursing university places in WA over recent years, we will need further increases to sustain our medical workforce," he said.
Department of Health chief nursing officer Phillip Della said WA Health had a number of strategies in place to help ensure a sustainable nursing workforce into the future.
"These include the introduction of work-life balance initiatives, greater roster flexibility, phased retirement, re-entry programs, childcare and parental leave," he said.
The Department of Health last year awarded 506 undergraduate and postgraduate nursing scholarships amounting to $1.24million to help nurses gain clinical specialisation skills required in the workforce.
The number of Full Time Equivalent (FTE) nurses employed in the public health system has increased from 7,977 in 2001 to 10,143 in August 2007, an increase of 27 per cent.
The actual head count of nurses employed in the public health system has risen from 10,518 in February 2002 to 12,997 in February 2007, an increase of 24 per cent.
The nurse head count excludes agency nurses, dental nurses and dental clinic assistants. Nurses who work at more than one site are only counted once.
The Enrolled Nurses Pathway Program is a joint initiative between WA universities and the Department of Health and has been accredited by the WA Nurses and Midwives Board.
Minister's office: 9422 3000