The Australian, Australia - Mar 23, 2004
THE goodwill of nurses is the band-aid holding the public hospital system together, researchers say.
Nurses are working more intensely than any other occupation in healthcare, according to John Buchanan, deputy director of Sydney University's Australian Centre for Industrial Relations Research and Training.
The centre found in a new study that the Victorian Bracks Government's pursuit of controversial new productivity measures would create a "chronic crisis" in nurse staffing numbers.
The study suggests 50 per cent of Victoria's 40,000 public hospital nurses would consider leaving the profession, cutting back their hours or retiring if the state's world-first mandated staff-to-patient-ratios of five to 20 were dismantled.
The research, commissioned by the Australian Nursing Federation's Victorian branch, found 41 per cent of nurses were working unpaid overtime of between two to 10 hours a week to provide proper patient care.
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http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au...5E2702,00.html
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