Nurses throughout the Bathurst region have expressed their concern over the lack of staffing, as cuts to nursing takes its toll.
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Meeting at the Kings Parade on Monday, nurses were on ground to promote and discuss its Ratios for Aged Care campaign.
Assistant in nursing and NSW Nurses and Midwives’ Association representative Lorraine Kermath said people in age-care are not receiving enough attention due to the lack of nurses.
“Age care is something I’m very passionate about,” she said.
“Nurse to resident ratios are inadequate and it’s hard to provide care aged people with the attention they deserve.
“They only count the number of residents to staff but don’t put into consideration the care individuals need.
“This is a concern across all age care facilities in Bathurst.”
Ms Kermath said nurses are not in the nursing career for money and would rather just see aged care clients receive the attention they need.
“Staffing is only be offered to casual workers,” she said.
“You can make more money working at Woolworths or Coles but age-care workers are not in it for the money. We just want more staff to cover the inadequate nurse to resident ratio.”
Ms Kermath said she was happy with the people who turned up on Monday and was happy to get the message out to the public.
“Many people related to our cause because they knew someone or have a family in an aged care facility,” she said.
She said over the past five years, the nurse to resident ratios have worsened.
Research shows that nursing home residents are receiving two hours and 50 minutes of care per day from nurses and carers, well below the four hours and 18 minutes that is recommended.
The Ratios for Aged Care campaign, organised by the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation, was launched back in March this year.
The public awareness campaign to call on federal politicians to legislate staff ratios in aged care as a matter of urgency and reveals how in the absence of mandated ratios, inadequate staffing levels are putting lives of the elderly at risk.
