The number of full-time equivalent nurses in Australia per
100,000 population has fallen 11.8% during the last decade,
according to Nursing Labour Force 1998, a report released today by
the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW).
Head of the AIHW's Labour Force Unit, John Harding, said that,
in absolute numbers, the nurse clinician workforce of 197,700 in
1998 was almost the same as the 197,100 employed in 1989. However,
the proportion working part-time increased from 39.2% to 44.0% and
population growth during this period was 11.5%.
'One of the main reasons for this was that public hospitals and
public and private nursing homes were the main employers of nurses
and nursing staff numbers in these have fallen,' he said.
Nursing Labour Force 1998 shows that between 1995-96 and
1997-98, patient numbers in public hospitals increased by 5.0% at
the same time as the number of full-time equivalent nurses
decreased by 2.9% from 80,570 to 78,239. In public nursing homes,
nurse employment fell from 22,200 in 1993 to 15,900 in 1996, and in
private nursing homes employment fell from 20,600 to 18,100 during
the same period.
The report shows a major change in the age profile of
Australia's nursing labour force. At the 1986 census, 23.3% of
nurses were aged less than 25 years, and 17.5% aged 45 years or
more. By 1996, the proportion aged under 25 years had reduced to
9.9%, while the proportion of those aged 45 years or more increased
to 28.6%. Between 1993 and 1998 the average age of students
starting undergraduate nursing degrees had increased from 21.8 to
24.5 years.
Other findings in the report include:
- Western Australia and Victoria had the highest number of
employed nurses per 100,000 population in 1996 with 1,236 and 1,178
respectively-more than 10% above the national average of 1,064. New
South Wales (962) and Queensland (984) were more than 7% below the
national average.
- The number of nurses employed in rural centres per head of
population is well above that of capital cities. In 1996, there
were 1,183 employed nurses per 100,000 population in capital cities
but 1,705 nurses per 100,000 population working in large rural
centres, 1,363 in small rural centres, and 1,220 in remote
centres.
- In December 1998, according to the Department of Employment,
Workplace Relations and Small Business, there were nation-wide
shortages in several areas of nursing-operating theatre, critical
and intensive care, accident and emergency, cardiothoracic,
neonatal intensive care, midwifery and mental health.
- In 1996, there were 3,500 Australian nurses overseas and 9,100
nurses employed in jobs outside nursing.
13 September 1999
Further information: Mr Warwick Conn, ph. 02
6244 1154 (bh) and 02 6258 3547 (ah).
For media copies of the report: Publications
Officer, ph. 02 6244 1032.
Availability: Check the AIHW Publications
Catalogue for details.