International Battle against Nurse Shortage
A new OECD report raises the alarm on an OECD-wide nursing shortage crisis.;The report is circumspect about solutions, but New Zealand Nurses Organisation CEO Geoff Annals stresses both pay and conditions.;He points to the Victorian system; which, after introducing a 5:20 nurse/patient ratio, quickly became the only state in Australia which did not have a nursing shortage.
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The OECD report warns of the imminent international long-range nursing shortage.;Across Western countries they found:
- fewer young people entering the workforce
- a diversification of the female labour force away from traditional occupations such as nursing, but without a comparable inflow from men
- an increase in demand for nurses due to an ageing population and advances in medicine which have extended lives
- inadequate pay to attract nursing students.