Thousands of scholarships will be offered to healthcare students by the state government in an effort to have them stay within the NSW public health system.Recipients would only be eligible if they are willing to make a five-year commitment to staying in public health.
Health Minister Ryan Park conceded that retaining healthcare workers had been made more difficult by competitive remuneration and better employment conditions interstate and in the private sector, but hoped the scholarships would shore up the public workforce. University of Technology Sydney nursing professor Amanda Wilson said the announcement “was a start” but it would not resolve the problem of retaining expertise in the system.“People are just leaving, they are walking away from their jobs because staffing-to-patient ratios are too low and the pay -– but they need to do that for nurses as well. Nurses will now earn less on graduation than a teacher, and they are both essential roles,” Wilson said.
“Over the last 12 months, the government has offered a fee-free diploma of nursing for enrolled nurses at TAFE but this has not increased enrolments because many students cannot afford to study and do their clinical placements. We believe cost-of-living support would further encourage people to take up these courses.”