Aged care nurses are paid up to $300 less than their public system colleagues – is this fair?
Historically Enrolled Nurses, Assistants in Nursing and Personal Care Attendants earn up to 30 per cent less than those working in the public health system.
An Assistant in Nursing can expect to earn around $46,000 annually once they have four years of experience according to Health Times. For Registered Nurses, it’s around $69,000 for the same experience.
Overall they earn just 75 per cent of the national average wage of $80,000.
More time and less money
It’s a sharp contrast to other countries where the demand for nurses is seeing record wages growth. As we reported here, a shortage of nurses in the US has even seen new graduates being offered bonuses of up to US$10,000.
A 2015 survey found 98 per cent of PCAs, AINs and ENs believed they didn’t receive a fair wage for the work they do. The same research also showed their wages flatlined rather than increased as they gained more experience.
They also usually have a greater workload with the ratio of nurses to patients in aged care estimated to be as high as 20 to one, compared to just four to one in public hospitals.
Most nurses can’t afford to live in the same areas in which they work either, so they have to pay travel costs and spend more time away from their families too.
The value of a nurse
These are the people who feed, shower, toilet and care for our frail and elderly, sometimes while dealing with physical and verbal abuse. Can we really put a value on them?
The Federal Government has. Earlier this year, they cut $1.8 billion in funding from the aged care sector, blaming providers for ‘gaming the system’. This is despite 70 per cent of providers’ funding being spent on staff.
We need to pay nurses a fair wage – otherwise who will care for us and our loved ones?
