Celebrating International Nurses Day

The Palaszczuk Government has welcomed International Nurses Day as an opportunity for all Queenslanders to acknowledge and celebrate the profession of nursing.

Minister for Health and Ambulance Services Cameron Dick said the Palaszczuk Government recognised the commitment of Queensland Health’s 31,000 nurses who are the heart of the public health system.

“These amazing health workers truly put the ‘care’ in the word ‘career’ as nurses,” Mr Dick said.

“We want to repay that commitment by rebuilding a strong and sustainable nursing and midwifery workforce in Queensland public hospitals.

“Twelve months ago today, the Queensland Parliament passed legislation for minimum nurse-to-patient ratios of 1:4, 1:4, 1:7 for morning, afternoon and night shifts, respectively, in adult acute medical and acute surgical wards in a majority of public healthcare facilities.

“We are now delivering safe nurse to patient ratios ensures greater patient outcomes for all Queenslanders.”

Mr Dick also said more than $212 million in funding over four years has been allocated to important nursing workforce initiatives.

“We are providing up to an additional 4,000 places for graduate nurses and midwives by 2019, and have so far had a record graduate intake of more than 3,200 in the state’s 16 Hospital and Health Services,” Mr Dick said.

“An additional 16 nurse educators have also been recruited to support, coach and mentor new graduates and ensure a smooth transition from studying to the workforce.

“We introduced a new nurse navigator model of care and are seeing more than 400 nurse navigators being employed across the state to reduce service fragmentation and improve access for patients across all health services in Queensland.

“Today is the day to say thanks to all of these wonderful nurses who make the health journey in public hospitals that much better.

“Our nurses are leaders in frontline health care and they are champions in the provision of high quality care in Queensland hospitals.

“We know nurses and midwives have a large impact on patient safety and better health care outcomes for patients.

“This government recognises nurses and midwives as an integral element in delivering better health systems for Queenslanders.”

ENDS

Media contact:

Emma McBryde        0447 155 332