Nursing staff turnover bad for patients

new-zealand-national-party

Mon Jun 25 2007 12:00:00 GMT+1200 (New Zealand Standard Time)

Nursing staff turnover bad for patients

Monday, 25 June 2007, 10:44 am
Press Release: New Zealand National Party

Tony Ryall MP
National Party Health Spokesman

25 June 2007

New research showing an incredibly high turnover of nurses in public hospitals demonstrates the desperate need to re-engage health professionals in the running of the health system, says National Party Health spokesman Tony Ryall.

The University of Auckland study found 40% of nurses leave their jobs each year and 73% are replaced by new graduates or overseas-trained nurses.

"Along with hospital doctors, nurses feel that their contribution is being taken for granted. They are frustrated by stifling bureaucracy and a controlling government. Morale is hitting rock bottom and that's why so many nurses are leaving.

"Such a high staff turnover inevitably threatens the quality of care that patients are entitled to receive in the public health system. If you are a patient seeing a different nurse every few hours for days on end, that's not good for your recovery.

“Labour has no solution. In fact, they don't want to know. When I asked the Director-General of Health about this published research a fortnight ago, he had never heard of it!

"The answer is to re-engage nurses and doctors, and to trust them. Quality healthcare needs an environment within which professional values flourish.

“The Government needs to motivate policymakers and managers to trust health professionals.

“National plans to ensure that local doctors and nurses are re-engaged in the running of our health system. We want them fully involved in the assessment of local health priorities and the planning of local health services through ‘clinical networks’. This approach has worked well in New South Wales.

"On top of reports of alarmingly poor performance in hospital emergency department waiting times, this new research shows why new leadership is needed in health," says Mr Ryall.

ENDS

Advertisement - scroll to continue reading

a.supporter:hover {background:#EC4438!important;} @media screen and (max-width: 480px) { #byline-block div.byline-block {padding-right:16px;}}

Using Scoop for work?

Scoop is free for personal use, but you’ll need a licence for work use. This is part of our Ethical Paywall and how we fund Scoop. Join today with plans starting from less than $3 per week, plus gain access to exclusive Pro features.

Join Pro Individual Find out more

Find more from New Zealand National Party on InfoPages.