Aged care workers sound alarm over staffing and safety
Australia’s aged care system has undergone sweeping reform, but a new national survey suggests serious problems remain inside residential facilities, including inadequate staffing, workplace violence and concerns about cost-cutting.
More than 3,550 nurses and care workers took part in the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation’s (ANMF) Aged Care Pulse Check – The Real Impact of Reforms survey.
Almost half of those surveyed, 49 per cent, said they did not have enough time to provide the care residents needed. Among workers employed by for-profit providers, that climbed to almost 56 per cent.
Nearly 40 per cent rated staffing levels at their workplace as inadequate, poor or very poor, while 47.5 per cent believed the mix of nursing staff and care workers was inadequate.
The findings come despite residential aged care providers being required to meet an average of 215 minutes of direct care per resident each day, including 44 minutes of registered nurse care.
Violence widespread among workers
The survey also revealed widespread violence and aggression towards aged care workers.
More than 96 per cent of respondents said they had experienced or witnessed at least one instance of violence or aggression at work during the previous 12 months, with residents identified as the perpetrators in most cases.
More than three-quarters reported verbal aggression and almost 70 per cent physical violence. Workers also reported property damage or objects being thrown, racism and sexual harassment.
The ANMF said workers in facilities with the poorest staffing levels were more likely to report violence and aggression.
Are residents missing out?
Workers also reported financial pressures affecting the care residents received.
Just over one in five said funding or budget constraints meant residents missed services they needed “most of the time”, while almost 36 per cent said it happened some of the time.
Respondents reported absent workers not being replaced and agency staff not being brought in, as well as rationing of essential supplies including wound dressings and delays in updating equipment.
ANMF Federal Secretary Annie Butler said reforms, including requirements for registered nurses to be on-site around the clock, had brought some improvements but had not gone far enough.
“We simply can’t assume that aged care is fixed,” Butler said.
The union wants the current care-minutes system replaced with mandated staff-to-resident ratios across individual shifts, alongside stronger protections against workplace violence and greater transparency over how government funding is spent.
Also check out Aged Care v Home Care: Which Is Best For You?
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Aged Care has been a nightmare for 40 years that I know of. not enough staff, bed sheets, first aid supplies, etc. I was dreading putting my mother into aged care, fortunately she died before I had to, yes fortunately.
Also, too many staff are not trained. Even Nurse`s and RN`s. I`m going back a few years, but came upon a Dementia Resident going into a Hypo. First he has to have something to eat that is a carbohydrate. Then something a little bit sweeter, then BGL taken and perhaps some insulin. The Rn told me off for giving him a half of slice of bread. Then I was going to give him something a little sweeter before his insulin. With her interference, and lack of knowledge, he ended up in Hospital for a few days. Yet by following my and another AIN, who also had done a course in Diabetic Care, (Husband was Type 1) we knew what we were doing. And adding to the above comment, I would not like myself or any I cared about to go into this particular Facility. Run by a well know Age Care Provider. Dirty, food disgusting and too many untrained staff.
I
As far as I could see when I visited my late father in the nursing home was that both the nursing and carer staff were lovely and caring but the daily routine the nursing staff had to go through with each patient, particularly when they had a minor wound to be attended to took forever as they needed to record everything they did on the computer under the patient's record. The nursing homes do not employ enough staff to appropriately look after the type of people they are caring for. The nursing homes just want to build more nursing homes (which of course we need) but of course they are also making money out of this care. However we also need to staff the homes appropriately for the high care patients they are housing. From what I personally witnessed the comments by Julie C and Natalie L are absolutely correct, which is sad for the families of the people who are placed there due to nobody being able to take care of them any other way. As nursing goes most qualified nurses would rather be working in a hospital than a nursing home.
Well, this has started me! My father had Dementia for 7 years. I had to put him into aged care as he/myself were unable to look after him anymore. He needed professional help. He declined once he went into there. English was not their first language for majority of staff. Even I could not understand them. My dad would get frustrated with them as both could not communicate with each other. The manager on few occasions would call me into her office and tell me that my dad's behavior was not acceptable. For God's sake I said he has dementia this is why he is here for and was accepted. I would ask where the incident report and she is never had one on every occasion yet under accreditation they are supposed to have these reports. So, I said do not complain to me unless you have a report I can look at. There was not many staff and I would have to looking for them on many occasions to help my father. I also reported them as they had overcharged us by $27,000. This was investigated and was to be true and we were refunded. They were then fully audited and from that I found they over charged au on the Bond. So how many others are there especially those that have no family that care for them. These are not nice places, and it is because it is about profit. Staff paid poorly and residents overcharged. I could go on and on, but I am just over this situation.
Our family experience is - Mum choked to death after the staff did not listen when we told them to never let her feed herself and Dad died with terrible huge bed sores on his back from lack of care. We only found out this after we demanded he be taken to hospital after he told us a staff member had assaulted him. Dad was in full mental health. It was all denied and he died 2 weeks later.
I dread ever having to go into a home!
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