Aged care is not babysitting – nurses respond
In response to reports of an increase in the number of serious complaints to the Department of Health and Ageing’s Complaints Investigation Scheme (CIS) and to the ABC Four Corners Report on 1 June, the Australian Nursing Federation (ANF) federal secretary, Ged Kearney, said the Australian Government must make Australia’s nursing homes a priority.
“It is terrible to hear reports of frail older Australians coming to harm when they so clearly deserve to be treated with the utmost dignity, respect and care”.
Ms Kearney said Australia’s nursing homes mainly provided high standards of care but she acknowledged that there was pressure on the industry and said that there would not be a single solution to the problems in aged care.
“Aged care needs a coordinated approach bringing solutions to key areas of need which is why the ANF is running the because we care campaign”.
Ms Kearney said any discussion on aged care reform must include the voice of nursing staff working in aged care who keep older Australians well and in the community with dignity and compassion.
“Aged care is not babysitting, it is not a lifestyle choice, and it cannot be run on the smell of an oily rag. Older people in nursing homes have complex health needs that demand high quality care. Many things are uncertain in this life but there is no escaping old age,” she said.
