We care – do you?

Federal MP Tony Windsor says those who look after “our old” are the “most important” people in society.

Mr Windsor, who recently heard from Tamworth’s aged care nurses at a public meeting, pledged his support for the Because We Care campaign to win better wages and conditions for nurses working in the sector.

The Because We Care campaign was established in early 2009 by the Australian Nursing Federation and is a national campaign aiming for significant and fair improvements to the aged care industry.

Mr Windsor told NSW Nursing Association’s (NSWNA) monthly magazine The Lamp: “If we value the people who do the caring, then we need to remunerate them.”

However, he was not alone in airing concerns surrounding the dire state of the sector, as the Tamworth meeting also heard from NSW Nurses’ Association general secretary, Brett Holmes, who described the sector as being at “breaking point”.

“Nurses and Assistants in Nursing who work in aged care are growing increasingly frustrated and concerned about the lack of funding for aged care in Australia,” Mr Holmes said in a released statement from the NSWNA website.

He added the government’s lack of action in responding to the Productivity Commission report meant aged care had reached “crisis point”.

“[The government’s] inabilities to prioritise the quality of care received by older Australians in nursing home mean nurses are stretched to the limit.”

The meeting also heard from nurses in the sector who believed they deserved more than what they were receiving from the system.

Tamworth registered nurse, Jan Howard, claimed she, and many people like her, agreed “it’s about time the government started doing the right thing”.

A nurse in the public health system, Roz Norman, echoed Ms Howard’s thoughts, reporting the “strain” and lack of resources in aged care had a dire effect on hospitals, including an “increased stress” on elderly residents.

“It is imperative aged care facilities be properly staffed with licensed, skilled nurses at a level that will allow residents to be cared for in their own environment,” Ms Norman added.

Do you work in aged care and agree the sector is “under-funded and under-resourced”? Share your thoughts by commenting in the box below.