Understanding The Nursing Workforce In Australia: A Data Analysis

Overview of the Nursing Workforce

Question:

Discuss about the Nurse Retention and Productivity Report.

A motivated, skilled and knowledgeable workforce is the critical aspects of the providing the healthcare to the population of any country. Health workforce is the personnel that provide the healthcare services like the nurses, doctors, and the ones that work to provide support to the health services like the ambulance drivers, hospitals managers and the skilled health workers. The major hindrances in the smooth flow of the healthcare delivery are lack of the proper workforce along with the inadequate facilities, medicines, consumables, equipment (Leach, 2013). The health system budget includes the 3 main vital demands like the consumables, physical capital and human resources (WHO, 2018). This study is based on the completion of the nursing workforce data of 2015 with respect to the data of 2012 and 2009; the other tasks involve the environmental scan of the Australian nursing workforce; the geographic distribution of the workforce and the comment on the recommendations of the nursing workforce sustainability report.

The updated workforce of the profile of the nursing workforce in Australia with respect to the year 2009, 2012, 2015 are as follows:

Note: FTE means full-time equivalent for 38-hour week

Table 1a: characteristics of the workforce with respect to the registered nurses [source: Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2018]

Workforce characteristic	2009	2012	2015
Headcount	225,040	238,520	256,034
FTE nurses	198,924	212,659	225,344
FTE per 100,000 population	905.9	936.4	947.6
Male population	9.8	10.4	10.9
Average age (years)	44.2	44.3	43.4
Proportion aged 50+ (%)	-	37.7	39.0

Table 1b: characteristic of the workforce of the enrolled nurses [source: Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2018]

Workforce characteristic	2009	2012	2015
Headcount	51,711	51,624	51,070
FTE nurses	43,614	42,467	46,753
FTE per 100,000 population	198.2	187.0	196.6
Male population	8.9	9.2	9.4
Average age (years)	44.9	46.0	45.9
Proportion aged 50+ (%)	-	45.5	39.0

Table 1c: characteristic of the workforce of the employed nurses [source: Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2018]

Workforce characteristic	2009	2012	2015
Headcount	276,751	290,144	307,104
FTE nurses	242,521	255,174	270,548
FTE per 100,000 population	1,104	1,123	1,137
Male population	9.6	10.2	10.7
Average age (years)	44.3	44.6	44.4
Proportion aged 50+ (%)	36.3	39.1	39.0

Through the addition of the more recent material, it has been found that the headcount of the registered nurses for the year 2015 has increased considerably with respect to the year 2009 and 2012. The headcount for the year 2015 is found to be 256,034 which is a big jump from the headcount of the nurses for the year 2012 (238,520). This is an increase of 7.34 percent with respect to 2012. The full-time equivalent nurses for the year 2015 has increased with respect to the year 2009 and 2012. The data presents that the number of the FTE nurses has increased by 5.9 percent with respect to the year 2012. The FTE nurses for the year 2015 has shown an increase with respect to the year 2009 and 2012. The increase has been 1.19 percentage over data mentioned for the year 2012. The percentage of the male population has increased by only a mere 10.89 percent. The average years of the of the nurses have reduced from 44.3 to 43.3 from the year 2012 to 2015. The reduction in the average age is 2.03 percent in comparison to the year 2012. The proportion of the nurse above the age of 50 years is 39% it has shown an increase with respect to the data of 2012. This implicates nursing population is ageing with respect to the Australian nursing workforce.

Analysis of the Nursing Workforce

 The characteristics of the workforce with respect to the enrolled nurses. The headcount has reduced when the data of 2015 is compared with that of 2012. The data for the year 2015 is 51,070 and the headcount data for the year 2012 is 51,624. The FTE nurses for the year 2015 is showing a positive increase with respect to the data of the year 2012. The number of the FTE nurse for the year shows 196.6 while that of 2012 is 187. The male population for the year 2015 shows a slight increase of 9.4 with respect to the year 2012 which shows 9.2 percent. The average age of the nurses has again reduced for the year 2015, from 46 to 45.9 years. The proportion of the nurses that are aged above the 50 years is 39 percent in 2015 and this has reduced in comparison to the year 2012. The reduction in the age shows that the proportion of the aged nurses is reducing in the enrolled nurse's section. 

 The characteristic of the workforce of the total employed nurses has shown an increase in the total number of the nurses for the year 2015 in comparison to the year 2012. The headcount number show 307,104 nurses. The FTE nurses have also increased from 255,174 for the year 2012 to 270,548 for the year 2015. The FTE nurse per 100,000 populations has also shown an increase for the year 2015 (1137) with respect to the year 2012 (1123). The percentage of the male population has increased for the year 2015 which is 10.7 percent in comparison to the male population for the year 2012 (10.2). the average age has shown a decrease for the year 2015 (44.4) with respect to the year 2012 (44.6). the proportion of the 50 years and above aged nurse is 39 percent and the percentage has slightly reduced with respect to the 39.1 percent for the year 2012.

 The workforce supplies according to the workforce characteristics shown a positive increase both in terms of the registered and the enrolled nurses. The female-dominated nursing workforce also shows an increase. Especially the FTE nurses in both the enrolled and the registered nurse for the year 2015 is 46,753 and 225,344 respectively.

The workforce of the nurse has revealed that the workforce planning is necessary to meet the ling and the short-term demands of the of the Australian nurses. The analysis has shown that the demand for the nurses will significantly rise and the supply will be insufficient. The projections have shown that there will be a shortfall of the around 85 thousand nurses by the year 2025, and by 2030 as more as 123,000 nurses will be required. These predictions are based on the current settings. The projections of the shortfall for the year 2025 is actually lower in comparison to the report published in the Health Workforce (HW) 2025 (Health Workforce 2025, 2018; McCarty & Fenech, 2013). The Heath Workforce 2025 projects that there will be a shortcoming of 109,000 nurses in the year 2025 which is considered under the current scenario. Australia’s Future Health Workforce (AFHW)-Nurses reveal that the nurses that were used for the prediction of the Health Workforce 2025 are more willing to stay in the workforce than it is expected. There exists a lower demand for the nurses in the acute care in the AFHW (2.6 percentage) and in the HW 2025 (2.2 percent) (AFHW, 2018). This reveals a lower demand in the workforce in this particular sector. The lower retention rates in the rural hospitals in comparison to the metropolitan areas have resulted in the reduction of the nurses due to the resignation (Bragg & Bonner, 2015; Huntington et al., 2012).

Geographic Distribution of the Nursing Workforce

The highest percentage of the registered nurse is 46% and enrolled nurse is 38% in the acute sector. Accordingly, the second highest percentage of the nursing workforce is seen in the other nursing sectors and the percentage is 22 percent. The second highest number of the enrolled nurses is seen in the aged care sector (appendix 1).

The nursing workforce and its geographic distribution show data which varies spatially across the states and the territories. The FTE nurses per 100,000 for the Northern Territory is 1534 and for the New South Wales, it is 1036. If the data are compared to that of 2011, then the FTE per 100,000 populations for Northern Territory and New South Wales is 1504 and 993 respectively (Appendix 2).  The FTE per 100,000 populations with respect to the remote areas is 1219 and is 1083 for the outer regions. The percentage of the nurse in the regional and the inner areas is more than 20% and the enrolled nurse's proportion in Australia is 15.8%.  Comparatively, the enrolled nurse's percentage in the remote areas is very low and is only 12.1% (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2018).

The highlights of the Nursing Workforce Sustainability Report cite the major recommendations which are as follows:

• Leadership- leadership in the field of nursing is important for bringing improvement in the performance, retention of the workforce and increasing the productivity. In order to promote effective leadership, the nurse managers need to be equipped for the purpose of empowerment and encouragement.
• Retention- The new graduates must be helped to meet the standards and the goals along with the necessary skill sets so that the workforce retention can be increased.
• Productivity- the environment of the workplace needs to be improved so that the existing skills and the roles of the nurses meet the local needs (Nursing Workforce Sustainability, 2018).

Considering the year 2018, the recommendation is still valid because nursing values and work are all based on the nursing leadership, productivity that promotes better health outcomes and the retention of the nurse so that the workforce stays intact. The recommendations are the bedrock and foundation of the nursing field and this is the reason their validity not reduce (Duckett & Willcox, 2015).

Conclusion

From the study, it can be concluded that currently, Australia is facing challenges in the field of nursing due to the lack of the nursing workforce. The healthcare demand has increased considerably due to the ageing population of the workforce and this can be done by increasing the workforce of the nursing.

Reference

Bragg, S., & Bonner, A. (2015). Losing the rural nursing workforce: Lessons learnt from resigning nurses. Australian Journal of Rural Health, 23(6), 366-370.

Health Workforce 2025. (2018). Department of Health | Appendix ii: Health Workforce 2025 - summary. Health.gov.au. Retrieved 5 April 2018, from https://www.health.gov.au/internet/publications/publishing.nsf/Content/work-review-australian-government-health-workforce-programs-toc~appendices~appendix-ii-health-workforce-2025-summary

Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. (2018). Nursing and midwifery workforce 2015, Who are nurses and midwives? - Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. Retrieved 5 April 2018, from https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/workforce/nursing-and-midwifery-workforce-2015/contents/who-are-nurses-and-midwives

Nursing Workforce Sustainability. (2018). Department of Health | Nursing Workforce Sustainability - Improving Nurse Retention and Productivity report. Health.gov.au. Retrieved 5 April 2018, from https://www.health.gov.au/internet/main/publishing.nsf/Content/nursing-workforce-sustainability-improving-nurse-retention-and-productivity

Huntington, A., Gilmour, J., Neville, S., Kellett, S., & Turner, C. (2012). A glimpse of the future nursing workforce: the graduate e-cohort study. Australian Journal of Advanced Nursing, The, 29(3), 22.

McCarty, M. V., & Fenech, B. J. (2013). Towards best practice in national health workforce planning. The Medical journal of Australia, 199(5), 10-13.

Leach, M. J. (2013). Profile of the complementary and alternative medicine workforce across Australia, New Zealand, Canada, United States and United Kingdom. Complementary therapies in medicine, 21(4), 364-378.

Duckett, S., & Willcox, S. (2015). The Australian health care system (No. Ed. 5). Oxford University Press.

WHO. (2018). WHO | Health workforce. Who.int. Retrieved 5 April 2018, from https://www.who.int/healthsystems/topics/workforce/en/

AFHW. (2018). Health.gov.au. Retrieved 5 April 2018, from https://www.health.gov.au/internet/main/publishing.nsf/Content/34AA7E6FDB8C16AACA257D9500112F25/$File/AFHW%20-%20Nurses%20overview%20report.pdf