Comments on the Exposure Draft of the Aged Care Legislation Amendment (Registered Nurses) Principles 2023
Date published: Thursday 16 March 2023
Category(ies): News, Comment, Feature
Baptist Care Australia has submitted comments to the Department of Health and Aged Care on the exposure draft of the Aged Care Legislation Amendment (Registered Nurses) Principles 2023.
Our members are dedicated to ensuring high-quality care for their residents and to providing 24/7 Registered Nurses on site as part of this care. However, they face several barriers to implementing the 24/7 RN requirement which are outside of their control which should be considered in terms of compliance.
These issues include a shortage of workers; pay parity with other health service sectors; staff turnover; delays in visa processing; waves of COVID-19; natural disasters; plus greater challenges for those trying to recruit RNs in regional, rural and remote locations. While providers continue working to overcome these barriers through a range of initiatives, many continue to face challenges in ensuring an RN on-site 24/7.