❓ The Minister for Health outlines the Gallop government's initiatives to improve nurses' pay and conditions, including increased employment, competitive salaries, and expanded roles for enrolled nurses.
AnsweredQoN 344Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
Will the minister advise what steps the Gallop government has taken to improve the pay and conditions of nurses in Western Australia? Mr J.A. McGINTY
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the member for Riverton for his question. He has shown great interest in the position of nurses over the years. During the state election campaign, the government made a commitment to employ an extra 800 nurses in our public hospital system over the life of the incoming government. That was on top of the 1 200 additional extra full-time nurses employed in our public hospitals, which brings the total of extra nurses working in our public hospital system to 2 000. The latest figures show that, for May 2005, a total of 9 421 full-time equivalent nurses were employed in the public hospital system, which is an increase of 1 339 since February 2001. One of the reasons we have been so successful in attracting nurses to work in the public hospital system is that they are among the highest paid nurses in Australia. The pay deal settled in March this year gave Western Australian nurses a 14.7 per cent pay rise over three years. Tomorrow, 1 July, Western Australian nurses will receive an increase of 4.3 per cent, making them the second-highest paid nurses of all the states, putting them marginally behind nurses in New South Wales. We are all aware of the cost of living in that state. The pay deal for Western Australian nurses will given them pay rises of between $4 769 and $13 781 over the life of the agreement. From tomorrow, a level 1 registered Western Australian nurse will earn between $40 852 and $53 985 a year while level 2 registered nurses will be paid between $55 875 and $59 643 as a base rate. This represents an increase of between 30 and 35 per cent in the pay of nurses since the Court Government lost power in February 2001. Another significant change for our hospitals is that, from 1 July, we will be expanding the role of enrolled nurses. Under the new scope of enrolled nursing practice policy, a number of artificial limitations will be removed that have in the past restricted enrolled nurses from carrying out certain duties. Enrolled nurses will now be able to administer medications, manage intravenous therapy and perform procedures, such as defibrillation and physical assessments, roles that were previously limited to doctors and nurses. This move will not only allow enrolled nurses to improve their skills and career prospects, but also decrease the pressure on registered nurses and they will have more to improve their skills and better plan and manage patient care. We have also committed $2 million over the next four years to provide post-registration courses for enrolled nurse to advance their skills. That will be of benefit to patients in Western Australia.
Mr J.A. McGINTY replied: I thank the member for Riverton for his question. He has shown great interest in the position of nurses over the years. During the state election campaign, the government made a commitment to employ an extra 800 nurses in our public hospital system over the life of the incoming government. That was on top of the 1 200 additional extra full-time nurses employed in our public hospitals, which brings the total of extra nurses working in our public hospital system to 2 000. The latest figures show that, for May 2005, a total of 9 421 full-time equivalent nurses were employed in the public hospital system, which is an increase of 1 339 since February 2001. One of the reasons we have been so successful in attracting nurses to work in the public hospital system is that they are among the highest paid nurses in Australia. The pay deal settled in March this year gave Western Australian nurses a 14.7 per cent pay rise over three years. Tomorrow, 1 July, Western Australian nurses will receive an increase of 4.3 per cent, making them the second-highest paid nurses of all the states, putting them marginally behind nurses in New South Wales. We are all aware of the cost of living in that state. The pay deal for Western Australian nurses will given them pay rises of between $4 769 and $13 781 over the life of the agreement. From tomorrow, a level 1 registered Western Australian nurse will earn between $40 852 and $53 985 a year while level 2 registered nurses will be paid between $55 875 and $59 643 as a base rate. This represents an increase of between 30 and 35 per cent in the pay of nurses since the Court Government lost power in February 2001. Another significant change for our hospitals is that, from 1 July, we will be expanding the role of enrolled nurses. Under the new scope of enrolled nursing practice policy, a number of artificial limitations will be removed that have in the past restricted enrolled nurses from carrying out certain duties. Enrolled nurses will now be able to administer medications, manage intravenous therapy and perform procedures, such as defibrillation and physical assessments, roles that were previously limited to doctors and nurses. This move will not only allow enrolled nurses to improve their skills and career prospects, but also decrease the pressure on registered nurses and they will have more to improve their skills and better plan and manage patient care. We have also committed $2 million over the next four years to provide post-registration courses for enrolled nurse to advance their skills. That will be of benefit to patients in Western Australia.
I thank the member for Riverton for his question. He has shown great interest in the position of nurses over the years. During the state election campaign, the government made a commitment to employ an extra 800 nurses in our public hospital system over the life of the incoming government. That was on top of the 1 200 additional extra full-time nurses employed in our public hospitals, which brings the total of extra nurses working in our public hospital system to 2 000. The latest figures show that, for May 2005, a total of 9 421 full-time equivalent nurses were employed in the public hospital system, which is an increase of 1 339 since February 2001. One of the reasons we have been so successful in attracting nurses to work in the public hospital system is that they are among the highest paid nurses in Australia. The pay deal settled in March this year gave Western Australian nurses a 14.7 per cent pay rise over three years. Tomorrow, 1 July, Western Australian nurses will receive an increase of 4.3 per cent, making them the second-highest paid nurses of all the states, putting them marginally behind nurses in New South Wales. We are all aware of the cost of living in that state. The pay deal for Western Australian nurses will given them pay rises of between $4 769 and $13 781 over the life of the agreement. From tomorrow, a level 1 registered Western Australian nurse will earn between $40 852 and $53 985 a year while level 2 registered nurses will be paid between $55 875 and $59 643 as a base rate. This represents an increase of between 30 and 35 per cent in the pay of nurses since the Court Government lost power in February 2001. Another significant change for our hospitals is that, from 1 July, we will be expanding the role of enrolled nurses. Under the new scope of enrolled nursing practice policy, a number of artificial limitations will be removed that have in the past restricted enrolled nurses from carrying out certain duties. Enrolled nurses will now be able to administer medications, manage intravenous therapy and perform procedures, such as defibrillation and physical assessments, roles that were previously limited to doctors and nurses. This move will not only allow enrolled nurses to improve their skills and career prospects, but also decrease the pressure on registered nurses and they will have more to improve their skills and better plan and manage patient care. We have also committed $2 million over the next four years to provide post-registration courses for enrolled nurse to advance their skills. That will be of benefit to patients in Western Australia.
Mr J.A. McGINTY replied: I thank the member for Riverton for his question. He has shown great interest in the position of nurses over the years. During the state election campaign, the government made a commitment to employ an extra 800 nurses in our public hospital system over the life of the incoming government. That was on top of the 1 200 additional extra full-time nurses employed in our public hospitals, which brings the total of extra nurses working in our public hospital system to 2 000. The latest figures show that, for May 2005, a total of 9 421 full-time equivalent nurses were employed in the public hospital system, which is an increase of 1 339 since February 2001. One of the reasons we have been so successful in attracting nurses to work in the public hospital system is that they are among the highest paid nurses in Australia. The pay deal settled in March this year gave Western Australian nurses a 14.7 per cent pay rise over three years. Tomorrow, 1 July, Western Australian nurses will receive an increase of 4.3 per cent, making them the second-highest paid nurses of all the states, putting them marginally behind nurses in New South Wales. We are all aware of the cost of living in that state. The pay deal for Western Australian nurses will given them pay rises of between $4 769 and $13 781 over the life of the agreement. From tomorrow, a level 1 registered Western Australian nurse will earn between $40 852 and $53 985 a year while level 2 registered nurses will be paid between $55 875 and $59 643 as a base rate. This represents an increase of between 30 and 35 per cent in the pay of nurses since the Court Government lost power in February 2001. Another significant change for our hospitals is that, from 1 July, we will be expanding the role of enrolled nurses. Under the new scope of enrolled nursing practice policy, a number of artificial limitations will be removed that have in the past restricted enrolled nurses from carrying out certain duties. Enrolled nurses will now be able to administer medications, manage intravenous therapy and perform procedures, such as defibrillation and physical assessments, roles that were previously limited to doctors and nurses. This move will not only allow enrolled nurses to improve their skills and career prospects, but also decrease the pressure on registered nurses and they will have more to improve their skills and better plan and manage patient care. We have also committed $2 million over the next four years to provide post-registration courses for enrolled nurse to advance their skills. That will be of benefit to patients in Western Australia.
I thank the member for Riverton for his question. He has shown great interest in the position of nurses over the years. During the state election campaign, the government made a commitment to employ an extra 800 nurses in our public hospital system over the life of the incoming government. That was on top of the 1 200 additional extra full-time nurses employed in our public hospitals, which brings the total of extra nurses working in our public hospital system to 2 000. The latest figures show that, for May 2005, a total of 9 421 full-time equivalent nurses were employed in the public hospital system, which is an increase of 1 339 since February 2001. One of the reasons we have been so successful in attracting nurses to work in the public hospital system is that they are among the highest paid nurses in Australia. The pay deal settled in March this year gave Western Australian nurses a 14.7 per cent pay rise over three years. Tomorrow, 1 July, Western Australian nurses will receive an increase of 4.3 per cent, making them the second-highest paid nurses of all the states, putting them marginally behind nurses in New South Wales. We are all aware of the cost of living in that state. The pay deal for Western Australian nurses will given them pay rises of between $4 769 and $13 781 over the life of the agreement. From tomorrow, a level 1 registered Western Australian nurse will earn between $40 852 and $53 985 a year while level 2 registered nurses will be paid between $55 875 and $59 643 as a base rate. This represents an increase of between 30 and 35 per cent in the pay of nurses since the Court Government lost power in February 2001. Another significant change for our hospitals is that, from 1 July, we will be expanding the role of enrolled nurses. Under the new scope of enrolled nursing practice policy, a number of artificial limitations will be removed that have in the past restricted enrolled nurses from carrying out certain duties. Enrolled nurses will now be able to administer medications, manage intravenous therapy and perform procedures, such as defibrillation and physical assessments, roles that were previously limited to doctors and nurses. This move will not only allow enrolled nurses to improve their skills and career prospects, but also decrease the pressure on registered nurses and they will have more to improve their skills and better plan and manage patient care. We have also committed $2 million over the next four years to provide post-registration courses for enrolled nurse to advance their skills. That will be of benefit to patients in Western Australia.
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