Streamline your RN recruitment process, says vendor

Whiddon Regional Aged Care Provider is calling on the Federal Government to reduce the barriers international people must overcome to become qualified registered nurses in Australia.

The challenges of recruiting more nurses from abroad include testing costs and a complex and lengthy accreditation process.

Jacky Hopwood, Whiddon’s general manager of people and culture, said streamlining Australia’s recruitment system and removing unnecessary obstacles would help providers meet the new RN care minutes targets.

“Estimates show that we will need over 50 full-time permanent RNs between now and October,” she said. “This includes both ongoing job vacancies in our homes and consideration of the impact of changes to mandatory care minutes on the industry.”

From October 1, the target number of care minutes in an aged care home will increase from an average of 200 minutes of care per resident per day to 215 minutes – including 44 minutes of RN time.

In February, data from the Department of Health and Aged Care indicated that the residential aged care sector would be almost 6,000 RNs short by the new target date. Anticipating that providers would have difficulty meeting the revised threshold, the department announced last week that it had amended the directive to state that homes could also meet 10 percent of the RN target – 4.4 minutes (4 minutes and 24 seconds) – with a time care provided by a registered nurse.

Whiddon currently has 30 overseas nurses working as nursing assistants as they navigate the system to gain qualifications in Australia. However, due to cost constraints, not all of them will become Australian accredited RNs. “In some cases they have chosen to remain as AIN and not initiate appropriate steps for financial reasons,” Ms Hopwood said. “They are unable to pay fees and take time off work to study and attend exam venues.”

It can cost up to $10,000 for an international nurse to become an RN. To reduce costs, Whiddon is calling on the government to develop a Commonwealth program specifically for nurses, similar to programs designed to attract GPs to regional locations around the country.

“Financial support should be considered given the costs associated with the ongoing process of attracting and retaining nurses in regional locations,” Ms Hopwood said. “Currently, most of these costs are covered by employers.”

In her opinion, the accreditation process should be shortened and made easier. “In total, it probably takes two to three years to bring a nurse from overseas before they finally qualify in Australia.”

Interestingly, there is only one examination center – in Adelaide – where prospective RNs can take the mandatory objective structured clinical examination. While there are plans to establish a second testing facility in Melbourne, this does not help providers such as Whiddon, whose facilities are mainly located in regional New South Wales.

“Currently, the number of registrations processed each year is limited and unfortunately the creation of one additional center is unlikely to dramatically increase this to meet the demand at the center,” Ms Hopwood said.

She added that unless more centers are established, there will continue to be a backlog of RNs across the country. “Each state and territory requires its own assessment center to enable a more efficient registration process for internationally qualified nurses.”

Other recruitment barriers include state initiatives and incentives to attract RNs to regional hospitals. In addition to local competition, suppliers must also compete with international markets, Hopwood said. “We don’t just compete with hospitals in our regions for staff. Improving and streamlining this process would help suppliers like Whiddon compete more effectively internationally.”

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