24/7 Nursing Care In Nursing Homes

Shooters Fishers and Farmers’ Member for Orange Philip Donato MP will once again introduce a bill to the NSW Legislative Assembly, seeking to mandate a registered nurse be available around the clock in our state’s nursing homes.

“Tragically, the pandemic had a devastating impact on the vulnerable residents living in nursing homes, which exposed the severe lack of medically trained staff to care for those afflicted with COVID-19.

“The Royal Commission into Aged Care revealed an insufficient staffing of registered nurses in nursing homes, and one of the Commissioner’s recommendations is the introduction of a minimum staff standard across the board – including registered nurses,” Mr Donato said.

The second iteration of the Shooters Fisher and Farmers Party’s bill, titled the Public Health Amendment (Registered Nurses in Nursing Homes) Bill 2020, was brought before NSW Legislative Council for debate earlier this month by Mr Donato’s colleague, The Hon. Mark Banasiak MLC. The bill passed the Upper House on 11th May 2022. www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/bills/Pages/bill-details.aspx?pk=3779

“I acknowledge the hard work and dedication of the many personal care workers looking after the residents in the nursing homes, but they do not have the level of training or clinical expertise a registered nurse has such as administering medications, assessing and managing medical conditions, and time-critical referrals for escalation of patient care.

“This bill, if passed into legislation, would require nursing homes to staff, at a minimum, the regulatory prescribed number of registered nurses at all times. Nursing homes would no longer be without a registered nurse to deliver care – day or night.

“We want the best possible nursing care for those precious seniors in our lives, our grandparents, parents, uncles and aunts – and that care shouldn’t be restricted to business hours, it should be 24 hours a day, seven days a week,” said Mr Donato.