Nurses say burnout, fatigue have created hundreds of vacancies in Tasmania

Nurses are leaving the profession in droves with many stepping away before hitting retirement age, the union says. Find out why.

Nurse generic. The AMNF says nurses are retiring early after the demands of the Covid pandemic. Picture: Burst

The nurses’ union says there are hundreds of vacancies in Tasmania as people leave the profession burnt out from working overtime and young nurses seek career changes.

Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation secretary Emily Shepherd said many nurses had brought their retirement forward after the demands of the Covid pandemic.

“We’ve also seen people not at retirement age leave the profession and from surveying our members it’s because of burnout and fatigue,” she said.

“The vast majority of graduates won’t work full time. They work part time, .8 or .6 just because of the demanding nature of the roles and obviously the need to constantly work overtime and double shifts.

Emily Shepherd of the ANMF. Picture: Nikki Davis-Jones

“We’re hearing graduate nurses tell us that they hate nursing and they’re looking for another job – another career.

“The demands are not just in terms of providing patient care, but the demands to try and move people through quickly and discharge people. It’s just relentless.”

Ms Shepherd said the ANMF was unable to obtain accurate data from the Tasmanian Health Service on the number of nursing vacancies.

“My view would still be that it would be somewhere between 500 and 1000 vacancies in full time equivalent positions judging by the overtime, which is continuing to increase and increase this calendar year,” she said.

“Units are working below their benchmark hours which is a direct result of both vacancies and also sick leave. Double shifts are common.

“It’s important for governments, state and federal to value their workforce and to try to reduce overtime and double shifts.

The ANMF has asked for HECS debts to be paid, for relocation help and help for enrolled nurses with their diploma fees.

Staffing issues were not new Ms Shepherd said: “We’ve been talking about these issues for years and Covid just exacerbated them.”

Labor, Liberal and the Greens have all announced policies to boost the health workforce.

Originally published as Nurses say burnout, fatigue have created hundreds of vacancies in Tasmania