‘Total care’ residents and cutbacks increase pressure on nursing home staff, Senate inquiry told

ILL nursing home residents who previously would have been hospitalised are increasingly putting pressure on their carers, a registered nurse has told a Senate inquiry.

Unwell nursing home residents who previously would have been hospitalised are putting increased pressure on their carers, a Senate inquiry has heard. Picture: THINKSTOCK

ILL nursing home residents who previously would have been hospitalised are putting increased pressure on their carers, a Launceston registered nurse has told a Senate inquiry this morning.

Lani Murray said extra time spent on residents requiring “total care’’ by staff, who were at the same time being cut back in the wake of $1.8 billion Federal Government funding cut, was leading to increased discomfort among residents.

“There is just not enough time to be able to do it,’’ she told the Senate Standing Committee on Community Affairs sitting in Launceston today.

Ms Murray said greater workloads were leading to missed or delayed diagnoses in residents who needed hospital treatment.

She said it also meant staff had less time to spend on residents who required lower levels of care.

“People needing to wait excessive amounts of time for staff to come answer bells, take them to the toilet, walk and feed them, meals being cold by the time there is enough staff to feed the resident,’’ she said of the situation.

Ms Murray said a register was also needed to ensure workers in the aged care sector who were “identified as not the best person to be looking after a frail, aged person, some who is mean or aggressive to them” were not able to get jobs at other aged care facilities.

Originally published as ‘Total care’ residents and cutbacks increase pressure on nursing home staff, Senate inquiry told