At least 12 aged care nurses in the Illawarra say they were responsible for caring for between 100 and 129 residents, while two say they were left to care for more than 160 people on at least one shift in March.
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The NSW Nurses and Midwives Association surveyed 170 aged care nurses from the three Illawarra federal electorates, with the vast majority reporting that staffing on the last shift they worked was "not safe and did not enable them to provide adequate care to residents".
In Cunningham, in the northern part of the region, 100 per cent of the nurses surveyed said short staffing meant residents had to wait longer than they should when they asked for help, while three quarters said they did not have enough time to feed residents and that residents missed showers and bathing.
Nearly half (49 per cent) of the 47 nurses surveyed in this electorate said short staffing meant residents missed or had to wait for medications including pain relief.
In the southern Illawarra in the electorate of Gilmore, 83 per cent of NSWNMA members said they were short staffed on the last shift they worked, with almost a third reporting that they were between three and five staff members short.
You've got to work out, who do you attend to first - and that's a tough decision. [Nurses] are doing the best that they possibly can.
- Aged care nurse Linda Hardman
The survey also revealed three out of four aged care nurses across the state were contemplating leaving the sector in the next year, unless urgent aged care reforms occurred.
NSWNMA General Secretary Brett Holmes said unsafe workloads and low wages were the main reasons driving people out, and reiterated the union's calls for legislated staffing ratios and real wage increases for nurses, assistants in nursing and other care workers.
"The sector has been ignored for too long and the widespread neglect is a human rights issue, it cannot continue," he said.
"Many of our aged care members agreed the impact of short staffing meant residents were forced to wait long periods when seeking assistance or help and there was not enough time to properly feed or shower residents.
"49 per cent indicated injuries or falls had occurred due to short staffing, while 44 per cent said it caused late or missed medications."
NSWNMA Illawarra delegate Linda Hardman, an assistant in nursing in Wollongong said the statistics from the survey were "disheartening", because staff wanted to be able to provide quality care.
She said people left to care for more than 100 residents were faced with heartbreaking decisions.
"You've got to work out, who do you attend to first - and that's a tough decision," she said.
"They are doing the best that they possibly can."
She also said the staff shortages were "far from normal", with the aged care sector currently facing a major staffing crisis.
"How can you get people to work in aged care, and stay in aged care under these conditions, if they can get more working in Aldi or Woolies," she said.
"If the wages were better, and we had better training and skills, then more people are going to stay in the sector."
Aged care has become a headline issue during the federal election after COVID-19 put pressure on the sector that was already facing chronic staffing issues.
Opposition leader Anthony Albanese has said that if elected, a Labor government would support - and fund - the outcome of the work value case currently before the Fair Work Commission.
The Health Services Union, which represents many aged care workers, is currently pushing for a 25 per cent wage increase.
Labor's $2.5-billion pledge for aged care in the budget reply also included better food and safer condition for residents.
When this was announced, CEO of Illawarra-based aged care provider Warrigal Mark Sewell said the sector was united in support for a wage rise.
"The employer groups and unions are all in agreement that there should be an uplift in aged care salaries," he said.
The Liberal government has not indicated its support for a permanent increase in wages but promised two cash handouts of $400 each for aged care workers in the 2022 federal budget.
The budget also included 80,000 additional home care packages as part of an $18.8 billion aged care package.
At a forum last week, University of Wollongong vice chancellor Professor Patricia Davidson said that the system was currently in crisis mode, and that increasing educational standards would contribute to improved pay for aged care staff.
With the care needs of those in residential aged care and home-based care expected to increase in the coming years, there will be a need for greater education and training in the workforce to meet these needs.
The Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety recommended that by July 1 2022, the Australian government should mandate that personal carers have a minimum qualification of a Certificate III.
Currently, staff are not required to have a qualification to work in aged care.
Professor Davidson said that by focusing on qualifications, a career in aged care would also be more attractive to the next generation of workers.
"We have a huge workforce shortage, fuelled by increasing demand and increasing chronic conditions," she said.
"We also have an ageing of the healthcare workforce. So, within our healthcare and professional schools, we need to emphasise to students that working in aged care is a rewarding career, and also intellectually challenging and stimulating."
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Kate McIlwain
For more than a decade, I've helped the Illawarra Mercury set the news agenda across the region. Currently I'm the paper's health reporter - covering the stories of Illawarra workers and residents in the wake of a global pandemic and at a time where our health systems are stretched to the limit.
For more than a decade, I've helped the Illawarra Mercury set the news agenda across the region. Currently I'm the paper's health reporter - covering the stories of Illawarra workers and residents in the wake of a global pandemic and at a time where our health systems are stretched to the limit.
