Nurses and Midwives

The Hon. C.J. PICTON (Kaurna—Minister for Health and Wellbeing) (15:29): I have great delight in rising to speak about the incredible nurses and midwives we have in South Australia. Just in the past two weeks we have celebrated, firstly, International Day of the Midwife and then International Nurses Day last Friday.

It was a great occasion to be able to celebrate with thousands of nurses across South Australia and to have the annual nursing and midwifery awards, held on Friday night, where we got to celebrate some incredible achievements by nurses and midwives in this state, in the public system, our SA Health system, and also in the private, aged-care and university systems. I also acknowledge so many of our hardworking nurses and midwives who are here today as part of this celebration.

The nursing profession really is the backbone of our healthcare system. It is what provides care day in, day out to so many South Australians across our system. Nurses and midwives are known for that: for their care and their devotion to their patients. I did joke that nursing and midwifery rank as some of the most highly regarded, most professional and ethical professions in the community and that politicians are a few rungs down from that, sadly.

Nurses and midwives are regarded so highly because of not only that care but also the high professional standards and education that go into becoming a nurse and a midwife. I do not think people really realise the high level of education and training that goes into becoming a nurse and a midwife, as well as the high degree of specialised training that is provided. People who do extra cardiac training, extra ICU training, extra mental health training and training in so many other areas really do undertake a high degree of specialisation and clinical knowledge in their practice, let alone—something I am a big supporter of as well—nurse practitioners and the high degree of training and clinical knowledge they have across the system.

This is one reason why we are expanding the number of scholarships that we do through SA Health: 3,000 more scholarships are being provided to help nurses get that high degree of specialisation in particular areas. Of course, we are employing more nurses and midwives right across the state as well. So, across the first year of this government, we have increased the number of nurses and midwives in our healthcare system by 278. At the election, we set a target of 300 more, so we have almost reached that four-year target within the first year. But we are still hiring more: today we announced even more incentives, and relocation incentives, to be able to help people to get here to become nurses and midwives in South Australia.

I think it is also worth noting the amount of research that happens in the nursing profession as well. My good colleague the member for Hurtle Vale, Associate Professor Cook, is a testament to the high degree of work that happens in our university sector, and between SA Health and the university sector, in training and research that occurs across the sector.

We are also working very hard in relation to delivering a number of key commitments to our nursing profession. One that we are very passionate about is bringing to this parliament, to debate within the term of this parliament, legislation to enshrine nurse-patient ratios in our law. While we have had nursing hours per patient day for some time, we will now join Queensland and Victoria, who have legislated nurse-patient ratios to make sure that that care is provided. The evidence from interstate is that, by doing so, we get a higher level of care and ultimately fewer readmissions and earlier discharges because that care is able to be provided in the healthcare system as well.

So, to all our nurses and midwives, whether you work in the public system, in the private system, in aged care or in primary health care, we thank you, day in, day out, for the incredible work that you do. I would like to thank the team that we have in SA Health, led by Jenny Hurley and her team in the office of the Chief Nursing and Midwifery Officer. I would also like to thank the ANMF, who do a sterling job in representing nurses and midwives in this state and who keep us honest in terms of what we need to do for both those professions. Particularly, I will give a final shout-out to Rob Bonner, who has for many decades been advocating on behalf of nurses and midwives and is about to retire. Thank you, Rob, for your service.