Regional Nursing Students

Mr BELL (Mount Gambier) (14:41): My question is to the Minister for Health. Can the minister update my community regarding support for regional nursing students who are required to undertake placements in metropolitan hospitals, such as Belinda Myers, whom I spoke about in this house on 8 March?

The Hon. C.J. PICTON (Kaurna—Minister for Health and Wellbeing) (14:41): Thank you to the member for Mount Gambier. I know his very strong interest in relation to the issue of nursing students who face significant hurdles in having to undertake placements in metropolitan areas. This is something I know other members, particularly the member for Giles, have raised as well as being of concern for people in regional areas across the state. I think this is an area where we need to do some more work, and I am very keen to work with the member more in relation to this matter and work with our universities.

Obviously, we need to train more nurses right across the board as well as other health professionals. Part of the requirements that they have from particularly the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia sets forth the requirements they need to put in place a certain number of hours of clinical placements they need to do, and obviously that can be more difficult for some people who have to travel to undertake those placements.

I think it is a very worthy area where we need to do more work in relation to working between SA Health, the federal government and colleges that undertake nursing, particularly the three universities here in South Australia. So, while I don't have a particular answer today in relation to that, it is a longer term piece of work that we need to do to work through how we can help those nursing students into the future, and I am very keen to work with the member on that.