LOCAL students considering a career in nursing and Enrolled Nurses (EN) wishing to complete Registered Nurse training now have further incentive to purse a nursing or midwifery career through HECS free degrees and scholarships under a new initiative announced by the Victorian premier, Dan Andrews on Sunday.

The commitment was also matched by the Opposition, with both sides of politics pledging to boost the health system, recruit and train more than 17,000 nurses and midwives with free university and specialist training.

All new domestic students enrolling in a professional-entry nursing or midwifery course in 2023 and 2024 will receive a scholarship of up to $16,500 to cover course costs.

Students will receive $9000 while they study and the remaining $7500 if they work in Victorian public health services for two years.

Scholarships will be available for postgraduate studies in areas of need, including intensive care, cancer care, paediatrics and nurse practitioner specialities.

More midwives will join the workforce through an expanded postgraduate midwifery incentive program, which will provide scholarships to cover course costs and salary support for 150 existing nurses to continue working while they complete their specialist studies in midwifery.

Premier Daniel Andrews said every health system in the country had been under enormous pressure due to the pandemic and the best thing government could do, was to support hardworking staff on the ground.

South West Coast MP, Roma Britnell, said “Daniel Andrews and this government likes to blame Covid for the problems we are currently experiencing, but the fact is these problems existed well before the pandemic.

“We will not only match this announcement but have made it clear we will invest properly in healthcare across the state with commitments to build or upgrade hospitals and ensuring we have a strong workforce into the future,” she said.

“As a former nurse myself, I know the importance of providing strong pathways into the healthcare sector.

“This government has had eight years to invest properly in healthcare and they have failed to do that.

“Now that an election is looming and health is a priority of the Liberal Nationals, compared to the Andrews Government’s waste and over-spend on infrastructure projects like the Suburban Rail Loop in Melbourne, they have come out with this announcement.

“We will redirect the $35 billion for the Suburban Rail Loop – a project that will have no benefit to our electorate or Victoria as proven by independent assessors – into healthcare.

“We will have more to say on healthcare leading into the election.”

Shadow Health minister, Georgie Crozier, said Victoria had a health care crisis well before the COVID-19 pandemic and it was worsening by the day but that the Victorian Government had had eight years to do something before now.

“It’s a slap in the face to the people and their families that have tragically died from Covid,” she said.

“(Victorians) have had 2.5 years of the most woeful management – the only state to have a code brown – 87000 on the surgery wait list – that we know about – they are not releasing all the figures.”

The Victorian Government’s package also includes on average, $10,000 scholarships for postgraduate nurses to complete studies in specialty areas such as intensive care, emergency, paediatrics and cancer care, $11,000 scholarships for ENs to become Registered Nurses and $12,000 scholarships to support training and employment of 100 new nurse practitioners in both acute and community settings.

Health minister, Mary-Anne Thomas, said, “you can’t deliver a health system with empty hospitals, which is why we are investing in hardworking nurses and midwives that are helping Victorian patients every single day”.

The Western District Health Service (WDHS) welcomed the injection of funding to attract and support students to undertake nursing and midwifery studies to address critical nursing shortages across Victoria.

A WDHS spokesperson said that in recent years staffing had proved extremely challenging, particularly in regional areas and at present there were multiple nurse vacancies across the Health Service.

“This is not a quick fix,” they said.

“It will take 3-4 years for students to enter the workforce to address the current shortages.

“The initiative does create more opportunities for year 11 and 12 students to consider a career in nursing without incurring student debt.”

In the past 12 months, free TAFE training for ENs had led to an increase in the number recruited at WDHS. 

This free training will create further career opportunities for ENs to undertake Registered Nurse training with ongoing financial support.

South West TAFE acting chief executive, Shannyn Martin, said it was a great initiative for the public health industry.

“Whilst this may impact our enrolment numbers into our Diploma of Nursing, which is currently free, it also now provides affordable pathways for our current students,” she said.

“Currently 30 per cent of our students’ pathway (go) into a nursing degree and with this new initiative in place we may see this increase over the coming years.

“This initiative will draw attention to opportunities in the nursing industry and with this, may present opportunities for SWTAFE increasing enrolment numbers, should the 10,000 allocated places be filled.”

Premier Andrews said, “if you’re in Year 12 and you’ve been thinking about studying nursing or midwifery – go for it.”