Nurses Fleeing The Profession At Alarming Rate 

I’ve been a nurse for 10 years today. And I won’t be advising my children to become nurses.

Why wouldn't they ? $25- $35 just to park !!! Come on, really ? Nurses and doctors should have FREE parking !!!

Run don't walk! Best decision I ever made was to leave nursing altogether, and I was a "4 year" RN, totally abusive profession.

The abuse from patients and relatives ,and the bullying from nursing management and doctors,the shift work and constant harassment at home to do extra shifts,the traumatic things you have to deal with on a daily basis,the lack of support from managers,understaffing ,I could go on .Why would you stay?I would never encourage anyone to be a nurse.

I quit after 30 years, when I was threatened with termination for not getting the Jab. I made the decision to not renew my license and retired from Healthcare. I now work part time in retail and am so much happier.

People can't afford a house, let alone rent, why should they contribute to a system that does not support them.

Yeah my wife left the Alfred after 12 years, I thought it was a terrible shame that the culture, workload and lack of proper remuneration sees loyal staff like her move on. I think the main issue is the pay imbalance. Public hospitals need to start thinking like private organisations. A 38 y/o senior nurse with ICU and oncology experience should be paid at last $110k for the work they do. The Government needs to wake up and fund this sector. They shouldn't have to unionise just to get recognised by society for the important valuable service they provide us all with. The culture of churning through young staff to replace senior stuff due to these issues is unbelievable, naïve thinking

Mandated out! Never going back! No regrets. The healthcare system is a joke. Nursing sucks!

Nurses, paramedics and police are leaving in droves as they are not being supported by governments.

As a RN,i could not agree môre.This job has become Extremely toxic.On Nursesday we get cake,and for the 362 days thereafter,we are bring driven like Oxen,without any regard to our humanity,all that is important is the money that the hospital generates.

But there is also significant bullying in nursing towards other health nurses and health care professionals. Unfortunately this issue needs addressing!

worst paid "profession" ever !!!!!! I actively discourage anyone thinking about starting

The Managements really sucks, Nursing sector should be run by Nursing background experienced people

I normally don’t comment but I feel the need to here to educate the obnoxious people and also others out there who may not realise the extent of our job due to shows like Greys Anatomy portraying the medical team as the main responders to patient care. Before becoming a nurse I was oblivious and thought it was just about taking blood pressures but it is certainly not the case, it came as a shock. Us nurses are with our patients probably 95% of the time and deliver all the medications and care ordered by the medical team. We are not task orientated either, we are critical thinkers and often challenge and question the medical team, and at times saving them from making prescribing errors that could cost a patient their life. We are professionals and sometimes are treated like slaves by our patients and disrespected by our colleagues, patient family and patients which makes our job even harder than it already is. We are not saying we are under paid below the average wage but we are arguing that the pay is disproportionate to what we do. The project (thank you) for highlight this. The comparison to the wages of a Librarian is to highlight the discrepancies. For example, I am constantly on edge in my everyday life that I hope I have not made an error on my shift because we are administering high risk medications and also saving people’s lives with very intricate practices and procedures whilst earning a pay that does not reflect this. The project is saying that it makes sense why the nurses are leaving the profession to get paid higher wages in a job where the worst thing you could do is rent someone out the wrong book. I also plan to leave hospital nursing because I believe I deserve better conditions and want to live a life without stress and anxiety. I know that there are so many who feel the same and sadly the patients will suffer and it will be too late before our government responds. It is not only a question of pay for me and then nurses it is also a call for ratios, safe conditions and to be respected in our role.

I retired 6 years ago, you get sick of the sick. Grateful, Doctors always treated me well.

Judging by the comments below it looks as if nurses are not valued ... some people are so ignorant of the amount of work that nurses cover in their daily working lives ... comments such as " they just take your vitals ... big deal". The more ignorant ... the more nasty !!!

Far more valuable than a politician. Should at least be paid the same as a back bencher.

Don’t forget the mind numbing paperwork and glitches in EMR

Health and Education workers collectively are leaving in droves. Throwing money at the workers will not fix the problem. The expected workload on health workers and education workers needs to drop and people need to learn to respect these jobs and professions.

I work in healthcare. I can promise you it’s an exhausting profession. The abuse we deal with by insubordinate ungrateful patients is awful, and the pay is not worth the exhausting time and energy we put into our jobs.

We give so much of ourselves emotionally that sometimes we don’t have enough left for our families or even ourselves.

I am a nurse in Melbourne, I am in my 5th year and I am certainly not on 90k. More like 68k and thats with a post graduate specialisation....

I left almost three years ago now, haven’t missed it for two consecutive minutes since I decided enough was enough.

Been a nurse for 24 years. I have advised my children to NEVER go into nursing. From violent and inappropriate patients to moronic middle and upper management…it’s ridiculous. Add to that some of the man hating Florence Nightingale types and it’s just not worth it unless you do your ICU time and go into anesthesia.

I’m a 4th year RN that is looking for an escape as soon as financially viable. Feel like I’m stuck between a rock and a hard place with a mortgage and other financial commitments, but I do not enjoy my job and feel like my 4 years of University, including a further 12 months for critical care specialisation, was a waste of time and money. I have over 25K hecs debt and barely make enough money to buy food at the end of the fortnight. If I could I’d walk away tomorrow. Something needs to change.

You haven't mentioned the wonderful nurses they have sacked for not taking the. jab. Ridiculous.

Coersion is not consent

I've been a nurse for nearly 30 years and have become very dissollusioned with the profession.

I am a nurse...but if I had the power to turn back time, I would have picked a different carreer.... why? Coz times have changed - a lot of patients have become more disrespectful (I already have been kicked, hit in the face, and spitted on by patients...and add to that the verbal abuse I get) ..... also the capitalist interest of healthcare companies have stretched the nurse to patient ratio to a "burn-out" level. Moreaover, malpractice lawyers are on the lookout for cases that they can take to make a profit.... so for one's peace of mind, think twice before going into nursing

I have been an RN for over 50 years. Trained in London, worked in Germany. Learned German, speaks and write fluent German.Worked on an ENT ward, after 4 years was elected to be a NUM. Doctors and nurses very supportive. After 12 years, migrated to Sydney. Worked a year on Ward for a year, then joined OT where I worked for 31 years. Fully enjoyed my working life. Never had a mortgage, have a husband with 2 children, now adults. I wanted to return 2-3 days per week but Covid kicked in, that was a good reason to say “ Auf Wiedersehen”. Now enjoying my retirement. Sorry to hear about what my colleagues gone through. I salary sacrificed maximum into super, smart leasing ( car) to reduce tax. Also work extra agency shifts and salary sacrifice maximum into super. At retirement, I collected a very healthy Superannuation. All in all, I was proud to be a Nurse.

I wouldn't go back even if they paid me triple salary.

Nurses and Doctors need to work a regular 8hr shift already !!!! Security Guards employed on all floors.

This is so true! Because even the manager of the ward where i work at isn’t supportive of her staff… it seems like she is just in the position to please the higher ups… but addressing safe skill mix/staffing in the ward, manager doesn’t care!

Being pitted between petty coworkers and terrible managers is too toxic for any pay

Working in health is a scam, I hate my job, I hate my boss I wish I chose to study engineering instead Doesn’t matter if you’re a nurse, doctor or allied health it’s underpaid and awful

I was thankful to have great nurses during my heart attack they should get paid so much for the incredible work they do

You think that is bad, try being a tech, CNA, or medical assistant to nurses... paid 1/3 of what they get paid, have double the patient amounts, and work more hours.$15-$20/hr vs $45-$80/hr... yeah OK.

This is fundamentally related to health care funding cuts. If you pay pittance, you won't attract staff. NHS is a good example.

One Specialist asked me who cleans the patients after they go to the bathroom. She's been a Dr longer than she's been alive and she has no idea what Nurses ACTUALLY have to do. She had no idea the Nurse was the one who takes the pt to the toilet, showers them and cleans them Most unthankful profession.

We are called heroes during the pandemic, but got one of the worst pay rises after it. Considering also we are literally sometimes the difference between someone living or dying as the first point of call for recognising deterioration the remuneration isn’t Stella. Also 3-4 years of university education, and ongoing of its kind. If it were a male dominated industry we would be paid better.

I retired in June last year after 48 years of nursing. I laughed, I cried but I loved it at the same time. The amount of money paid to nurses, coupled with the lack of privileges all hospitals provide, makes me wonder why nurses stay so long in the profession. Even the meagre Covid allowance was an insult for putting one’s life on the line.

Am the last nurse in my family. None of my children, grandchildren or great grandchildren will ever go into nursing. Neverrrrrrrrr

Talk about the nurses mandated out of the job they love by the gene jab

I’ve also seen bullying in nursing especially to new grads and it’s awful, and there is no accountability.

What about the healthcare assistants and carers? They carry alot of the load and responsibility too. And if the RN on ur shift is lazy you end up doing practically everything apart from the medication. But if you have the qualifications you will be asked to do that too. Its not just about the nurses .

Some are also leaving because of workplace injuries from unsafe environments and injuries inflicted by violent patients!

Nurses are not the only ones who are fleeing. I completed a diploma of teaching at University of South Australia some years ago, and the same applied.

Nurses, Teachers, Paramedics and Police are all leaving in droves for better paid, less stressful work. The essential workers in this country deserve the best pay, super, leave entitlements, and dare I say it - affordable, quality housing close to their workplace.

One-word MANDATES! You got rid of the best of us! God help Australians!

My midwife daughter was sacked because she refused a mandated medical procedure. NSW Health still insists on that procedure, despite the NSW government's removing the (illegal and immoral) requirement. There are many nurses still not employed due to that policy.

one main problem is the health care industry is all about money ,for corporations

And how many left because of the safe and effective therapy they didn't want !!!

Also forced to have vaccination such as covid and influenza

Hospitals will hire nurses from other countries.

Where are these retail manager jobs that pay $145,000?

Talk about the nurses who were sacked for not taking the vaccine 👍

Same thing happening here in the US!!

I deeply regret becoming a nurse and choosing this profession. It feels like a waste of my five years. The environment is toxic, and the low salary is exhausting, making it difficult to maintain any passion for the work.

Nurses and allied health professionals are treated as the lowest type of worker in private hospitals (treated like fast-food workers). They are all pushed to work longer, not paid overtime, promised time off that does not eventuate , constantly threatened with termination. The pay rate is terrible and far worse now with inflation and zero pay rises in the private hospital sector.

Grade 2 RN Nurse (Year 10) earns $95k plus penalty rates for nights/weekends. Grade 2 RN Graduate earns $67k. That was their 2022 rates in Victoria.

And remember they always add more it seems weekly there’s some new rule or policy or something you have to do. You have more to do than their is physically time for the. They want to say you don’t follow policy or didn’t do something that should have been done while you were trying to complete the other 100 things they want you to get done. This profession is hell

Not surprised, outnumbered 4:1 by foreign trainees, who speak their own languages on wards and in corridors.

I am a new Grad EN nurse....did you read EN?! i can't work in ICU...i can do some tasks in ED, not all...and work on most general wards, yes I have some restrictions...but that doesn't mean I can't be of any use! oh and dare I ask for 3 days a week... as new grad.... no support for this whatsoever....yep thanks....makes me want to do my RN's right?! ahhh hell no... I would have to study x 2 years at university....do placement hours for free....yep that's right...no pay for placement.... I already didn't get paid for placement with my EN course....i was lucky it was only 80hrs for those one....RN aint go no such thing, longer and additionally no working full time.... how am I ment be able to afford that?! pull money out of the ground?! but that's ok isn't it?!!!! no supports for me at all!!!

not so much of the pay but the workload, and extreme demand and abuse from families and the institutions, the abuse, no overtime pay, no breaks etc. The impact that this shortage of bedside nurses will have is those of us who now who will end up in institutions, hospitals etc will have no one to care for us if nothing is done to remedy this problem.

By design. The LNP and Labor want to Americanize our health care system.

Excuse me! Leaving to do sex work! Where did that left field comment come out of? Nothing against sex work - just that comment places Womens professions far back to Sarah Gump…was the comment meant to voyeuristic

Librarians definitley do NOT make 90,000. And there aren't millions of library roles. Probably about 10 in each state.

Why would we stay??

I'm in my 50's so I am in the fortunate position of being able to scale back to a couple of days a week. I love my job but doing it full time erodes that love.

As a nurse at a major metro hospital, the average nurse should have gotten a better pay rise. In comparison to other professions our annual pay rises were pretty pathetic, considering the amount of actual exposure we have all had to Covid during the Pandemic and after, the staff ratio problems, and the daily exposure to potential violence and infectious diseases. Politicians don’t care about us, but they’ll use us as political props when it suits them. They haven’t been paying us well for years.

I'm a therapist but I work shoulder to shoulder with nurses...they are under paid and stretched too thin...the patients are entitled and many are severely menially ill. The ones staying are older and near retirement, the young ones get sick of it quickly end up back in school for something else

So many nurses are from China and India, management is almost 100% white.

What librarian makes 95k a year??? Warehouses paying 35/h? Stop that nonsense

Should’ve stood your ground 4 years ago I have no sympathy now I walked away I wasn’t going to be coerced into being a human trial participant

10 years here and I’m done I’m sorry. I use to love it.

Ask me why i quit General Practice?

Do something about international graduate doctors with years of experience in Australia (with student visa working all sorts of jobs except as a healthcare professional ) so they will be a helpful contribution to healthcare

"they could make 145k a yr as a senior retail manager'. who writes this garbage?!

I left the bedside 2016, worked from home as a nurse instead. Tried to go back to bedside and couldn’t stomach the 12hrs shift and pts burnout,,, back home to work I went 😊

As a CNA, with the amount of sexual harassment I encounter every day from patients, I’m already feeling like a glorified sex worker. For $18 an hour. 🥺

Been saying that S--- for years.

Management sees it but they just DON'T CARE!!!

How many jobs are fairly remunerated according to the importance of the work done? You think hosts on the project deserve over half a million dollars per year for part time jobs? 😂 Teachers and nurses are more important.

oh don't worry, filipino immigrant nurses are coming to rescue Straya

Management does not give a sh## as long as they get all their bonuses ...

NHS staff ⚕️ are angelsyof life

Not sure about anybody else but more than half the time I as the RN ...I am working as the tech, the receptionist, the phlebotomist, and psychiatrist...techs go missing or constantly leave because they realize they can make the same money doing less at MCDONALD'S...same with phlebotomy they realize they are the only one drawing blood for the entire hospital then don't show up the next day. And as for the receptionist, my hospital doesn't staff them after 11pm....so we take on all these roles all for the same pay ...all while being abused. The patients and family members don't care...or even realize the work that we do, and have no problem with unloading all things on you-including their psych issues.

I am 43years old with 2 degrees - Bachelor of Science in Nursing and Bachelor os Science in Medical Technology... I finished MedTech 1st then instead of continuing to Medicine, I opted to go for Nursing... I worked 8years as a nurse in the Middle East then I semi retire in 2018 for marriage and to supervise the building of our house... Now September 2024 - I have an offered nurse job (female surgical ward) in a military hospital in the Middle East and I am thinking thinking and thinking now If I will go back to this profession - the tax free salary offer, free accomodation and transportation plus medical.... So help me God..

I'm loving the comments. Validates my decision to leave. They can stick their mandates and broken system where it fits.

She did not mention the high patients to nurse ratio with high expectations from management. They need to lower the amount of patients to nurses.

They sacked nurses who wouldnt take the jab I don't blame them as an ex RN of 30 years on very low wages and no superannuation

Its very draining, they should be paid full time for part time work.

Its sad really we have ppl who retire and still come back to work because of the pay. I use to be a tech on the floor now vlessed to be a secretary i dont see myself going back out there. Its the sane at the desk but tolerable and the pay has never been where it should be. They dont talk about all the deaths the bodies you have to put in bags from adults to babies and think that your supposed to love the work. On top of toxic environments and bullying. Covid changee everything i alreadt felt like nothing before but after covid it sucks. We worked through covid wheh they had no vaccine getting exposed on a daily just to fill a bed and got threatned to take a vaccine just to work. Paying for parking. You are literally working to pay your job. I cant even consider going back to school thinking of it all. They want us to stay quite but its time we speak.

Been a stay at home mom since 2019 before covid hit and never looking back. My health took a toll for years in nursing. Taking 24 patients as a cna for 17 an hour is insane . Never again

Wow it is not just in America!

My daughter recently inquired about becoming a nurse .all good until she said haven't been covid jabbed .. but of course want talk about that on mainstream .I'm surprised comments are turned on here .

I love being a nurse but the abuse you go through on a corporate level truly burns you out. It’s so hard nowadays with the combination of lack of strong management, lack of support, lack of proper PPE for diseases, increased liability and higher patient acuity…. Nursing is definitely starting to suffer and I’m scared for future patient outcomes.

90 k by working 6 days a week 12.5 hour shifts.

What do you expect from jab mandates.

I soured when I was forced to pay $74 to have my fingerprints done. What other "proffesion" requires this this?