Aged care workers provide an invaluable service to the community. There is comfort and relief in knowing that we will be taken care of when (or if) the time comes to move into an aged care home. But the industry, already in crisis for being understaffed and overburdened, has another problem – workers are leaving and do not feel there is much incentive to stay.

One aged care worker took to the social news website Reddit to vent and ask other employees in the sector if they are experiencing reduced hours.

The Redditor said: ‘Is this happening Australia-wide in the aged care sector (aged care homes) or just the rotten aged care company I work for?

‘They are reducing hours because the company said that it has gone over budget. They said this isn’t the only aged care company where reduced hours are happening.

‘This includes every worker in the company besides full-time employees such as kitchen staff, laundry staff, and afternoon PCAs (but not morning shift PCAs, they gain more dollars because the afternoon shift has less).

‘It’s absolutely s**t and I can’t help but feel like it’s a lie.’

Understaffed and overworked facilities struggle to provide the care their residents deserve. Credit: Matthias Zomer/Pexels

Many Redditors, who are not necessarily aged care workers, sympathised with the author.

One user said: ‘Gone over budget = We've realised we can squeeze more profit out of this facility by screwing over the staff even more.’

A reply to the comment said: ‘It’s both staff and residents.’

A third chimed in: ‘But especially residents. They pay for good care, and the staff are trying to do this, but how they are treated makes it harder to look out for the residents.’

Another said: ‘That's what happens when you privatise health care. Dollars take priority over the health and well-being of the frailest and dependent elderly in our communities.’

Australia has a mix of for-profit, not-for-profit, and government-operated nursing homes. The introduction of the 1997 Aged Care Act aimed to simplify funding and increase choice in care and, in turn, incentivised privatisation. Residential aged-care facilities began opting for workers who aren't trained nurses, reducing staff, and some-what compromising the quality of care seniors receive to maximising profit.

One worker in a nursing home expressed exasperation: ‘We are short-staffed 80 per cent of the time. We are getting 16 and 17-year-old kids working at my place, nice kids but they can't cope and leave. There are also insufficient continence aids, a massive increase in work and duties, and the list goes on. I still love the residents, but I am looking for work outside the industry which I thought I would never do. I'm just done.’

Another user previously involved with the industry said: ‘I worked in a facility. Never again. Community age care is where I am now. You can look into that, just research the companies first.’

A Redditor was discouraged by the post: ‘And here I was, thinking about getting into aged care.’

Others cautioned them against joining: ‘Don't, for your own sake and the sake of everyone around you, stay away. It's a miserable combination of hard work, deeply unsatisfying results, and an executive culture that makes bankers look like charity workers.’

Some were more encouraging: ‘I work in aged care. Maybe you should try it. There are bad and great facilities. The people who care are the ones who can make a difference in the facility and the residents. Yes, we work hard and are short-staffed most of the time, but who else will do it? If you feel like you can step up and be a positive change, then do it.’

A Redditor responded: ‘It must be heartbreaking knowing not all residents are getting the care they need. You can't be expected to work an extra eight hours a day for free to overcome staff shortages. Like you say, though, if people like you leave, it will be even worse.’

There are government initiatives that encourage entry into the industry, such as ‘A Life Changing Life’ campaign and promote career growth for aged care registered nurses. However, the industry shortage continues and worsens with more workers leaving yearly.

A report by the Committee for Economic Development of Australia (CEDA) found that Australia is already short of 35,000 workers needed to meet international standards of care. CEDA was also not optimistic about the future – it estimated that about 65,000 more would quit this year.

The sector already had workforce-related issues before 2020, which included staff shortages, poor working conditions, and abysmal wages. The COVID-19 pandemic did not help, with workers facing ‘crisis levels of exhaustion’.

While many aged care employees desire job security from the industry and the benefits that come with it, facilities have not been offering a clear pathway to becoming permanent employees or competitive compensation. ABC reported that a casual aged care employee averages $27.03 an hour, while a permanent part-time contract worker is paid $21.62 an hour. Others prefer a casual contract because there is at least a 25 per cent loading.

The federal government is also slow to support unions’ fight for a 25 per cent increase in wages in the Fair Work Commission.

Watch this feature by ABC covering the sector’s call for commitment to workforce funding:

All these inevitably impact the quality of care provided to residents. Three years ago, about 87 per cent of staff said they rush care of residents because they have too many tasks to accomplish, and 94 per cent said they don’t have time to talk and connect to them. More than a third do not see themselves working in residential aged care for much longer. Considering the data from the CEDA report, we can assume that the numbers have worsened since then.

So folks, what do you think? Does this change your desire to receive care in aged care facilities should you need it? Let us know in the comments.

 

[Linwar]

Hi everyone!

I just wanted to issue an apology on behalf of the SDC team. In this article, we used the term 'low-skilled' to refer to care workers without nursing qualifications. It has since been brought to our attention that this term is no longer used. We would like to retract our use of 'low-skilled' and acknowledge it is an antiquated term, and we have since reworked this part of the article.

We in no way, shape, or form ever wanted any aged care workers to be offended by this article. We acknowledge that this job would be incredibly difficult and we admire the Australian men and women working in this industry.

Please know we will learn from this mistake and it will not be made again!

Thank you so much for your understanding,
Maddie and the SDC Team.

I see no reason to retract your statement. It is totally true that there are staff who are working without any formal qualifications, a lot cannot speak or write English, so how did they pass their mandatory training, the thing is a "friend" does it for them online for a fee. This has been told to me by a Sri Lankan girl when I asked why she didn't know the basic training. She said she was "learning on the job". Some of these school-based trainees have more knowledge than the actual "staff"

 

[Ducky2]

Aged care workers provide an invaluable service to the community. There is comfort and relief in knowing that we will be taken care of when (or if) the time comes to move into an aged care home. But the industry, already in crisis for being understaffed and overburdened, has another problem – workers are leaving and do not feel there is much incentive to stay.

One aged care worker took to the social news website Reddit to vent and ask other employees in the sector if they are experiencing reduced hours.

The Redditor said: ‘Is this happening Australia-wide in the aged care sector (aged care homes) or just the rotten aged care company I work for?

‘They are reducing hours because the company said that it has gone over budget. They said this isn’t the only aged care company where reduced hours are happening.

‘This includes every worker in the company besides full-time employees such as kitchen staff, laundry staff, and afternoon PCAs (but not morning shift PCAs, they gain more dollars because the afternoon shift has less).

‘It’s absolutely s**t and I can’t help but feel like it’s a lie.’

View attachment 8405
Understaffed and overworked facilities struggle to provide the care their residents deserve. Credit: Matthias Zomer/Pexels

Many Redditors, who are not necessarily aged care workers, sympathised with the author.

One user said: ‘Gone over budget = We've realised we can squeeze more profit out of this facility by screwing over the staff even more.’

A reply to the comment said: ‘It’s both staff and residents.’

A third chimed in: ‘But especially residents. They pay for good care, and the staff are trying to do this, but how they are treated makes it harder to look out for the residents.’

Another said: ‘That's what happens when you privatise health care. Dollars take priority over the health and well-being of the frailest and dependent elderly in our communities.’

Australia has a mix of for-profit, not-for-profit, and government-operated nursing homes. The introduction of the 1997 Aged Care Act aimed to simplify funding and increase choice in care and, in turn, incentivised privatisation. Residential aged-care facilities began opting for workers who aren't trained nurses, reducing staff, and some-what compromising the quality of care seniors receive to maximising profit.

One worker in a nursing home expressed exasperation: ‘We are short-staffed 80 per cent of the time. We are getting 16 and 17-year-old kids working at my place, nice kids but they can't cope and leave. There are also insufficient continence aids, a massive increase in work and duties, and the list goes on. I still love the residents, but I am looking for work outside the industry which I thought I would never do. I'm just done.’

Another user previously involved with the industry said: ‘I worked in a facility. Never again. Community age care is where I am now. You can look into that, just research the companies first.’

A Redditor was discouraged by the post: ‘And here I was, thinking about getting into aged care.’

Others cautioned them against joining: ‘Don't, for your own sake and the sake of everyone around you, stay away. It's a miserable combination of hard work, deeply unsatisfying results, and an executive culture that makes bankers look like charity workers.’

Some were more encouraging: ‘I work in aged care. Maybe you should try it. There are bad and great facilities. The people who care are the ones who can make a difference in the facility and the residents. Yes, we work hard and are short-staffed most of the time, but who else will do it? If you feel like you can step up and be a positive change, then do it.’

A Redditor responded: ‘It must be heartbreaking knowing not all residents are getting the care they need. You can't be expected to work an extra eight hours a day for free to overcome staff shortages. Like you say, though, if people like you leave, it will be even worse.’

There are government initiatives that encourage entry into the industry, such as ‘A Life Changing Life’ campaign and promote career growth for aged care registered nurses. However, the industry shortage continues and worsens with more workers leaving yearly.

A report by the Committee for Economic Development of Australia (CEDA) found that Australia is already short of 35,000 workers needed to meet international standards of care. CEDA was also not optimistic about the future – it estimated that about 65,000 more would quit this year.

The sector already had workforce-related issues before 2020, which included staff shortages, poor working conditions, and abysmal wages. The COVID-19 pandemic did not help, with workers facing ‘crisis levels of exhaustion’.

While many aged care employees desire job security from the industry and the benefits that come with it, facilities have not been offering a clear pathway to becoming permanent employees or competitive compensation. ABC reported that a casual aged care employee averages $27.03 an hour, while a permanent part-time contract worker is paid $21.62 an hour. Others prefer a casual contract because there is at least a 25 per cent loading.

The federal government is also slow to support unions’ fight for a 25 per cent increase in wages in the Fair Work Commission.

Watch this feature by ABC covering the sector’s call for commitment to workforce funding:

All these inevitably impact the quality of care provided to residents. Three years ago, about 87 per cent of staff said they rush care of residents because they have too many tasks to accomplish, and 94 per cent said they don’t have time to talk and connect to them. More than a third do not see themselves working in residential aged care for much longer. Considering the data from the CEDA report, we can assume that the numbers have worsened since then.

So folks, what do you think? Does this change your desire to receive care in aged care facilities should you need it? Let us know in the comments.

 

[Ducky2]

I would like to think when my time comes I will be cared for but staff to client ratio is ridiculous and 3. 1/4 hours a day care is even worse. The staff need to be entitled to a reasonable wage and casual at $27.00 per hour is not it supermarket and shop staff get more than that and no responsibility these ladies work hard looking after people that cannot do for themselves which is very draining I have done it 3 times for my parents at home toileting feeding and washing as well as doing medicines and it takes time and patience o do this properly as well as listening to their input and conversation. It’s about time some serious thought and action was put into nursing homes bring back the volunteers to help with company and small chores start training on the job not in a classroom hands on learn much quicker and efficiently and give staff incentives

 

[Nana Zorak]

Aged Care Homes are in a parlous state. I think there should be no "for profit" homes, all should be 'Not for Profit" or Government run. No-one should be able to make a profit off the backs of our elderly. All homes should be closely linked to or come under the auspices of a hospital to ensure medical needs are addressed.
We should re-evaluate our priorities, for too long chasing the dollar has been the greatest motive, we need to change that to a caring one, where you are adequately rewarded for a job well done, are given the tools to complete your tasks and the time to care. None of this would come cheap, the Government would have to do some serious re-arranging of their coffers but as people we are judged by the way we care for the less fortunate and unfortunately, at the moment we are failing miserably.

My wonderful granddaughter works as a personal carer in a care home. She seems to get mostly night shifts as too many do not like working such unsociable hours& often call in sick so as to avoid them. As she has trouble sleeping she is the ideal one to step up now. She has a good rapport with the oldies who love it when she is on shift.