8 December 2006

Extension of nurse incentive scheme to Mount Isa proving successful

It is still early days, but it appears the recent extension of Queensland Health’s Remote Area Nurses Incentive Package (RANIP) to Mount Isa, Cloncurry and Julia Creek could already be reaping dividends in the region, the Queensland Nurses Union (QNU) said today.

In an attempt to overcome serious nurse recruitment and retention problems in Mount Isa, Queensland Health recently announced the extension of RANIP to registered and enrolled nurses in Mount Isa, Cloncurry and Julia Creek. This means nurses in these three centres will receive the following bonuses:

• $3000.00 at the conclusion of their first year;
• $9000.00 at the conclusion of their second year; and
• $6000.00 at the conclusion of their third year.

They will also receive two return airfares each year to the nearest coastal city (Townsville).

Existing nurses in each centre, with one year or more’s service as of 16 June 2006, will receive a $3000.00 bonus this year and another $3000.00 on 27 March 2007. This later date then becomes the anniversary date for future payments to these nurses.

All other nurses will receive their payments on the anniversary of their commencement.

QNU secretary, Gay Hawksworth, said the QNU has been pushing for the extension of RANIP to Mount Isa for years.

“Mount Isa has had trouble filling nurse vacancies and it uses a lot of agency nurses to keep local health services running. The QNU understands that, since this scheme was announced a few weeks ago, about 12 agency nurses in the district have converted to being Queensland Health employees.

“That is a promising sign and hopefully, as Queensland Health promotes the scheme in its employment advertising campaigns, we will see more nurses moving to and staying in the north west.

 
“A more stable nursing workforce in the region will be a win for local health workers and a win for the local people, because it will improve the quality and availability of healthcare services.

“There is no doubt that high staff turnover puts pressure on other staff and on the service itself.

“The structure of the RANIP payments is such that it encourages people to stay on for at least two or three years and many people who do that then stay even longer.

“We expect the first payments, to existing nurses with more than 12 months service, to be made before Christmas. QNU officials have been on to Queensland Health and we are certainly pushing them to do that,” Ms Hawksworth said.

End

Media inquiries: Gay Hawksworth  07-3840 1444; 0419-726 678       John Moran  07-3366 9010; 0410-603 278