How healthy are our nurses?
How healthy is our nursing workforce? They are the ones helping us through good health and bad, but do they practise what they preach?
New research from the Faculty of Health at the University of Technology Sydney has looked at the physical and mental health of five thousand nurses in NSW. The study found that nurses have high job satisfaction, but experience a range of health problems, for example, back pain, tiredness, anxiety and depression.
But the real clincher came in the age of the nurses: half of the surveyed workforce were aged between 40-60.
As we know, Australia has an aging population and nurses are increasingly tasked with their care.
The age of the nurses has implications for their own health, and raises the question of who will replace them as they reach retirement age.
Lin Perry is the Professor of Nursing with South East Sydney Local Health District and the University of Technology Sydney. She speaks to Ellen Leabeater.
Image: COD Newsroom
