Health practitioners

Bringing Nurses Back into the Workforce program: Fact sheet for private health facilities

Funding is available for eligible private hospitals to support the employment of registered nurses/midwives (Division 1 in Victoria) and enrolled nurses (Division 2 in Victoria), or a level consistent to these, to return to the private health workforce. The funding available will assist private health facilities with the re-training and re-skilling of nurses/midwives who return to work.

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This program was announced on 15 January 2008 by the Prime Minister, the Hon Kevin Rudd MP and the Minister for Health and Ageing, the Hon Nicola Roxon MP. The program commits $39.4 million over 5 years to provide places for 7,750 extra nurses and midwives in public and private hospitals and 1,000 nurses in residential aged care homes. This program is part of a larger measure through which the Government will provide $138.9 million over five years across the Health and Ageing and Education portfolios in support of the recruitment and training of up to a total of 8,750 nurses across public and private hospitals and aged care as well as funding up to an additional 1,170 ongoing university nursing places per year.

On 5 December 2008, the Minister for Health and Ageing, the Hon Nicola Roxon MP, announced that following feedback from stakeholders, and in response to ongoing shortages in the community nursing sector, the BNBW program would be expanded to include community settings, community-based aged care and day surgery hospitals.

• Aims and approach
• Eligibility
• How does an eligible private facility gain a place?
• How does an eligible private facility employ a registered nurse/midwife or enrolled nurse for a Bringing Nurses Back into the Workforce place?
• What is a private health facility entitled to under this program?
• How will this program work for a private facility?
• What does the private health facility have to provide for the bonus payment?
• How does a nurse/midwife receive a bonus payment under this program?
• Further information

Aims and approach

The aims of the Bringing Nurses Back into the Workforce program include:

• reducing the nursing shortages in private health facilities and
• attracting 1,550 of the estimated 30,000 qualified nurses who are outside the Australian nursing workforce back into private health facilities.

The program will provide cash bonuses of up to $6,000 to eligible nurses/midwives who return to work in a private hospital that is participating in the program. The program will also provide ancash bonus of $1,000 to participating private health facilities that employ an eligible nurse/midwife. Top of page

Eligibility

A private health facility will be eligible for the Bringing Nurses Back into the Workforce bonuses if it is a declared private facility, or community service facility funded by a BNBW fundholder. 'Declared' means a facility that has been declared a hospital under subsection 121-5 of the Private Health Insurance Act 2007.

An agency that employs nurses to provide nursing services to a hospital or aged care facility is not eligible under this program.

Information on nurse/midwife eligibility is contained in Bringing Nurses Back into the Workforce, Fact Sheet for Nurses and Midwives, available from www.health.gov.au/backtonursing.

How does an eligible private hospital gain a place?

• The Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing has negotiated funding agreements with private hospitals groups and Royal College of Nursing, Australia (RCNA) to administer the private component of the Bringing Nurses Back into the Workforce program. Private facilities seeking to gain a place in the program should contact their hospital group administration or the RCNA to seek further information. Top of page

How does an eligible private facility employ a registered nurse/midwife or enrolled nurse for a BNBW place?

• The facility is responsible for determining the recruitment and selection of nursing/midwifery staff for the BNBW program.
• The facility is responsible for gaining information from the registered nurse/midwife or enrolled nurse returning to work to determine if the individual nurse/midwife is eligible to be considered for a place under the BNBW program.
• A nurse/midwife must fill in the relevant forms and a statutory declaration for a facility to register and claim a bonus payment.
• Applications should be based on a nurse/midwife being employed full-time or the pro rata part-time or casual equivalent (subject to employment arrangements in the relevant state or territory). A hospital may give priority to a nurse/midwife returning to work in a full-time capacity.

What is a private health facility entitled to under this program?

• A one-off payment of $1,000* per eligible full-time equivalent nurse/midwife returning to work is to be paid to the employing hospital under the BNBW program. Top of page

How will this program work for a private facility?

• The private facility will undertake recruitment and selection processes.
• The private facility will inform a nurse/midwife who is eligible under this program if there are places available under the BNBW; the hospital should identify its preference for full-time allocation at this time.
• On employment of an eligible nurse/midwife under BNBW, the facility will provide the nurse/midwife with a form and the relevant Statutory Declaration for signature.
• The private facility will promptly provide the funding body with the details of the recruitment of a nurse/midwife to an allocated place, in accordance with the protocols established by the funding body.
• This notification will trigger payment of funds to be allocated to the facility to assist the facility to support the nurse/midwife, back into the workforce.
• The private facility will not receive a payment for an eligible nurse/midwife who has moved to the hospital from another private facility, as this nurse/midwife will have received this initial support at the facility for which he or she commenced work. The private facility will be required to notify the funding body that this nurse/midwife has transferred entitlements to its hospital.
• The private facility will provide a report to the funding body with a minimum set of data to monitor the placement of an individual nurse/midwife and the number of full-time equivalent positions that have been employed.
• The private facility will provide the funding body with details of hours worked after six months and 18 months of continuous employment of the individual nurse/midwife who has a place allocated under the BNBW program. Top of page

What does the private health facility have to provide for the bonus payment?

• A private health facilityl will provide support through targeted programs for a nurse/midwife returning to the workforce. This is in addition to existing state or territory re-training and re-entry programs required for registration and any other funds allocated in current programs for these purposes.

How does a nurse/midwife receive a bonus payment under this program?

• Each eligible nurse/midwife who returns to work will receive $6,000 (or pro rata equivalent amount) in two instalments; one payment of $3,000 (or pro rata equivalent) after six months continuous employment and another $3,000 (or pro rata equivalent) after 18 months continuous employment.
• A facility should ensure that there are systems in place through regular payroll processes to identify nurses/midwives that are eligible for such payments.
• Both of the bonus payments are considered assessable income for personal taxation purposes under the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997, and should be taxed accordingly.
• A facility should ensure that there are systems in place to provide to the funding body a minimum data set on a quarterly basis and on payment of bonuses to individual employees.
• The Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing will provide this standard information, through the funding body for the hospital to use and this should not be varied. Top of page

Further information

Further information on the Bringing Nurses Back into the Workforce program can be accessed from the Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing website, www.health.gov.au/backtonursing, or by calling toll free on 1300 733 314.

For further information on RCNA administration of private hospitals (Independent and non-affiliated hospitals), please go to the the RCNA website, www.rcna.org.au, or call toll free 1800 553 252.

* Prior to 5 December 2008 this payment is pro-rata for part-time and casual staff.