Aged Care Insite Issue 114 | Oct-Nov 2019 | Page 17

industry & reform alone generated $17.4 billion of revenue, which represents nearly 1 per cent of gross domestic product. That money’s going somewhere, and I can tell you that money is not going into care. We could say that maybe some of the issues we’re seeing in the aged care sector are a result of not attracting the best people to nursing or to care in general because of the perceived low pay. That is true, and I think the negative perception of aged care as a workplace is multifactorial. I think low wages is one of the things. As I said, I think this would also relate to the childcare industry, but in combination with low wages and short staffing, the aged care industry is always a stressed and panicky place. It’s a bit like being on Survivor, where you actually run out of good manners. I’ve worked in TAFE for 15 years and TAFE was well funded, it was well structured, it was very pleasant, a nice clean place to work. You didn’t have that sense of anxiety and rushing that you get in residential aged care. The whole emotional tempo in residential aged care facilities is what’s responsible for making it visually and experientially for workers a very unattractive place to work. When I was working in TAFE, I was training aged care workers for 15 years, so I knew that cohort of workers extremely well. When I worked directly with them for six years in residential aged care, and after that in home care, one thing I noticed about these workers as a whole was that they were not there for the money. They were there because they cared. They were there because they were people who genuinely wanted to make a difference to people’s lives. They could have made far more money working at Coles or Woolies, or doing cleaning – they could have got $35 an hour – but they weren’t there for the money. But the experiences that they had in there meant that at the end of their work day, they continually felt unsatisfied. They hadn’t achieved what they needed to do, and they hadn’t been able to spend the time with the residents. When I was teaching at TAFE, we focused on personal sense of care, but by the time they got into the industry, it wasn’t possible. Staffing payment and ratios is a matter of debate among academics and politicians, but we know without a doubt that there is a gender pay gap. Could the overwhelmingly female workforce of aged care and nursing be the key reason staff are underpaid? That is actually a really interesting point you raise there, and it’s a big part of it. I’d also done some interesting research when I was preparing for this talk around that very thing. Some of the research I read was talking a little bit about how overwhelmingly female workers, particularly in healthcare, fear that financial incentives will lead to a loss of truly caring motivations, as though love and money can’t go together. The research further found that these workers are far more likely to mobilise themselves industrially around quality of care issues than pay issues, and this goes very much to the way that aged care workers identify themselves. I think it’s another reason for the low pay in aged care work, because employers are aware of this sense among the workers, and which employer would not want to take advantage of and capitalise on this perception? We have a sector that’s under fire, that’s trying to make changes while still trying to be financially viable. What do we do to fix this? The first thing we need to do is fix the ratios. Fixing the ratios means that we at least could come within striking distance of being able to provide genuinely dignified care. Workers don’t feel pride in work when they know they cannot reach the goals that they aspire to, but we do need to have staff to resident ratios mandated. It’s a bit like we don’t have plastic bags in supermarkets. I didn’t bring my own bags: they forced me to bring them. People won’t do anything until you force them. These need to be mandated in law, and of course there needs to be scrutiny of the way that particularly private providers are using their profits. What are they using them for? Are they using them to improve care and wages, or are they using them to put up another chandelier? This is where some of the oversight needs to happen, to start directing some of those wages towards the workers and putting on more workers. In all honesty, these workers, they will work for the wages they’re given, but they need to know they’re working in a big enough team to provide the care that they aspire to give. ■ medication lubricant ® Gloup Raspberry Low Sugar Gloup ® is a slippery gel that makes tablets easier to swallow email: [email protected] phone: 02 9231 7200 web: www.gloup.com.au Always read the label. Follow the directions for use. If symptoms persist, consult your healthcare professional. ® Gloup is a registered trademark. Mundipharma Pty Limited. FD19203 AU-4970 Oct19 agedcareinsite.com.au 15