Key Facts:
- A report by the Australian College of Nursing (ACN), based on consultation with nearly 800 nurses, warns that with Australia facing a shortage of almost 80,000 nurses by 2035, nurses need structured career support to keep them in the profession.
- Key barriers identified include unclear career progression described as guesswork, under-used scope of practice, unsupported leadership responsibilities, and a lack of culturally safe workplaces for nurses from diverse and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander backgrounds.
- Mid-career nurses face particular pressure, juggling heavy clinical demands, supervision of junior staff, and home caring responsibilities, with many also managing perimenopause in high-pressure environments, as the average workforce age is 42.2 years.
- The report calls for immediate action including embedding wellbeing into career development, strengthening career pathways, improving national data on graduate programmes, and embedding nursing career infrastructure into national workforce strategies.
- In response to the findings, ACN will release a co-designed national career navigator, Nursing Career Pathways, bringing together roles, learning opportunities, regulatory information, wellbeing supports, and career-planning tools in one place.
A new report from the Australian College of Nursing (ACN) reveals Australia’s nurses are calling out for structured nursing career support and guidance to keep them working as nurses and making nursing their lifelong career.
The release of the report comes as Australia is predicted to have a shortage of nearly 80,000 nurses by 2035.
The Nursing Pathways: Making career paths clearer report is based on direct national consultation with nearly 800 nurses from all corners of the country. The consultation found nurses are overwhelmingly proud of their profession despite being under sustained pressure from multiple directions.
The report sets out the hidden pressures risking the stability and strength of the nursing workforce and identifies the groups most at risk of leaving the profession or being overlooked for career progression.
Nursing Pathways complements national reforms already under way, including the National Nursing Workforce Strategy and the Scope of Practice Review, translating their policy directions into practical, nurse-centred career guidance that can be used now.
ACN is calling for immediate action to support nurses in their careers, including through health system reform, to prevent further burnout and pressure on a workforce stretched thin.
Key findings of Nursing Pathways:
- Little planned career progression: Nurses described progression as “guesswork” that depends on timing, vacancies and personal connections rather than clear, visible criteria.
- Leadership work that goes unsupported: Mentoring junior staff and supervising students are responsibilities set out in the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia Standards for Practice, yet nurses told us support to develop these leadership skills is hard to access.
- A “sandwiched” mid-career: Heavy clinical demands combine with responsibility for a junior workforce and caring responsibilities at home. Many are also managing perimenopause and menopause in high-pressure environments, as the average workforce age is 42.2 years.
- Barriers to equity: Nurses from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds told us their language skills and cultural knowledge strengthen care and connection, but are not treated as strengths. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander nurses continue to report racism at work as a barrier to attraction, retention and progression, with culturally safe and trauma-informed workplaces still not the norm.
- Under-used scope of practice: Nurses are becoming stuck in their careers due to barriers preventing them from using all their skills and expertise.
Asked what they need, nurses pointed to three things:
- Knowledge and navigation (61 per cent)
- Skills and development (56 per cent)
- Resources and support (42 per cent)
Nursing Pathways makes a series of recommendations for governments, the health sector, and stakeholders, including:
- Embedding wellbeing as a core component of career development.
- Improving the visibility of enrolled nurses as essential members of the nursing workforce.
- Strengthening career pathways and career development resources for nurses.
- Improving national data on graduate program availability and early-career transition.
- Strengthening structured transition programs at both ends of the career.
- Embedding nursing career infrastructure into national workforce strategies.
Based on the findings of the report, ACN will later this month release a national career navigator, Nursing Career Pathways.
Co-designed with nurses, it will bring roles, pathways, professional expectations, learning opportunities, regulatory information, wellbeing supports, and career-planning tools into one place – including emerging areas such as digital health, nurse-led models, and RN prescribing.
ACN CEO Adjunct Professor Kathryn Zeitz FACN said retention is not only a nursing workforce issue.
“It directly affects health outcomes, health service stability, and the long-term sustainability of Australia’s health system,” she said.
“Nurses across Australia have told us they are proud of their profession, they want to stay, and they want to be supported to build a future within it.
“We now need to work together to develop clear, achievable career pathways and support to navigate them.
“That is how we will support the nursing workforce to meet healthcare challenges now and into the future.”
Nursing Pathways: Making career paths clearer
