Nursing and personal care in aged care homes

Registered Nurses (RNs) complete a 3-year Bachelor of Nursing or 2-year Master of Nursing through a university, to meet the Registered Nurse standards for practice. They have more responsibilities than an Enrolled Nurse, which can include:

• assessing residents
• developing a nursing care plan
• administering medicines
• providing specialised nursing care
• working in multidisciplinary teams
• supervising Enrolled Nurses and junior Registered Nurses
• undertaking regular professional development
• performing leadership and management roles such as being a nursing unit manager or team leader
• working in advanced nursing practice roles.

Enrolled Nurses complete a 2-year Diploma of Nursing through a vocational education provider, to meet the Enrolled Nurse standards for practice. They work under the supervision of a Registered Nurse and cannot act alone. Their responsibilities can include: 

• regularly recording residents’ temperature, pulse, blood pressure and respiration
• providing interventions, treatments and therapies from resident care plans (including administering medicines)
• assisting Registered Nurses and other team members with health education activities
• working in multidisciplinary teams
• helping residents with their activities of daily living.

Personal Care Workers and Assistants in Nursing support residents with their activities of daily living. Their responsibilities can include:

• monitoring and reporting residents’ condition
• providing interventions, treatments and therapies from resident care plans
• helping residents with their activities of daily living, such as eating and drinking and personal hygiene
• providing residents with social and emotional support
• working in multidisciplinary teams.

You can see how an aged care home is performing in the Staffing section of their profile when using the Find a provider tool. Their performance in relation to the care minutes targets informs the Staffing rating, which is part of the Australian Government’s Star Ratings for aged care homes. 

Care minutes targets are based on the care needs of people who have lived in the home during the period that is used to work out the targets.

Since 1 October 2024, across all aged care homes, the nationwide average is currently:

• 215 minutes of personal and nursing care per day (from a Registered Nurse, Enrolled Nurse, or Personal Care Worker/Assistants in Nursing) and
• 44 minutes of nursing care from a Registered Nurse per resident per day. This may include up to 10% of the target provided by Enrolled Nurses.

This means, on average across Australia, people who live in an aged care home will get 215 minutes of care each day, including at least 44 minutes from a Registered Nurse.

As care minutes targets are an average for all residents, some people may receive more care time than others, depending on their needs.

The Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety identified that having a Registered Nurse on-site and on duty is critical to the quality of care in aged care homes. The Australian Government has acted based on these findings.

Every aged care home is now required to have at least one Registered Nurse on-site and on duty 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

This ensures that residents will always have access to qualified and experienced care staff. Registered Nurses can identify and address potential risks. They can also manage some medical issues and emergencies, which can prevent unnecessary trips to the hospital.

Learn more about the responsibilities of 24/7 Registered Nurses on the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing website.

For some smaller aged care homes in rural and remote areas, finding and hiring Registered Nurses to be on-site and on duty 24 hours a day, 7 days a week can take time.

Some of these homes have been temporarily exempted from the 24/7 Registered Nurse requirement for up to 12 months. This is to allow them more time to find and hire more Registered Nurses. However, this doesn’t remove their other obligations under the new Aged Care Act  and the Aged Care Quality Standards to make sure that all residents at the home receive safe and quality care.

Aged care homes with an exemption must still report when they do not have an RN on-site and on duty. They also must inform their residents about the exemption and the duration of it, including the alternative care arrangements for clinical care in place while they are looking for more Registered Nurses.

Learn more about aged care home 24/7 Registered Nurse exemptions and find a list of providers currently exempt from the requirements on the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing website.

There are a few reasons why a provider may display a ’No data’ label in their Find a provider profile.
 
This may be because the aged care home:

• is a new provider
• is operating under new ownership
• has recently reopened after major repairs or renovations
• has failed to submit their data in the required time period
• is experiencing issues that have stopped them from being able to report on time, such as technical (IT or data) issues.

It could also be for other reasons outside of their control, such as a natural disaster.