More aged care nursing homes will fail government standards in the next year if nursing conditions do not improve, the Australian Nursing Federation (ANF) says.
A new study for the ANF Victoria branch has found almost a third of aged care nurses are likely to quit next year because of heavy workloads and cost-cutting measures.
ANF Victoria branch secretary Yvonne Chaperon blamed nursing home operators for slashing the numbers of registered nurses and said it would lead to more homes failing government standards.
"I think we've started to see those implications and that is we're seeing nursing homes failing standards ... because the right skill mix isn't there, so we'll see more and more of that," she told reporters in Melbourne.
Ms Chaperon said the results of the Victorian study, in which Melbourne University researchers surveyed 1038 ANF member aged care workers, were reflected nationally.
"They are, absolutely, Victoria is not alone in this, we're seeing more and more division one nurses leaving the aged care sector Australia-wide," she said.
The report also found 70 per cent of aged care workers surveyed were "emotionally exhausted", more than a quarter said on average, once or twice a month a resident's medication was either missed or given at the wrong time, only 54 per cent felt resident safety was a high priority and 62 per cent had been threatened at least once by a resident in the past six months.
The findings come as aged care homes across the nation are being shut down or sanctioned for failing government standards on basics such as nutrition and hygiene.
In Perth last month John Mercer Lodge lost its government funding because of inadequate nutrition for residents.
In Melbourne, the Rosden Private Nursing Home was shut down and slammed as being "filthy".
It was the fifth Victorian nursing home in two months sanctioned for failing set standards.
After the Rudd government announced $41 billion over four years for nursing homes, Ms Chaperon said it now needed to supervise how that money was spent.
"We have seen time and time again that the proprietors aren't spending it where we think they should be spending it and that is on wages, increasing staff levels, increasing resources," she said.
Federal Minister for Ageing Justine Elliot urged operators to pay workers adequately.
"I would encourage the providers to work very closely to provide adequate pay for our nurses in the aged care sector," she said.
