Demoralised Oz nurses turning to prostitution for livelihood

Melbourne, Dec 22 (ANI): Demoralised Queensland nurses are increasingly turning to prostitution to earn money.

According to Courier Mail, these exhausted nurses would rather work as prostitutes than in Queensland's crumbling hospitals.

A former registered nurse of 10 years' experience revealed that she and four of her colleagues had found new jobs in brothels.

"We could no longer work in such an understaffed and stressful environment," News.com.au quoted the nurse, who wanted to be known as Jenna, as saying.

"I was overworked, poorly paid and a mistake could have led to charges if I caused a death.

"I came to the conclusion the nursing shortage wasn't my problem but it was my responsibility to protect myself from burning out or making a fatal mistake," she added.

The survey undertaken last year revealed that most nurses loved nursing but hated their jobs.

"There's a tension there that nurses feel they can't deliver the quality of nursing they want to," she added.

It was also found that 45 per cent of nurses had experienced workplace violence, which is more prevalent in the public and aged-care sectors than in the private sector.

Jenna said that violence was more of a concern in hospitals than in the sex industry.

"The security (at the brothel) is wonderful. We have buzzers in our room, there are bracelets we can request if you have a client you're a bit suspicious of," she added.

Health Minister Stephen Robertson said that it was disappointing that some nurses were seeking alternative careers.

"Queensland nurses are now among the highest paid in Australia, having benefited from a 26 per cent wage increase since 2006," he said.

"This is one of the factors which has helped us to recruit an extra 5834 nurses since June 2005," he added. (ANI)