The first 1,300 nursing graduates and students have received offers under the Tertiary Health Study Subsidy 
Program.

In the Penrith electorate, this includes 17 new nursing students being offered the $4,000 per year scholarship and 54 graduating nursing students who have commenced employment with NSW Health being offered the $8,000 one-off payment.

It comes as the NSW Health nursing workforce grows to a record 52,400 – up 2,100 from the same time last year.

The health worker study subsidies and rural health incentives are just part of a range of measures to rebuild the healthcare workforce, including:

• Beginning to implement safe staffing levels of nurses and midwives beginning in our emergency 
  departments.
• Saving 1,112 temporary nurses by making them permanent.
• Abolishing the wages cap and delivering record paying increases for nurses, paramedics, and other health 
  workers as well as salary packaging.
• Beginning to roll out 500 additional paramedics in regional, rural, and remote communities.

The latest date on the government’s health workforce measures came as nurses and midwives were recognized for the significant roles, they play the NSW health system providing high-quality, safe and compassionate care for their local communities this International Nurses Day and International Day of the Midwife.

Nominations for the 2024 Excellence in Nursing and Midwife Awards close on Friday, 14 June 2024.

For more information visit https://www.health.nsw.gov.au/nursing/enma/Pages/default.aspx

For more information on careers in nursing and midwifery, visit the NSW Health website, 
https://www.health.nsw.gov.au/nursing/employment/Pages/default.aspx.

The Karen McKeown, Member for Penrith, said: 
“After 12 years of neglect of our healthcare system, we are fulfilling our election commitment to recruit the next generation of health care workers for the people of NSW.

“It is great to see so many Penrith nursing graduates and students have their lives changed by the Tertiary Health Study Subsidy Program.

“Having just celebrated International Nurses Day and International Day of the Midwife, I want to acknowledge the compassion, professionalism, and round-the-clock commitment of our nurses in Nepean Hospital, and around Australia, as they care for patients in our public health system.”