Challenges for Australian nursing in the International Year of Older Persons.

Some of the major issues challenging gerontic nursing in Australia are addressed in this article. The broad context of change that has been introduced by successive Australian governments is presented briefly. The problems of attracting and keeping qualified nurses in aged care exacerbated by a trend toward employers actively seeking to replace qualified nurses with unregulated staff are discussed. Education and work practice changes are proposed as minimum responses required from nursing if the profession is to remain relevant and central to aged care into the 21st century.