Nurses to test blood pressure of MPs | Gympie Health | Fitness and Medical News in Gympie

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FEDERAL politicians will be getting their blood pressure tested during next week's national ALP conference in Sydney as part of an Australian Nursing Federation (ANF) aged care campaign.

ANF secretary Ged Kearney says the federation is targeting politicians at the conference as part of its Because We Care: Quality Care For Older Australians campaign.

"We are going to take politicians' blood pressures and if it's not high we are going to sit them down and make sure it's high by the time we let them go," Ms Kearney said.

"We are really going to get them to think about aged care."

Ms Kearney, who announced the next stage of the campaign at the Queensland Nurses Union conference in Brisbane on Wednesday, said appearances on ABC Television's Q&A program and a National Press Club address were also planned.

She said the campaign's goal was to close the wages gap for aged care nurses, ensure nursing homes were accountable for federal government funds, introduce minimum staffing levels at homes and establish a licensing system for staff.

"Billions of dollars a year of federal government funding go to providers but they don't have to account for it," Ms Kearney said.

"We don't know if all the money is going to the nursing home and then you hear terrible stories such as the one in Victoria where an aged care provider gave $2 million to her soccer club - you think this couldn't happen if there was proper accountability."

She said 76 per cent of admissions to nursing homes were people who needed high level care.

The Because We Care campaign began in March and included television and newspaper advertisements.