Australia’s nursing and midwifery labour force is growing with a new report showing there were 276,751 nurses employed in 2009, up 13 percent in four years.

The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare’s Nursing and Midwifery Labour Force 2009 report found the supply of nurses grew 6.2 percent between 2005 and 2009, from 1040 full-time equivalent nurses per 100,000 population to 1105 full-time equivalent nurses based on a 38-hour week.

The report found the increase was mostly the result of both a 13.3 percent increase in the number of employed nurses, and a 0.9 percent increase in the average hours they worked over that period.

It showed nursing continued to be a female dominated profession, with females comprising 90.4 percent of employed nurses in 2009, down slightly from 92.1 percent in 2005, while nurses worked 33.3 hours a week, a 0.3 percent increase on 2005.

The total number of nurses in 2009 was estimated to be 320,982, including 260,121 registered nurses and 60,861 enrolled nurses.

And the number of registered and enrolled nurses either working or seeking work increased 14.2 percent between 2005 and 2009, from 254,956 to 291,246.

The report showed the number of nurses working part-time decreased from 49.8 percent to 47.7 percent.

It also showed nursing supply across regions ranged from 997 full-time equivalent nurses per 100,000 population in major cities to 1,240 in very remote areas.

The report found between 2005 and 2009, the proportion of employed nurses aged 50 years and over increased from 35.8 percent to 36.3 percent while the average age of nurses decreased from 45.1 years in 2005 to 44.3 years in 2009.