Nurses and midwives in the ACT are working longer hours on average than almost all of their interstate colleagues, according to a national report.
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Australian Institute of Health and Welfare statistics reveal nurses in the territory worked an average of 35.3 hours a week during 2014, the second highest amount in Australia behind the Northern Territory.
The figures also reveal an ageing workforce with 34 per cent of nurses and midwives aged older than 50 and an average age of 42.9 years.
ACT Health chief nurse Veronica Croome said the larger working weeks were likely due to a higher rate of full-time nurses and midwives in the territory.
"We've got about 64 per cent of nurses and midwives working full-time and that's probably different to other states and territories," she said.
"There are a range of reasons why we have more nurses working full-time and one could be the cost of living in the ACT and a need to work more hours, but that is less likely to be the case."
ACT Australian Nursing & Midwifery Federation secretary Jenny Miragaya said there had been a gradual increase in average working hours over recent years and more efforts were needed to recruit graduates to replace an ageing workforce.
"About 40 per cent of our workforce is part-time and 34 per cent are older than 50, so we need to be looking at employing early career practitioners," she said.
"The whole country needs to be thinking about employing new graduates and supporting them so we have an experience and skilled workforce to replace those who will be retiring in coming years.
"If we are not actively recruiting new graduates who are well educated then they will not twiddle their thumbs and wait, they'll take other jobs."
According to AIHW data, there was a total of 5009 employed nurses in the ACT during 2014 with 4396 registered and 613 enrolled.
There were only 36 Indigenous nurses or midwives in the ACT, the lowest in the country, with 143 recorded in Tasmania.
AIHW spokesman Dr Adrian Webster said the overall supply of nurses and midwives had remained relatively stable when population growth was taken into account.
"In 2014 the overall supply of employed nurses and midwives was 1134 full-time equivalents for every 100,000 people," he said. "This compares with the figure of 1107 full-time equivalents per 100,000 in 2011."
Ms Croome said ACT Health were encouraging graduate nurses to establish careers in Canberra hospitals to prepare for the retirement of older workers.
"The report shows year-on-year growth in the over 50 age group and I think there are many reasons for that," she said.
"Some are financial imperatives but nurses are also feeling more confident to stay in the workforce for longer."
She said many nursing graduates were mature-aged students who could bring special skills to hospitals that may not be reflected in the data.
"One of the interesting things about undergraduate nursing students is they are often on their second or third career change and are a little older," she said.
"We love mature-aged students as they often have the benefit of life experiences and that can be a real value for quality of care."
