Public Health
The inconvenient truth about nurse shortages
The NSW Nurses and Midwives’ Association proudly represents over 73,000 nurses and midwives across the state. As frontline workers, our members have been shouldering the burden of the pandemic, working their guts out to hold the health system together.
Many have gathered the courage to come forward publicly and speak about their experiences, bringing attention to staffing issues that are putting themselves, their families, patients and residents at risk.
What is not helpful, is the NSW Health Minister publicly dismissing these concerns and continuing to deny the fact our hospital system is at risk of reaching a breaking point.
Our members are telling an inconvenient truth. One the NSW Health Minister refuses to acknowledge.
The fact is, in addition to the increased stresses of COVID-19, nurses and midwives are dealing with a significant reduction in staffing from forced isolation and redeployment of nurses to COVID- 19 vaccination hubs, testing clinics and quarantine hotels.
Every day, as case numbers continue to rise, nurses and midwives are putting themselves and their families at risk, without enough support to do their jobs.
Right now, 871 COVID-19 positive patients are in hospital in NSW, with 143 of those in intensive care units (ICU), needing one-to-one care. This puts an incredible strain on those who remain in our public hospital system.
It’s time the NSW government listened to what’s really going on in our public health system. Nurses and midwives are fatigued, burnt out and feel unsupported at work. We will lose some of our most valuable workers if the NSW Health Minister doesn’t wake up to the crisis we are facing and offer more support.
We call on the Ministry of Health to start utilising any nurses who were upskilled with critical care training last year while we still have experienced ICU nurses able to offer the guidance and clinical supervision that’s needed to care for COVID-19 positive patients, before the October peak hits.
Our ICUs and the entire public health system was under strain before this pandemic, with excessive overtime and poor staffing ratios.
The current workloads are unsustainable. Enough is enough. The NSW government can’t continue to ignore the pleas from frontline workers and blame unions for giving our members a voice.
Toni Baldi says
We need to support our nurses without them we would never get the care we all need
Helen M Ryan says
I maybe old but im fit,Ive been working in immunisation scince 1981 as an extra job,nobody has asked me to help!!!!!!!!I mean in admin!!!!!!
i have a very sick relative,with multiple medical problems as end result of failed operation,nurses have been so rude and unkind !! Im proud to be a nurse and i expect everyone to be treated with professionalism.Attitude comes from the top IN CHARGE?!?!
To all those working thou i admire this is a dangerous disease and Prof Dwyer states this with some sense.
Anita says
Good on you Helen. Thanks for all your hard work! Age is just a number, all those years of expertise are invaluable.
Anita, Midwife
Ruth says
Staff where I work are exhausted because they are committed to the care and will push to try to look after the patients. I’ve never seen so many staff in tears because the management don’t want to know the reality of what is going on on floor. Understaffed inexperienced staff the neglect is unbelievable. Government ((royal commission) say there is 2 years to meet ratio recommendations How many people will die in pain ,pressure sores ,malnutrition ,sad lonely untreated medical conditions,left in incontinent pads for up to 24 hrs. Caring staff can’t wait 2 yrs to see improvement for their residents. The immoral thing is management can justify everything that is happening when it is so simple to have adequate caring staff and that needs money and neither government or private enterprise are so greedy will do everything to prolong the process to save money. The fear of litigation is the main time consumer of wasted time by nurses the paperwork takes 80 % shift. Is one R. N capable of looking 60 residents mostly high care and 50 suffering with dementia and all the difficult behaviours that go with that.
Kathryn says
Yes yes totally agree
Grace says
I haven’t worked a shift fully staffed in over 12 months in country NSW. I’m very worried for when COVID hits this area as we will not be able to cope. We are all burnt out and bickering with each other, this cannot be sustainable on the long run.
Martin says
Our ICUs are struggling through this pandemic. Nurses need more support.
Margaret says
I’m retired now but worked in the front line for forty years. I want to say thank you to all the nurses, and I value your effort in very trying times. The most important thing to remember is to look after yourself. Remember your family is the most important thing to you. Sometimes you can’t work a miracle every day, only every second day. Meaning if you don’t look after yourself,No one else will. Stay united and strong. Also, get vaccinated .people do clear about you .Good Luck to everyone .
claudea donlan says
Time for DECENT payrise, not bandaids in all areas of Nursing. Starting with a DANGER or RISK money included in pay rise permanently, for those in ICU and Aged Care Facilities. Staff would come to work and there would be more people to fill the vacancies with improved morale and opportunities for ratio’s. (referring to regional,rural, remote) The Royal Commission mentions need to adjust salaries, Aged Care.
Ratio’s can’t be implemented unless have adequate staffing, which regional, rural, remote areas do not have, consistently. AINs where I work not earning enough, numbers coming to work have dropped off as a result, past 2 yrs. Some have taken up jobs of cleaning where one can earn up to double and more AIN salary per wk. Some RN’s leave Aged Care for Hospitals, as are paid more.
Others maybe receiving some benefits, unknown, while out of Aged Care work.
Rents on average are $450.00-$500.00 per week for a house. $500,000.00 to buy low average home/unit.
Prices for staples are still rising and bills have to be paid. EENs and RNs have same problem of course.
With the children not going to school, puts pressure on family budget for utilities, food, technical equipment, parental lack of income in certain situations and family member conflict/stress.’
If the government is desperate for nurses, then it’s time for negotiations around, OK that’s something that can be done but FIRSTLY, lets talk PAYRISE. Health is a business.
It Distresses me to know that Teachers and Police are paid and supported more than nurses.
Heavens its about time, payrises been promised for years as NSWNA knows, I’m sure the public would be
supportive of that, especially since this COVID started, February 2020.
Remember nurses always do dangerous tasks because NOONE ELSE WILL and certainly others in society would not, until they were given a financial boost to make it worthwhile.
Let’s get off this guilt trip and calling us heroes attitude that politicians and others in authority define us, its such an OLD model of nurses, (its 2021). Hero has connotations of acceptance should some of us die or worse, become chronically ill, never to work again. We are not angels, we care, but need a living, decent salary NOW. This is not much to ask for after nurses salaries been ignored for many years.
Karen says
I’m a caring, optimistic person by nature and I’m a nurse/midwife. I love my job but like my colleagues, I’m often working under staffed, under resourced and under supported, pre pandemic. Also, like my colleagues, I’m tired. I’m tired of working at a computer, instead of working with patients. I’m tired of apologizing to women and their families for the gaps in the system and I’m tired of feeling guilty by saying no to double and extra shifts when my colleagues need an extra pair of hands. I feel incredibly angry and frustrated when our NSW Health Minister says that nurses and midwives would serve the public better if “they would be more positive” about the situation. The situation, Minister, is not new and it’s more challenging now than ever before. Perhaps a little more positive action from the government and less patronization would give us hope that there truly is light at the end of the tunnel.