Death by a thousand cuts
The chronic understaffing, unsustainable, unsafe workloads, extra admin duties, sick leave not being replaced, rosters not being filled, forcing existing staff to do more with less, has all been going on for many decades. On top of that, the government’s refusal to listen and worse, take action on nurses and midwives concerns over those many decades, is also not new. The government have thanked us and called us heros during a pandemic of global proportions and yet, they have continually refused to give us safe ratios, sustainable workloads, offer a wage rise in line with inflation, pay us a covid allowance, provide us with appropriate PPE, timely vaccination, access to testing equipment or compensation for contracting covid, or being required to continue to work until we drop, when the rest of the population is isolating due to being a close contact. The government calls us liars and scare mongers when we call them out on their lies, that the health system is not on it’s knees. As a direct consequence of decades of government inaction and incompetence, and not least due to the exhausting cycle of the last 2 years, nurses and midwives are fed up. They are leaving the profession at an alarming rate. The reason? Working for NSW health, has become death by a thousand cuts. That’s why. We are aware that we cannot continue to give our best and our safest care to the community when we are so exhausted, frustrated, angry, fearful, cynical, under resourced, underpaid and so overwhelmingly under valued. Nurses, midwives and the community deserve better. We all need better from the government. That is why NSW nurses and midwives are finally moving to strike. We’re passionate about our communities, passionate about doing the right thing, passionate about health and about keeping the community safe. It’s a rethoric the government has rammed down our necks for 2 years but has never actually been able to achieve and it’s not good enough!