Public Health
Nurses and midwives from Shellharbour Hospital rally over ratios
Nurses and midwives gathered at the end of night shift on Wednesday to rally over staffing issues and the need for ratios inside Shellharbour Hospital’s emergency department.
Despite raising workloads concerns with Illawarra Shoalhaven Local Health District, NSW Nurses and Midwives’ Association (NSWNMA) members said they were worried patient safety would be compromised if current staffing gaps were not filled by appropriately trained emergency nurses.
Savannah, a registered nurse (RN) in the emergency department told the group nurses and midwives were understaffed, and her department was often overflowing.
“Patient [spaces] are full everywhere… The waiting room is always full. Sometimes it’s standing room only. And you’ve only got two hands. What can you do?”
She also flagged concerns of nurse and midwife burnout and patient safety.
“We’re losing experienced nurses. Every week it seems like someone’s leaving.”
“We’re just running out, burning out, we can’t do it for much longer. I’m thinking I’ll have to retire early.”
“We are here for the patients and they need our help but how can we help them when we don’t have enough nurses. We need more RNs, we need 1:3.”
The Local Health District plans to rely on Assistants in Nursing (AINs) to fill current RN vacancies in the emergency department, including overseeing the waiting room during night shift.
Savannah said: “It’s unfair for our AiNs to look after a whole waiting room. We need safe patient care. We need help.”
NSWNMA branch members also highlighted issues in the hospital’s general medical ward, including failures to meet minimum staffing requirements and the establishment of a temporary ‘offload’ ward which has prompted Work Health and Safety concerns.
NSWNMA members are seeking community support for staffing ratios of at least one nurse to every three treatment spaces in the ED (1:3) and urged the NSW government to ensure nurse staffing reflected the needs of Shellharbour Hospital patients.
Nurses and midwives from Wollongong and Shoalhaven hospitals attended Wednesday’s rally in Shellharbour in support and to help raise awareness of the issues across the region.