I’m a nursing student, due to graduate in 2024 and enter the workforce in 2025.

I wanted to be a nurse because I believed that nursing was a well-respected and secure job where I could make a difference to the lives of others. As I near the end of my degree, my eyes have been opened to the workforce that awaits me, and I’m afraid.

Nurses and midwives in NSW are among the lowest paid in the country. With Sydney being the most expensive city in Australia, it is no wonder nurses and midwives are leaving an already stretched workforce, to work in states where they can afford day-to-day living. How does the NSW Government justify telling nurses and midwives they are essential and are valued in maintaining a healthy population, but then do nothing to incentivise them to stay?

I now see nurses who are overwhelmed by unsafe ratios and unsafe overtime. Experienced nurses are leaving the profession, exhausted and defeated. New graduate nurses need the support and mentorship provided by experienced nurses, to mould us into competent healthcare providers. I hate to imagine the consequences of an inexperienced workforce.

This year, I lost my mother to oesophageal cancer. I am eternally grateful for the nurses who cared for her during her final months. They drew her blood, administered her chemotherapy, traded soup recipes when my mum could no longer swallow solid food, and held her hand when she was afraid. They weren’t just healthcare providers – they were so much more.

It’s heartbreaking to think that the nurses who cared for my mum during her most vulnerable moments aren’t being cared for by our government. It is past time for the NSW Government to step up, listen to the nurses and midwives of NSW, and treat them with the same respect, compassion, and integrity that they demonstrate each and every day.

Dimity Morrison, Nursing student