SA nurses plead with Steven Marshall for pandemic payments with petition and open letter

An SA nurse has written an open letter to the Premier highlighting the unbelievably difficult work conditions Covid has created.

A South Australian emergency nurse has written an open letter to Premier Steven Marshall urging him to give frontline nurses pandemic payments for the “exhausting and relentless conditions” they are working in.

The woman, who launched a petition with the open letter on Wednesday, said she wrote it on behalf of “all worried nurses” in the state and received more than 5000 signatures in less than 24 hours after it was created.

The western-suburbs woman 28, who preferred to give only her first name, Viv, has been an emergency nurse for almost seven years and said the buckling health system could prompt more experienced nurses to leave hospitals.

Emergency nurse Viv started a petition that attracted more than 5000 signatures in less than a day. Picture: Mat Loxton

“If we keep losing nurses we are going to be even more under-resourced and the thought of having no choice but to compromise on our high standards of quality and safe care terrifies me,” she told The Advertiser.

“Compassion for people, passion for doing good and the joy of working with such an amazing team can only go so far in pandemic conditions.

“Only so far to combat fatigue from overwork and understaffing, dehydration from PPE, sore faces from N95 masks and abuse from anti-vaxxers and scared patients alike.

“On top of the physical discomfort there’s the emotional stress of knowing it’s only going to get worse, and that there’s no end in sight.”

She said nurses interstate had their work acknowledged with disaster payments.

VicHealth said it had backed its health workforce with a $255m “surge support allowances” package, funding for wellbeing support, more training and additional recruitment.

“I am asking for the same for South Australia, for myself and my colleagues working on the frontline during the pandemic,” she said.

Nurses and midwives protest at Lyell McEwin Hospital. Picture: Tait Schmaal

“I am anxious about how we are going to cope with the increased demand; the staffing levels on the frontline are critically low and also critically junior, as more nurses, doctors and support staff get sick, get burnt out or know what’s coming and frankly just can’t face it for another day.”

Viv said a pandemic loading for tired nurses would assist in getting through busy shifts.

“It’s all well and good to be thanked, but when you're on the floor day-to-day dealing with everything that comes with the pandemic, a little bit of financial recognition is going to go a long way to prevent burnout and keep nurses on the front line,” she said.

The final line of the letter asked Mr Marshall, “St Nicola” (Professor Nicola Spurrier) and the SA Government to “hear our plea”.

“We are here to serve but we are already burning out – we know what’s coming and we are scared.”

A day in the life of an emergency nurse in SA during the pandemic: a personal account

It’s a relief that hospitalisation numbers aren’t as high as what they could be if people weren’t vaccinated and if we hadn’t slowed the spread earlier with lockdowns, but this doesn’t account for the numbers that are presenting to emergency departments each day, that we assess, treat and discharge home, which in itself involves co-ordination, wait times, transport resources, follow-up and education. I know a lot of my friends certainly didn’t realise how much higher those numbers are than just the admission numbers we see on the news. It also doesn’t shed any light on the impact of working in PPE day to day, with sick patients and increasing time pressures.I, like my colleagues, hold myself to a very high standard when it comes to nursing care.This includes the critical lifesaving and diagnostic stuff, but also things like having the capacity to provide emotional support and basic cares like feeding our patients and performing pressure area care, as well as the things patients don’t see, like the documentation and safe handovers that are a vital part of our job.If we keep losing nurses we are going to be even more under-resourced and the thought of having no choice but to compromise on our high standards of quality and safe care terrifies me. This experience is something that has been heartbreakingly articulated by some of my colleagues interstate.We were busy before the pandemic, but now we have to don and doff PPE painstakingly between every single patient, whether that patient needs a blood test, has buzzed for a urine bottle or a sandwich, or is in cardiac arrest. Donning and doffing properly takes time, but we all know that it’s essential in keeping our patients safe, and in keeping us well so we can stay here on the frontline. PPE is really uncomfortable – we don’t just wear cloth or surgical masks, we wear N95s that give us pressure injuries and prevent us from drinking water for most of our shift, goggles and face shields that are hard to see through and give us headaches and plastic gowns that leave us hot and dripping with sweat, especially given we’re constantly running around. On top of the physical discomfort there’s the emotional stress of knowing it’s only going to get worse, and that there’s no end in sight.

Responding to the plea, treasurer Rob Lucas said the state government offers additional allowances to nurses required to work in medi-hotels or hospital in the home settings caring for Covid patients.

“The only state that offers that particular payment (for hospital nurses in the pandemic) is Victoria and we’re not proposing to introduce a further scheme,” Mr Lucas said.

“We have just paid our nurses, from January 1, a generous 2 per cent pay rise as part of an enterprise bargaining agreement.”