Rockhampton nurse Stacey Styles speaks on work conditions as nurses rally for pay rise

A Rockhampton nurse has spoken of the heavy workload on local nurses as they push for a pay rise ahead of Tuesday’s budget. Here’s what she had to say.

They’re often touted as ‘health heroes’ working on the frontline of Covid for the past two years and helping doctors save lives around the country.

But local Central Queensland nurses have revealed some of the conditions they’ve been working through, with multiple staff shortages brought on by things such as fatigue and contracting Covid.

On Monday, some of Rockhampton’s nurses rallied out the front of Rockhampton Hospital calling for a wage increase of 5.1 per cent.

The rally was one of many held around the state.

It comes as State Treasurer Cameron Dick gets ready to hand down the annual budget report on Tuesday which is expected to contain a wage increase of 2.5 per cent for nurses.

Nurses Faye Tomlin and Stacey Styles with QNMU organiser Grant Burton.

Stacey Styles, a local nurse part of the Queensland Nurses and Midwives’ Union (QNMU), claimed some local nurses were doing double what they would have pre-pandemic.

According to a survey of 900 QNMU members, Queensland Health staff had performed unpaid overtime worth an average of $11,000 in the past year.

“They could be doing an extra three, four, or even five shifts more on top of their normal roster, so fatigue management is also an issue,” she said.

“But then people feel obligated; nurses and midwives are feeling obligated because the care that patients and their families are getting will not be given if they’re not there.

“They’re constantly there for their colleagues and supporting them and we have to continue to support them in regards to their fatigue management.”

Ms Styles said on an average day at work she did not stop, even on days off she and other nurses were continuing their work outside of work hours.

“I don’t stop,” she said.

“Just Friday last week, for instance, was my day off and I didn’t stop working for the public sector.

“I was taking phone calls, I was on my emails, trying to support my colleagues who are doing it very tough in very short staffed environments.

“On a normal clinic day I’m seeing back to back patients, doing my notes on my lunch break, or taking phone calls.”

Nurses rallied in Haigh Park across from Rockhampton Hospital calling for a wage increase ahead of the State Budget being handed down.

Ms Styles said ambulance ramping was also contributing to the stretched workload.

“I myself have been in the back of an ambulance in times of Covid where I’ve been in a ramped situation, it is unspeakable how a person feels in the back of an ambulance, especially in that situation,” she said.

“But then you look at the access to general practitioners and primary care physicians within the community, many people are presenting to the emergency department with things primary health care could manage but there is a lack of access and a lack of bulk billing within the community as well.

“That’s why we want to look towards nurse-led clinics within the community.”

Ms Styles said local nurses weren’t setting out to be rich or millionaires, they just wanted a basic cost of living pay rise.

“If you go back further than two years, we’ve stood by our community to continue to provide that care, we want a raise, we want more than just praise, we want to get up to that 5.1 per cent to be recognised for that work we do day in and day out,” she said.

“The community often give us compliments for the dedication we have, we’re often missing time with our family to come in and do those double shifts, and to do the overtime and miss out on that quality time, we deserve it.

“The cost of petrol, the cost of food, it’s all going up – we want to be rewarded with that 5.1 per cent to match what’s going on in the community to meet our everyday living expenses.”