NSW nurses strike: thousands flood CBD protesting understaffing and poor working conditions
Thousands of striking nurses have descended on Parliament House detailing confronting stories of understaffing and poor working conditions.
NSW
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Thousands of striking nurses and midwives have descended on Parliament House detailing confronting stories of understaffing and poor working conditions declaring they’re ready to fight until they win a pay rise and improved nurse to patient ratios.
The group of angry protesters marched from Queens Square to Macquarie Street chanting “1234 We can’t take it anymore” and “What do you want? Ratios. When do we want it? Now.”
Chanting to a background score of John Farnham’s You’re The Voice, protesters slammed Premier Dominic Perrottet and Health Minister Brad Hazzard for failing to meet their demands after negotiations fell apart on Monday.
Theatre nurse and NSW Nurses and Midwives Association member Sue O’Hara revealed that she was sent to look after critically ill patients in ICU despite having no skills in the area.
“During Covid I got sent without any training to intensive care to look after intubated patients. Patients that needed specialist care,” she said.
“I felt let down by NSW Health. It has impacted my health and wellbeing and wanting to go to work. It’s as far as being fearful for myself, my registration, the patients and their families.”
Graduate nurse Kate Lawrence also works in theatres and was redeployed to an area she has no experience.
“I just finished my first year of nursing. I was redeployed to recovery which is again a speciality and there was no support because all the recovery staff were sent to ICU,” she said.
Ms Lawrence said she regrets becoming a nurse and felt it’s unsafe to continue in the profession.
The protest went ahead despite orders from the Industrial Relations Commission to cancel all planned industrial action.
NSWNMA general secretary Brett Holmes criticised the government for pressing ahead with reopening NSW despite the spread of the Omicron variant.
“Premier it’s time you or your minister came to the table with real answers, real money,” he said.
“Right now, we’ve got thousands of nurses here but right across NSW there are about 30 other rallies taking place. We have tens and thousands of nurses who would have wanted to be here but they are looking after patients and trying to keep them alive.
“We are ready to fight and we are ready to stay fighting until we win.”
In a tribute to former Prime Minister Julia Gillard, NSWNMA President O’Bray Smith shouted “I will not be lectured on safe staffing by these men. Our members will not be lectured on safe staffing by these men.”
The NSW Health Minister has said he is “disappointed” nurses and midwives have defied last-minute orders to stop action.
“It‘s disappointing, particularly disappointing when the Industrial Relations Commission made their very strong orders advising the union to can the strike … they completely breached that,” he told 2GB’s Ben Fordham on Tuesday.
He added the members on strike could be vulnerable to disciplinary action.
“There‘s got to be a rule of law in this country, in this state,” Mr Hazzard said.
The health minister revealed he was working on a potential resolution to the pay dispute aspect of the industrial action, but he ruled out any talk of meeting the union’s demands around nurse to patient ratios, claiming it would cost NSW “a billion dollars”.
“We are doing everything we can on that front … we‘re trying to find a way forward to make sure there’s some further recognition of the amazing work nurses and midwives do,” Mr Hazzard said.
“But the union is asking for (greater nurse to patient ratios) … it would cost a billion dollars, when we already spend 30 per cent of the state‘s budget on health, but it would mean we would have nurses sitting in empty wards when there are no patients because it would come down to the ratio.”
Mr Hazzard added: “Taxpayers … will happily pay for people that are going to be doing the job and not standing next to an empty bed.”
“They are insisting on a strict nurse to patient ratio as opposed to the ratio that currently works … but we can work on these things.”
WHAT THE UNION WANTS
The NSW Nurses and Midwives Association’s main demand is the implementation of a nurse-to-patient ratio system similar to those the NSWNMA’s General Secretary Brett Holmes says are “already working successfully in Queensland and Victoria”.
The ratio system would ensure the number of staff rostered on to each shift rises to meet the increased demand on healthcare services.
Alongside a ratio system, the NSWNMA is demanding a pay rise above 2.5 per cent in response to increased workloads during the pandemic, and in compensation of their wage freeze in 2020. They stress, however, that a pay rise would be viewed as “additional recognition”, and would not replace their demand for ratios.
Additionally, they are calling for a removal of the amendment to the Workers’ Compensation Act that currently requires workers to prove they contracted Covid-19 at work in order to lodge a claim.
WHAT THE GOVERNMENT SAYS
NSW Health announced a 23 per cent increase in full time staff between 2012 and 2021, with 9,599 new staff employed.
Health Minister Brad Hazzard says: “There are now more nurses and midwives in NSW public hospitals than at any other time in history”.
An additional $2.8 billion had been pledged by the NSW Government between 2019 and 2022 to employ another 5000 nurses and midwives.
NSW Health argued on Monday that the protests would place a further strain on public health services, leading to an order from the Industrial Relations Commission to call off the strike.
— Sam King
WHAT THE NURSES ARE SAYING
Edward Confort, Intensive Care Nurse
Father-of-two Edward Confort arrived at the protest with a sign that read “our dad is always tired and grumpy”.
Mr Confort said the sign summed up his exhausting reality for the past few years - which was exasperated by the pandemic.
“I’m here because of the lack of staff and the lack of management and the government doing anything that is effective to relive that,” he said.
“There is very bad patient care and we are out in very unsafe situations as nurses.”
Shelley, Neonatal Intensive Care nurse.
NICU nurse Shelley, who preferred not to give her last name, said the conditions faced by healthcare staff were “not good enough”.
“We are out there giving our all for our patients. We are stretched completely to our capacity. This is ethically abhorrent,” she said.
“Not only is there a lot of pressure in terms of patient care, there is also a special skill set required to take care of those patients and protect all our babies from covid. They’re all compromised with little to no immune system.
“We’re doing our best to protect them but the cost is our mental health, staff fatigue, so much overtime and no one to replace us.”
Meg Pendrick, President Gosford NSWNMA and surgical nurse
Meg Pendrick warned of severe burnout among staff that has seen many nurses choosing to retire or pick up new careers.
“We want them to listen to us and help make this system safer. It’s putting patient safety at risk every day, every shift. We are short staffed every day,” she said.
“The fatigue of it all is huge. For myself, as a 50 year old on the floor, it’s just exhausting and I’m saddened by the fact that I can’t be there everyday. The burnout for me is huge.”
Ms Pendrick said she worried about young graduate nurses who were horrified by the working conditions.
“The young ones that come as graduate nurses, the look of horror on their faces. The government needs to sit down and talk. Ratios save lives,” she said.
“We are also voters. We service the people of this state, these are essential services.”
Alex Crawley, emergency nurse
Emergency nurse Alex Crawley is currently on maternity leave, but the thought of returning to a understaffed and stretched workforce makes her fear for her wellbeing.
“I’m currently on maternity leave and everyone I’ve caught up with has told me how bad the staffing is. On Saturday our unit was 11 staff short and that’s not safe for patients,” she said.
“I am nervous about going back to work. Patients don’t stop coming in, the ambulances are piled up every day the conditions aren’t getting any better.”
Ms Crawley came to the protest with eight-month-old Mia to stand in solidarity with thousands of her colleagues.
“I love my job but it is hard because the small things are being missed out on like spending time with patients with poor prognosis, showering patients. The job isn’t getting any easier.”
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