A smaller than usual group of nurses and midwives participated in the two-hour stop work action, but Ms Dixon said it was almost the entire nursing staff available for the hospital that day.
The Deniliquin NSW Nurses and Midwives Association spokesperson said it demonstrated just how desperate local nurses are for conditions that will aid in the attraction and retention of skilled staff in the local area.
“The numbers here today reflect the state we are in. There are just no nurses,” she said.
“We’ve already been working on skeleton staff, and everyone in this photo is everyone here today.
“This is our fourth strike already this year, and we’ve asked for the same thing every time.
“We want better ratios - one in four on the floor and one in three in the ED - and a pay rise would be nice too.
“The union did call for a 24 hour strike, but given our numbers we just could not do that. We could only allow two hours.”
Nurses, staff and some of their family members gathered in the courtyard at the rear of the hospital for the two hour strike.
The NSW Nurses and Midwives Association has been advocating for a legislated nurse to patient ratio of 1:4 in wards and 1:3 in emergency departments for a number of years.
It has also requested a 4.75 per cent wage increase this year.
The government’s reluctance to meet the demands has prompted the association to promise rolling strikes until the government comes to the table.
On a local level, Ms Dixon said further investment in hospital infrastructure and housing incentives could aid in local nurse recruitment.
The workforce shortage Ms Dixon laments is despite Murrumbidgee Local Health District welcoming what has been described as a “record number of new graduate nurses” to the health region.
Just days after last week’s strike, NSW Minister for Regional Health Bronnie Taylor issued a press release celebrating that the Murrumbidgee had welcomed 25 newly graduated Registered Nurses to the region.
Ms Taylor said the new graduate nurses join the 140 graduate nurses who have commenced work in the district this year, with “2022 marking the largest number of graduate nurses employed in the district to date”.
Some have been located in Deniliquin.
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