Eurobodalla nurses who feel "undervalued" and "underpaid" will be among the thousands who walk off the job as part of statewide strikes.
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The industrial action scheduled for Tuesday, February 15 is organised by the NSW Nurses and Midwives Association (NSWNMA) - a union which represents 48,000 nurses in NSW public hospitals - and will be the first of this scale in the NSW sector since July 2013.
Eurobodalla NSWNMA branch president, Chris Nimmo said the strike was predominantly because of staff shortages and poor wages and conditions.
"Our local nurses are well aware that there is a two tiered health system - rural versus metropolitan," Mr Nimmo said.
"People in rural and remote areas have worse outcomes for diseases such as coronary artery disease, kidney disease, lung disease and lung cancer, stroke, suicide, self- inflicted injury and diabetes, yet they have less access to medical services than metropolitan people - despite paying the same taxes."
He said Covid only exaggerated problems, and left staff exhausted.
"Staff morale is the lowest I've ever seen," he said.
One of the union's primary asks is that the government combat understaffing by implementing nursing and midwifery staffing ratios.
Mr Nimmo said the inequality between rural and metropolitan health systems was apparent in staffing ratios.
"Our local nurses want nurse to patient ratios set the same as in metropolitan hospitals," he said.
"Due to staff shortages, because of no patient to nurse ratios, local nurses often have to work 12 or 16 hour shifts and have excessive workloads."
Nurses in the Eurobodalla campaigned for more staff in 2018.
A fair pay rise, above the 2.5 per cent offered by the government, is also being called for.
"Nurses deserve to be paid a fair wage, not just platitudes from the NSW Government," Mr Nimmo said.
NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet said on Wednesday that patient ratios being called for by the union aren't effective.
"The advice that I've received is that there is substantive challenges to that and it hasn't actually worked so well in other states," he said.
He called on the union to work through the issues without industrial action.
"What I want is reasonable, robust discussions to get outcomes," he said.
"Let's not play politics. We don't want to get back to the old union games."
However, NSW Nurses and Midwives Association General Secretary Brett Holmes said on Wednesday the union has sought to meet with the premier, but has been told he is too busy.
"We don't recommend industrial action lightly, especially when a pandemic is still underway, but the status quo can't continue," Mr Holmes said.
Grace Crivellaro
Court reporter for the Illawarra Mercury.
Court reporter for the Illawarra Mercury.
