The Shoalhaven branch of the New South Wales Nurse and Midwives Association (NSWNMA) have staged a four hour walkout from 3.30pm to 7.30pm on Wednesday, June 2.
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It's the first time this kind of industrial action had been taken in the history of the branch.
The branch joined six other state branches who also voted for industrial action in response to the NSW government's refusal to improve staffing with shift-by-shift ratios, and a 1.04 per cent pay rise offer.
NSWNMA members said the pay offer fell well short of the 4.7 per cent increase sought by the union earlier in the year.
The last time the NSWNMA staged industrial action was eleven years ago when nurses called for better nurse to patient ratios, a problem they believe had not been fixed.
The NSWNMA Shoalhaven Branch expressed frustration at many unresolved issues at the hospital that they claim were putting patients, nurses and midwives at risk, including increased aggression and injuries from patients, increased workloads and unsafe staff rostering and the protection of like-for-like staffing in the award.
Like-for-like staffing refers to the idea that absent nurses should be replaced, where possible, by nurses of the same classification which the NSWNMA expressed was in the best interest of the patient.
The branch confirmed they do not take walking off the job lightly and have ensured that life preserving staffing levels will remain for the duration of the stoppage.
The hospital remains open to the public.
All sites remain open to the public.
Nurse and Midwife Melissa Henderson said it's been really encouraging to see the amount of members showing up from the Shoalhaven Hospital Branch of the New South Wales Nurses and Midwives Association (NSWNMA).
"We haven't had a meeting or an action this big in the history of Shoalhaven ever so that's really exciting," she said.
"It's been really hard to get people together because they've felt so burnt out that doing anything in their own time has just been beyond them.
"But we've gone past breaking point, past the apathy, past the tiredness.
"We're angry, we want our patients to be safe and we don't want to be burnt out.
"We want to go home and be happy with our families as opposed to just growling at them."
Councillor Annette Alldrick said it was good to see action take place.
"I've been fighting this fight for over 10 years, I've been a delegate of this hospital for over 10 years and I've lead countless rallies over the years.
"For safety of the patients and the welfare of the nurses we need nurse to patient rations and they have to be mandated and they have to be followed.
"Last year, in the middle of the pandemic, we got a 0.03 per cent wage rise.
"That was when we were working huge hours and never knew if the next patient who came in would have COVID - I mean it's just insulting.
"They can't use the fact that there's a pandemic on to say they can't afford it because they can still afford to pay for their own pay rises.
"Those of us on the front line get nothing."
