Shoalhaven Hospital's nurses and midwives are struggling, as the hospital faces an uphill battle to fix staff shortages, according to their union.
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Shoalhaven Hospital branch secretary of the NSW Nurses and Midwives Association, Michael, Clarke, said the situation was "demoralising for our members because they're tired of working short staffed".
On top of that, "Our members always have a moral injury because they feel like they can't provide the care they should be providing to their patients because they don't have the resources available at this hospital."
Part of the problem was an ongoing State Government wages cap, keeping pay rises for public servants including nurses, midwives and paramedics at well below inflation, Mr Clarke noted.
He said the cap was "restricting fair pay for a dedicated and educated, professional workforce who provide an important service to the Shoalhaven community."
And he has welcomed a Greens promise of a major pay rise for frontline health workers, if they hold the balance of power after the March state election.
Greens health spokesperson Cate Faehrmann was in Nowra on Monday to outline plans to lift wages for nurses, midwives and paramedics by 15 per cent to "reverse the impact" of years of the wage cap.
On top of that, she promised wage rises at 2.5 per cent above inflation for the next four years.
"This sounds like a lot of money, but we can't afford to lose more health care workers from the front line," Ms Faehrmann said.
She said frontline workers were still leaving the health system "in droves".
"This is a crisis," Ms Faehrmann said.
And she compared the extra money needed with the way the state's police budget had increased from $3.5 billion to $5.5 billion in the past four years.
South Coast Greens candidate Amanda Findley described the proposed wage rises as "a cheap option for the NSW Government because that encourages trained nurses to stay in the system".
The Greens are also calling for nurse to patient ratios to be introduced.
Ms Findley said nurse to patient ratios would result in better health outcomes and the health system saving money.
President of the NSW Nurses and Midwives Association, Max Moore, agreed it was a win-win situation.
"The cost of implementing the ratios would be saved by reducing adverse outcomes and decreased length of stay in hospitals, so it would pay for itself."
