Canowindra nurses have voted unanimously to take industrial action tomorrow, joining thousands across the state as part of the push to solve the NSW nurse shortage through improved wages and conditions. , President of the Canowindra branch of the NSW Nurses Association, Dawn Roodenrys, explained that local nurses will meet tomorrow morning for a satellite broadcast, with a rally planned to follow afterwards in Memorial Park. , This will leave three nurses, including a nurse manager, on hand at the Soldiers Memorial Hospital to attend to emergency and essential care of patients., “Our industrial action will be from 8.30am until 2pm,” Ms Roodenrys said., “Normally there are four nurses plus a nursing manager rostered on for the morning shift, but not tomorrow.”, Ms Roodenrys said the vote was unanimous in the Canowindra NSWNA branch, with “everyone fairly passionate about it”., “The average age of rural nurses is around 50 years, so in five years when these nurses retire, we’re going to have real problems.”, “That’s a lot of nurses we’re going to lose, and with over 3,000 vacancies statewide, how will we replace them?”, Although there are no vacancies currently at Canowindra, she said that problems with filling vacancies have come before., “There just isn’t the nurses anymore - people are leaving.”, In metropolitan areas, she said, many nurses are working double shifts to provide care to patients., In an effort to explain to the community just how serious the problem is, the Canowindra NSWNA branch has mail dropped across town., “We also invite everyone in the Canowindra community to join us at our rally down the main street at 10am,” she said. , Guest speakers will be present, and its hoped that nurses from Parkes, Cudal, Eugowra and Cowra will join the rally., “We’re trying to get the community to understand just how serious the crisis is. If it’s happening now, what will happen in ten years time?”, “They need to see its more than just the big hospitals where its having an impact - its also the little hospitals feeling it too.”, “We have no problems with the health service - we’re just trying to keep our health service.”, Ms Roodenrys said that most people have understood the need by nurses to resort to industrial action. , “At some stage or another, they have relied on us, be it for a family member or a friend, they’ve come into contact with us and realise what we are asking.”, “The work is not easy. Nurses provide highly specialised care, in an increasingly difficult and demanding environment. We want to be treated with respect and to be able to do our work in a safe and secure workplace. Nurses want to be valued and recognised as the true professionals they are. We want to receive a fair day’s pay for a fair days work.”, Regional members of the NSWNA such as those at Canowindra will be connected via Sky Channel to the major rally being held at Sydney Town Hall, starting from 9am sharp. , ,