Nurses in Canowindra joined their colleagues state-wide on Tuesday morning calling on the NSW State Government to set staff to patient ratios on wards at one to four and in emergency departments at three to one.
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"Even though we are little we are not going to be ignored," registered nurse Samantha Gregory-Jones told the Canowindra News.
"We've had enough.
"With COVID more work was thrown at us without any more staff," Ms Gregory-Jones said.
While the staffing problems were highlighted in recent times by COVID Ms Gregory-Jones and her colleagues say they existed well before the pandemic.
"We were already short staffed," she said as nurses, medical staff and Canowindra paramedics gathered to voice their dissatisfaction.
"We went to a government inquiry (last year) to fight for our rights and it went to nothing, they forgot about it with COVID and then gave us extra jobs and no extra staff.
"We're short staffed, most of us have worked 18 hours in the last three days, double shifts, overtime, we're not seeing our families.
"We're just over it, we've just had enough."
Ms Gregory-Jones said the Canowindra situation could get even worse with staff leaving and other staff looking for alternative work.
"We've got three RN's, two are about to leave and there are no replacements.
"There are only two people working in the building after 5 o'clock at night, two females usually with no security.
"We've had weapons thrown at us some nights.
"We're not safe and we're not able to give the care that we want to give because we just don't have the time or energy.
"We're standing in union with our team members."
The nurses chose Tuesday to take action as the day coincided with the resumption of the NSW State Parliament.
"They keep saying we're coping but clearly we're not. They're not the ones inside doing the work, they wouldn't know."
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