ONE month after Leeton shire’s nurses made a plea to the state government to improve security at the town’s hospital and provide better staff-to-patient ratios, little has been done to help them.
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Nurses from the hospital took part in a rally outside the grounds of the facility late last month, backed by the NSW Nurses and Midwives’ Association (NSWNMA).
At the time, the group said their current working conditions were unsafe when it came to both security and looking after patients, with more staff urgently needed.
In a statement provided to The Irrigator, the Leeton branch of the NSWNMA said there hadn’t been any further traction since the rally.
“Leeton District Hospital needs a new nurse-to-patient ratios system so we can ensure safer patient care and so nurses are not forced to work in isolation,” the statement said.
“Too many of us suffer from heavy workloads and improved ratios will also decrease nurse fatigue.” Meanwhile, the NSWNMA has launched the next stage of its campaign in the fight to help nurses in towns like Leeton.
The advertising campaign begins with patients in pain calling out for a nurse in a busy hospital with the words “underfunded, understaffed, unsafe”, followed by the statement “in children’s wards and emergency, mandated nurse-to-patient ratios do not exist”.
NSWNMA general secretary Brett Holmes said the message provided a clear reason of the need for a new nurse-to-patient ratios system in our public hospitals.
“A new ratios system will mean guaranteed nurse-to-patient ratios in every ward, on every shift across all major and district NSW hospitals,” he said.
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“This will give a clear understanding of how many patients nurses have to care for and provide patients with the level of care they deserve.”
Mr Holmes said less nursing-hours-per-patient were provided to those living in regional areas under the current staffing system.
“The public health system nurses’ and midwives’ (state) award allocates five or five-and-a-half nursing hours per patient to country hospitals, depending on their size, whereas bigger city hospitals get six hours,” he said.
“A patient’s postcode should not define their level of care.”
The NSWNMA is asking for one nurse to three patients in emergency departments and paediatric wards, as well as a minimum of one to four in city and country hospital general medical/surgical wards.
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