When Melissa signed up to become a midwife, she imagined a rewarding career where she would be able to make a difference in the lives of women and newborn babies at one of the most vulnerable times in their life.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Instead, the nurse - who spoke on the condition her name was changed - wants to quit.
"Basically we're waiting up to four or five hours to have our first toilet break, we're not getting lunch breaks, we're dehydrated, we're caring for new mothers and we don't have time to give them any assistance or help because we're having up to 12 women to care for per midwife," she said.
"I already want to quit. I think in the past five weeks of work, I've gone to the toilet twice at work because we don't have time for that."
"It's so different from what I imagined. You're responsible for all these women and babies who come to you in a vulnerable state, and we can't give them the care they deserve. It's so disappointing."
The nurse was among hundreds who attended the Wollongong march and rally as part of the state-wide 24-hour nurses strike on Thursday.
Illawarra nurses from Bulli to Milton-Ulladulla walked out in defiance of an Industrial Relations Commission order, after the NSW Government took their union to the workplace watchdog to try to stop the action.
As well as calling for a better pay rise, the nurses are demanding the government puts in place mandatory nurse-to-patient ratios.
They want a guarantee of one nurse to every four patients on most wards for each shift, with higher nurse numbers in emergency (one-to-three) and intensive care (one-to-one). They also want newborn babies to be counted towards patient numbers in maternity wards.
'Most days we can't even give the bare minimum support '
Wollongong midwife Emma Gedge spoke to the crowd at the Wollongong rally in MacCabe Park, reading out a statement from one of her colleagues who was sleeping after night shift.
"She was looking after 10 mums and 10 babies on her own in the postnatal ward - and this is a normal shift," Ms Gedge said.
"She says 'Most days we can't even give the bare minimum support and there are too many days when I leave work feeling defeated because I couldn't give some of the women in my care more than 15 minutes of my time during an eight hour shift."
"Ratios would ensure we never have another shift where I'm asked to care for up to 14 mothers, plus their babies who under this current system aren't even counted as patients. This means that on some days I am asked to care for up to 28 people - mothers and babies - and this is beyond intense, it is not safe."
In recent weeks, staffing issues at Wollongong Hospital which have led to long waiting times, paramedics stuck for hours in bed block and chaotic conditions in the emergency department have been highlighted.
However, the striking nurses said the problems existed "every day, on every shift, in every ward". They said COVID had exacerbated these problems, but that many of the staffing issues has existed for the best part of a decade.
Stressed graduate never returned to finish final fortnight of training
Emergency department nurse Debbie Simpson, branch secretary of the Shellharbour NSW Nurses and Midwives Association, spoke at the rally about how a "staffing crisis" was affecting all areas of Shellharbour hospital.
"We need a guaranteed number of nurses and midwives on every shift so we can provide safe patient care," she said.
"We do not want to walk out on our patients, however, we have had enough.
"At our COVID ward recent on a night shift, there were 22 patients, two staff. On top of that, one of the registered nurses was on a double shift, and then backed that up with an afternoon shift the next day.
"On another ward, there is overtime going every single day. Most staff are doing three to four overtime shifts per fortnight, usually to cover nights."
Ms Simpson also described a recent COVID outbreak in the hospital's aged care ward, where staffing levels became dangerously low.
"This is a locked ward, with many patients wandering with dementia, who had COVID. The staff were not able to stop the spread of COVID, let along have any capabilities to prevent cross contamination."
She gave another example where a new graduate was rostered on with only one other nurse during a busy shift where there were a number of admissions and high care patients.
"The new grad was so stressed by the end of the shift that she never returned to finish the final two weeks of her new grad year," she said.
More nurses and midwives 'than at any other time in history': NSW Health
Illawarra Shoalhaven Local Health District's chief executive Margot Mains has acknowledged "challenges" facing the district, saying they were the result of "high demand for emergency care and hospital admissions, coupled with staff being unable to attend work due to COVID-19 exposures".
She said all available clinical staff were being redeployed to frontline care with the highest demand.
"Our staff continue to work tirelessly to care for our community as they have in the face of the many challenges presented over the past two years," Ms Mains said.
"All emergency surgery and urgent elective surgery continue to be performed during this challenging period, including at Shoalhaven Hospital. However the District has been required to reduce some non-urgent elective surgery activity at Wollongong and Shellharbour Hospitals."
She said the strike would further impact non-urgent elective surgery procedures.
A NSW Health spokesperson said "any strike action would cause disruption and delays to health services", and urged the union to comply with the Industrial Relations Commission's order.
"NSW Health is closely monitoring the situation today and taking any necessary steps to ensure patient care is maintained," the spokesperson said.
"However, some disruption as a result of the strike action is likely. We thank all our patients and their families for their patience and understanding."
NSW Health said it had engaged in talks with the union and was committed to reaching a resolution in the best interests of patients and all healthcare workers.
"There are more nurses and midwives in NSW public hospitals than at any other time in history," the spokesperson said.
"Between 2012 and 2021, the nursing workforce and midwifery workforce in NSW increased by 9,599 full-time equivalent (FTE) staff, or 23 per cent, to 51,794 FTE."
To read more stories, download the Illawarra Mercury news app in the Apple Store or Google Play.
Sign up for breaking news emails below ...