However many are being taxed more than half of the payment, with a union delegate calling it a "huge slap in the face" to nurses who have been working through yet another wave of COVID-19 while severely understaffed.

"Because we're chronically understaffed, many are working overtime and are finding out that they're getting taxed more," secretary of the NSW Nurses and Midwives' Association's Wollongong Hospital branch, Genevieve Stone said.

"So some nurses are even only receiving about $700 from the payment. They're basically getting punished for working overtime.

"Most nurses that work on a full-time basis are finding out that they're only receiving probably about $1,100 after taxes ... they're quite quickly finding out that it's not quite $3,000."

Read more: Who will and won't get NSW's $3000 health worker payment?

The $3000 one-off payment was pledged by the Perrottet Government back in June as a "thank you" for the efforts and sacrifices health workers made during the pandemic.

Yet workers are still making sacrifices, Ms Stone said, with Wollongong Hospital currently short of around 100 full-time nurses which has added to the pressure amid the latest Omicron wave.

She also described the Emergency Department as "disgraceful", with patients left waiting up to 30 hours for a bed at the moment.

"The working environment is extremely stressful ... it's a very depressing time at the moment," Ms Stone said.

"There's not a lot of hope or positivity going around. I think a lot of nurses were hoping the $3,000 payment was going to boost morale, but now it's kind of been found out that it's not exactly $3,000.

People employed by NSW Health "in all our area health districts" have started to receive the payment, which includes superannuation and is subject to income tax.

Those who have not yet received the one-off payment are expected to receive them from August 4 and 5.

The NSW Premier also announced in June the government would lift its wage cap from 2.5 to to 3 per cent in the next financial year and up to 3.5 per cent in the following year.

Illawarra nurses, health workers and paramedics walked off the job a number of times over the last year as part of rolling public-sector industrial action to demand better pay and conditions, including improved nurse-to-patient ratios.

Ms Stone said strike actions may be planned in the near future to continue demanding better pay and conditions.

"We're seeing a massive haemorrhage of nurses from the profession at the moment," Ms Stone said.

"We really want a genuine pay rise to match the hard work we're doing, and staffing to help with the workload."

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