Nurses in the private and aged care sector are not eligible for the $3,000 cash bonus announced by the New South Wales government earlier this week.
The one-off payment was spruiked as a "thank you" for the work carried out by all frontline workers during the COVID-19 pandemic.
However, NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet provided some clarity on who was entitled to receive it, calling on the private sector to pay up.
"This is New South Wales taxpayer dollars going towards providing financial support to the heroes of the pandemic," Mr Perrottet said.
"So this is the New South Wales government taking the lead and I call on the private sector to follow our lead and provide that payment to their nurses and midwives as well."
According to Shaye Candish from the NSW Nurses and Midwives Association (NSWNMA), her members had supported the pandemic efforts across multiple settings, including hotel quarantine, and in "ways that we cannot even imagine".
She said it was disappointing her members had not been recognised
"It misses the mark completely given the sacrifices that these people undertook, often at a time when we didn't have vaccination," acting general secretary Ms Candish said.
"They were working on the front lines too.
"So nurses and midwives out of private sector in aged care are really unhappy, they're really disappointed, and it feels like a real devaluing of the work that they've contributed."
Unions representing other workers including teachers, police and corrective service officers have slammed the cash bonus as "insulting" to their members.
Ms Candish joined the chorus, saying it was a "distraction".
"None of the nurses and midwives are asking for one-off payments from the government," she said
"What they've been asking for this whole time is mandated minimum-staffing ratios, something that can actually change the quality of the care that's been delivered in New South Wales hospitals.
"And it allows for patients to receive the care that they deserve, and the government keeps saying 'no'."
The bonus is part of a $4.5 billion funding package for the health sector in the upcoming budget which also includes an extra 10,000 health staff, including 1,048 doctors, 3,517 nurses and up to 200 midwives.
The public sector wage cap has also been lifted to 3 per cent this year, with a further 0.5 per cent increase next year, taking it to 3.5 per cent.
Ms Candish said the government's announcements were just "smoke and mirrors".
"They're packaging up the whole range of spending based on other announcements they've made in the past," she said.
"They need to address the issues that we're seeing now because we're facing a health crisis.
"Currently the government's ignoring our request to meet and have discussions.
"It's infuriating, frankly, for the government, particularly for Dominic Perrottet, to stand up and say we value nurses."
In February, thousands of nurses and midwives walked off the job in protest against staffing levels they said had pushed an already stretched system to its limit during the COVID-19 pandemic.
