The nurses' union has welcomed a NSW government move to boost frontline healthcare workers in NSW public hospitals to meet a promise on "safe staffing levels".
NSW Minister for Health Ryan Park said on Thursday that more nurses and midwives would be in hospitals from now to July 2027.
Staff at Maitland and John Hunter hospitals have been vocal in highlighting understaffing issues, amid ongoing "fatigue and frustration".
NSW Nurses and Midwives' Association general secretary Shaye Candish said the reforms were "momentous for our state".
"Our union has been campaigning for ratios in public hospitals for more than a decade," Ms Candish said.
"We are now seeing the beginning of their introduction, which will provide much needed workload relief for our devoted nurses and midwives."
The government said the new minimum staffing requirements would occur in stages beginning at hospitals with emergency departments that treat the most critically ill patients.
The Safe Staffing Taskforce will review the results at Liverpool and Royal North Shore before the reforms progress to other hospitals.
Phase one will involve a "one-to-one nursing care ratio" for ED resuscitation beds that are generally occupied on all shifts.
A ratio of one nurse to three patients would occur for ED treatment spaces and short-stay units. The policy will ensure 1112 temporary nurses are made permanent, including 138 in the Hunter.
