Thousands of nurses have descended on Sydney's CBD as an ongoing dispute with the NSW government over pay and conditions intensifies.
The 24-hour strike by the NSW Nurses and Midwives Association (NSWNMA) is the second in as many months, as members claim their demands are being ignored by the government.
After years of staffing shortages due to the pandemic, the union is demanding fixed nurse-to-patient ratios on wards, a boost in maternity staff as well as improved pay.
There were 4,296 NSW Health staff in isolation on March 28, 2022, due to being infected with COVID-19 or exposed to the virus, according to government data.
Nurses held signs reading "We are not coping" and "stop gaslighting us" as they congregated outside the Supreme Court this morning.
NSW Health successfully obtained an order at the Industrial Relations Commission (IRC) to ban the strike, but the nurses defied the order.
Glenys Doughty said she wanted the government to listen.
"It's breaking my heart to see what's happening at the moment," she said.
"Every shift we're short of nurses which is compromising patient safety."
"We have worked so hard ... we want ratios of three to one so we can guarantee our patients' safety."
St George Hospital nurse Abraham de Souza said staff were unfairly being required to do "more for less".
"We're short staffed, underpaid and overworked," Mr de Souza said.
"We need nurses to look after patients and we're stretched to the limits."
The protesters said they would continue planned strikes "until the government listened".
Similar demonstrations have been held in multiple locations around NSW.
Wagga Wagga Hospital union representative Amit Gupta said nothing had changed since the last nurse and midwife strike in February.
"There are 55 vacancies in the hospital at Wagga at the moment, on average, there's 20 to 25 nurses short per day," Mr Gupta said.
Karen Hart, a registered midwife for six years and nurse of 20 years, said she would continue to strike until change was made.
"The system's falling apart and enough's enough, we have to stand up, we're not going to be gagged any longer," Ms Hart said.
"I can't remember a time where I haven't done 95 hours in a fortnight doing up to 18 hour shifts, there's no other industries that allow staff to do 18 hour shifts."
Nurses and midwives marching in the town centre of Batemans Bay told stories of nurses coming to work “crying” due to the immense pressure on staff.
“We’re handing over in tears and our colleagues are in tears because the workload is huge and we don’t have enough nurses on the floor to give patients care," Samantha Buckley said.
Ms Buckley also highlighted the impact the working conditions were having on basic patient care in hospitals state-wide.
“A lot of nursing is about early detection of deterioration, and we don’t even have any time to give our patients basic care let alone detect deterioration, because we’re running,” she said.
A NSW Health spokeswoman said nurses were striking "in defiance" of the IRC's orders.
She said the strikes were likely to cause disruption for patients, despite efforts to minimise these.
"The NSW government and NSW Health have engaged in talks with the union and remain committed to reaching a resolution in the best interests of our patients and all our healthcare workers," the spokeswoman said.
"There are more nurses and midwives in NSW public hospitals than at any other time in history.
"Between 2012 and 2021, the nursing workforce and midwifery workforce in NSW increased by 9,599 full-time equivalent staff, or 23 per cent, to 51,794 full-time equivalent staff."
She said the government had also invested in 5,000 nurses and midwives between 2019-2022 under a $2.8 billion boost to frontline staff.
