"I love water. Don't ask me how I ended up in Kalgoorlie."
This is how Sharifah Nakintu responds when asked why she left a place and job she loved.
Originally from Queensland, the 20-year-old decided to permanently move to Perth after a short weekend trip — a decision made purely for the beaches she fell in love with.
There, Ms Nakintu found another passion, as a health industry support worker looking after high-needs patients.
But it wasn't long before her love for the job waned due to a stressful lack of job security, leaving her feeling so helpless, vulnerable and frustrated she opted to leave the industry and turn to the Goldfields and a job in mining.
Health care workers who aren't secure in their jobs, says Ms Nakintu, are less likely to speak up on behalf of patients and their own working conditions.
Her concerns are echoed by industry leaders, including the Australian Medical Association (AMA), which is pushing for non-permanent contract options in line with other states.
Fear of losing her job made Ms Nakintu think twice about raising issues she and her patients faced daily.
"People with disability or people who have special needs need to be treated the way you want to be treated," Ms Nakintu said.
Finding it hard to follow practices that didn't align with her values and accept the way patients were treated, she made the difficult decision to quit.
"The people we work with, sometimes, are just toxic," she said.
'Using contracts to get rid of people'
Mark Duncan-Smith, president of the AMA in WA, said there were many issues faced by health workers across the industry that needed to be addressed, including job security and burnout, especially for younger workers.
He said employment security was one of the biggest issues for senior medical staff in WA.
"If a doctor sees something that is wrong in an emergency department … that doctor stirs up trouble by making the administration aware," Dr Duncan-Smith said.
That, he said, built pressure on managers already trying to cut costs and meet budgets.
"You're causing me trouble, you're causing me to not fit into my budget, your five-year contract is due … by the way, I'm not going to be renewing it," was a likely response, Dr Duncan-Smith said.
Western Australia is the only state with non-permanent contract options for doctors, something Mr Duncan-Smith believes is bringing about unnecessary challenges.
"The WA health department in the past has used those five-year contracts to get rid of people without necessarily any good reason," he said.
He said the AMA WA was lobbying the government to amend employment contracts to fix the issue and stop staff from looking elsewhere for permanent secure work.
"It has led to problems with critical shortages in various emergency departments around Western Australia," Dr Duncan-Smith said.
"It needs to be corrected to orientate the health care delivery system to be about safety, and quality, and having the patient at the centre of the picture at all stages."
Contacted for comment, a spokesperson for WA Health said: "All staff, regardless of profession, are strongly encouraged to speak up when they identify issues, particularly where they are related to patient safety."
Despite walking away from a career she loved, Ms Nakintu, now enjoying security and peace of mind as a mine process technician near Coolgardie, hopes workers in health care can find the same support and stability.
"It's a very small place, but it's full of opportunities," she said.
And occasionally, she makes the trip to Perth or Esperance to see the water — the reason she calls WA home.
