Muswellbrook nurses are hoping a combined community voice will secure them an extra nurse at the
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hospital.
Chants of “one more nurse, safety comes first” could be heard down Bridge Street at lunch time on Wednesday as the nurses took to the streets with megaphones, placards and flyers to hand out to passer-bys.
At present one full-time registered nurse is responsible for more than 20 patients a day that present at the Muswellbrook hospital emergency department.
This week’s launch of the community campaign is aimed at securing a second full-time registered nurse to help with the emergency department and special care unit.
There has been a five per cent jump in patients that present to Muswellbrook’s emergency department since last year.
NSW Nurses Association organiser Michael Whaites said failure by Hunter New England Health to employ
another nurse meant patient and staff care was being compromised.
“Nurses are already providing the best care up there, but they know it can be better,” Mr Whaites said.
“(The nurses) feel the care the community deserves can be provided by one extra nurse.”
The safe staffing campaign is urging community members to contact Upper Hunter MP George Souris asking him to lobby the NSW minister for health to immediately intervene and recruit one more nurse to Muswellbrook hospital.
One Muswellbrook registered nurse, who has 12 years experience, 10 at Muswellbrook, said staff were feeling frustrated that meetings with management had failed to resolve the issue.
“That is why we are here today,” she said.
“We have really tried to exhaust all measures before we got to this point.
“We all became nurses to provide full-time patient care and to be there to assess in times of need and at the moment, on particular days, that is becoming harder to achieve.”
The campaign has so far not changed Hunter New England Health’s position on the staffing issue.
“Additional nurses have been rostered on in the emergency department and special care unit since the beginning of this year … where necessary, further additional staff can be called in to meet demand,” Hunter New England Health’s Upper Hunter cluster general manager Debbie Jaggers said in a statement to the Chronicle last week.
“Hunter New England Health is currently considering options to further enhance staffing is required and we will continue to work with our staff to address any concerns.”
