On Tuesday, Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation Tasmanian secretary Neroli Ellis said emergency nurses were forced to deal with alcohol-affected people on a shift-by-shift basis, and the state’s health resources were stretched thin.

Research by the Australasian College for Emergency Medicine suggests the problem could be curbed if the state was to follow in the footsteps of NSW in creating venue lockout laws.

NSW introduced the laws for the Sydney CBD area in March 2014  after the deaths of Daniel Christie and Thomas Kelly in alcohol-fuelled attacks.

The tough changes to NSW’s liquor licensing act impose a 1.30am lockout and 3am last-drinks at licensed venues in the area.

Non-licensed venues in the area are now required to close at 10pm as well.

On Wednesday, St Vincent’s Hospital in Sydney’s inner city said there had been a ‘‘profound reduction’’ in alcohol-related incidents at the hospital on Friday and Saturday nights since the laws were introduced.

‘‘In the 20 months since the introduction of the laws we’ve had only three [alcohol-related] presentations that required admission to the intensive care unit,’’ hospital spokesman David Faktor said.

‘‘There has been a profound change – a very dramatic change. Conservatively, those types of incidents were monthly experiences [before the lockout laws].’’

Mr Faktor said anecdotal evidence also suggested Sydney’s alcohol-related violence problem had not shifted to other suburbs because the state’s attitude towards alcohol had changed as a result of the laws.

NSW’s first comprehensive evaluation of the lockout laws in April found that assaults in Sydney’s CBD had plummeted by 40 per cent.

In most areas just outside the lockout zone, such as Surry Hills and Pyrmont and night spots further away, such as Bondi, Newtown and Double Bay, there was also no increase in assaults.