Nurses and midwives are starting industrial action to prompt government to address staff shortages and unacceptable workloads, to ultimately ensure the safety and quality of health care in Tasmanian hospitals.
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Australian Nursing and Midwifery Association state secretary Emily Shepherd said staff are continually working overtime, including double shifts, leading to fatigue and exhaustion.
The fact that nurses and midwives have been calling for solutions for over 5 months in the Industrial
Commission and through the Department of Health and no additional resources have been provided
is quite frankly appalling," Ms Shepherd said.
"Overwhelmingly our members have supported taking industrial action. They will be wearing bright clothing to create a rainbow across the state for recognition of the challenges that they are experiencing in hope that government might see and hear what they are saying.
"They will also be handing out postcards to patients and their families when they are experiencing dissapointment or frustration around wait times."
Health Department secretary Kathrine Morgan-Wicks said the department acknowledges the incredible effort of the health workforce to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic.
"Since July 2021 we have recruited over 200 additional nursing FTE to ease the impact of COVID and continue to actively recruit more staff in line with the increased demands on our health system and our COVID-19 emergency response," she said.
"The Department of Health remains committed to resolving the workload concerns that have been raised by the ANMF in the Tasmanian Industrial Commission.
"We welcome nurses and midwives working to their full scope of practice and expect our nursing workforce to claim all of their entitlements which we continue to pay as claimed."
Labor health spokeswoman Anita Dow said the health system is at breaking point as a result of the government's under resourcing and staff shortages.
"Nurses and midwives are right to take action in light of the state of our health care system, a situation that puts both staff and patient care at risk," she said.
"The government needs to work closely with ANMF and our health professionals to address the issues they face each day and also the wider issues across the health system, in particular staff shortages."
"The situation has been highlighted by Covid, with overburdened and under resourced staff pushed to the bring, impacting on the ability to provide health services across the state."
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