Hornsby Ku-ring-gai Hospital nurses walk out over ‘dangerous’ work conditions – Michmutters
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Hornsby Ku-ring-gai Hospital nurses walk out over ‘dangerous’ work conditions

Nurses have walked out of a major sydney hospital this morning over “horrendous” working conditions and “unsafe” staffing plans in the facility’s intensive care unit.
Dozens of nurses and staff who had just finished a busy night shift assembled outside Hornsby Ku-ring-gai Hospital, calling on Health Minister Brad Hazzard to fix a “broken” system buckling under the twin pressures of COVID-19 and influenza.

The nurses claim the hospital’s plans to substitute critical care trained nurses with less experienced assistants in the ICU will put patients and staff at risk, while insisting current workload and patient-staff ratios in the hospital were unbearable.

NSW hospitals are enduring a brutal winter as COVID-19 hospitalizations and influenza cases rise.
NSW hospitals are enduring a brutal winter as COVID-19 hospitalizations and influenza cases rise. (SMH/Kate Geraghty)

“The system at the moment is completely broken,” Laura McKone, from the NSW Nurses and Midwives’ Association, told 9news.com.au.

“Staffing is absolutely horrendous (and) nurses are leaving the profession in droves.”

McKone said nurses were under incredible pressure, mentally and emotionally, because of the workload.

“They are expected to look after so many patients, it’s dangerous,” she said.

McKone said assistants in nursing were not adequately trained to care for seriously unwell and ventilated patients in Hornsby’s intensive care.

the Perrottet government should focus on bringing in more nurses and creating a “safe work environment” instead of opening up more hospitals, she said.
Nurses from Hornsby Ku-ring-gai Hospital are angry at low staffing levels which they say has created difficult and dangerous workloads.
Nurses from Hornsby Ku-ring-gai Hospital are angry at low staffing levels which they say has created difficult and dangerous workloads. (9News)

In a statement, the Hornsby hospital said it is “working closely with our clinicians and the nurses union to explore new models of care and staffing contingencies” as it responds to the COVID-19 pandemic and busy winter season.

“At this stage no changes have been made and discussions are ongoing with the union,” a spokesperson said.

Rising influenza and COVID-19 cases are putting increased demand on hospitals, particularly in New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland.

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They say they’ve been left with little choice other than to walk off the job to demonstrate their frustration, anger and desperation.

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