Several nurses working in wards across the hospital have spoken to The Canberra Times on condition of anonymity, fearing speaking out about the worsening staffing and roster problems could see them lose their jobs.

It is the third time this year the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation ACT has called for the review, but calls in May and July this year were rejected by the then-health minister Simon Corbell.

New Health Minister Meegan Fitzharris said the government had committed to a Nurse Safety Strategy, which would serve the same purpose as a review.

But ANMF ACT secretary Jenny Miragaya said the earlier calls were related to possible breaches of the Work Health and Safety Act, reiterating the need for a fulsome review.

She said that in November this year, nurses and midwives working across the hospital submitted "numerous safe staffing incident reports" to the union, asking the union to maintain their anonymity as the hospital's internal reporting system can lead to people being identified.

Ms Miragaya said the government could not continue to ignore those nurses and midwives providing care at the bedside.

"The correlation between staff shortages, workplace fatigue and dangers to patient care has been well documented," Ms Miragaya said.

"It's time for the ACT government to prioritise the safety of its staff, and the public, and immediately commence an independent Work Health and Safety Review across the Canberra Hospital into staffing levels, workplace fatigue and patient safety."

The Canberra Times has been told the fatigue and "staff burn-out" has already led to several nurses and midwives quitting their jobs at the hospital in the past 12 months, some without a new job to go to.

Threats of violence, assaults, chairs thrown through windows and patients leaving with IV drip connectors still in their arms were among issues nurses believed resulted from inadequate nurse-to-patient ratios across the hospital.

"If we have a potentially violent patient come through, they may be withdrawing or whatever, but they could turn violent," one nurse said.

"If we're already looking after several patients and can't help them, they might turn violent, but often all they want is some time to sit and talk and they'll be okay, but there simply aren't enough people available to do that."

Another nurse said there was at least one instance of a patient being taken to a surgical ward without an ID band on them, due to fatigued staff missing it in their checklists, and only narrowly avoiding being given the wrong surgery.

Several nurses said strict four-hour discharge targets in the emergency department at the hospital had led to a cascading effect, where patients were moved to already understaffed wards, putting greater pressure on staff and potentially putting the safety of patients at risk.

Three of the nurses said the staffing issues meant they would not want themselves, or their relatives, to need treatment at the hospital.

The latest ACT Health performance report appears to show a growing number of patients were treated as outpatients across the health system last financial year compared to previous years.

The data shows 562,213 "outpatients" were treated across the ACT's public hospitals and community services in 2013-14, while 563,221 were treated in 2014-15.

That figure jumped to 602,276 in 2015-16, a rise of nearly 40,000 more outpatient services in one year, while the number of inpatient services at both hospitals rose only 11,116 in the same period.

Ms Miragaya said the increase could be a good thing, and "perfectly appropriate" if those people were kept out of hospital and treated in the home.

But the publicly reported data does not show whether those people were only treated in community health services, or were treated in hospital as an outpatient.

Irrespective of the data, one nurse said they were being encouraged to discharge patients as soon as possible, in order to clear beds for incoming patients.

"Sometimes I go home after a shift and I'm laying awake thinking about whether I did this or that thing, did I discharge that patient too early, will they be safe at home," the nurse said.

"It makes you feel guilty, because I got into nursing to look after people, to care for them, but I'm being told to get this patient out because more are coming in, but I'm not sure that's actually the right thing for the patient."

Another nurse said it was "only a matter of time before another 'catastrophic' incident occurs" at the hospital – a category of incident reserved for the most grave of problems including deaths or major errors in treatment.

"We are meant to do eight hours during day shifts and 10 hours at night, with a nine-hour break between shifts and no more than seven days straight," another nurse said.

"But the reality a lot of the time is we are so short-staffed that we need to work double shifts, or 16 hours straight.

"We have a pool of sick leave staff that are meant to fill gaps when full-time staff are sick.

"But (full-time staff) are so fatigued they are taking personal leave, so we have to fill those roles with the sick leave pool, which then means there's nobody to fill in if another nurse gets sick – it means we could be three staff down on what we're supposed to be."

Others raised concerns qualified nurses who normally work full-time teaching junior nurses on the job have been moved to clinical roles, leaving junior nurses without the needed mentoring and support in wards, which could lead to risks for patient safety.

"I think it's really a result of a lack of planning and procedures being in place, and senior managers who are determined to meet these [ED] discharge targets and aren't listening to the people on the frontline," one said.

"I feel for the clinical nurse consultants, who are just trying to do the best they can working out rosters, but ultimately it comes down to resources and where the money is being spent."

Ms Fitzharris would not commit to the review nurses have called for.

Instead, she said the government intended to complete a Nurse Safety Strategy to examine "some of the issues" raised by the nursing union and other stakeholders.

"As part of this strategy the ACT Government will be looking to hold forums with nurses, midwives and other stakeholders in coming months to ensure they have the support they need and we can continue to deliver a world-class health system for many years to come," she said.

"As the new minister I look forward to building a strong and open working relationship with nurses, midwives and the ANMF.

"All staff should be supported to raise issues directly, with their manager, especially if they impact on patient or staff safety and wellbeing."