A nurse working in Canberra's emergency department has said some nurses have resorted to wearing incontinence pads as they don't have time to go to the bathroom.
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The nurse, Lisa, told a rally outside the ACT Legislative Assembly on Wednesday morning that government initiatives to reduce violence had not worked.
"We're still seeing violence in our workplaces," she said.
"Exhausted nurses not having the time to go to the toilet during their shift.
"Bullying and harassment [is] rife throughout the industry.
"How much more are we expected to take?"
A midwife, Remy, told the crowd that many nurses and midwives had expressed current working conditions had caused mental health issues. She said she had considered suicide.
"We're tired, we're sick and we're burnt out in every sense of that term. This is an emergency," she said.
"We need an active effort from this government in recruiting staff. I don't care how you find them, find them. I don't care how you entice them, entice them."
Dozens of people turned out for the rally despite the cold and wet conditions.
The rally came after more than a dozen nurses and midwives expressed fears for patient safety in extensive interviews with The Canberra Times.
The public health nurses and midwives, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, expressed fears the standard of care is dropping due to current conditions as burnout ravages the system.
Nurses have been rallying over the past month calling on the government to put forward a recovery plan.
Health had the largest allocation of spending in the 2022-23 ACT budget with $2.2 billion committed. This included money for an extra 170 health workers over the next two years.
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But Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation ACT branch secretary Matthew Daniel said this was not enough.
"Despite the dollars it is pretty underwhelming," he said.
"Where's the plan? There's a lot of talk about workforce planning but I'm still to see any words in print.
"We want to see the specific number of nurses and midwives that will be recruited, the number that has been provided, 170, is an old election promise and that was promised by the government at the very beginning of the pandemic."
The rally coincided with the presentation of a petition to the Legislative Assembly sponsored by Greens MLA Johnathan Davis calling on the government to develop a recovery plan for nursing and midwifery workers.
The petition attracted more than 2600 signatures and Mr Davis said this was the greatest number of any petition ever presented to the Assembly.
Health Minister Rachel Stephen-Smith said she appreciated the union bringing the petition to the Assembly and would discuss further support measures with the union.
She also pointed to a $7.2 million investment for a safer culture strategy that was included in the budget.
"I've been speaking with many staff in the health workforce, to professional associations and unions about what we can do to support the health workforce further," Ms Stephen-Smith said.
Ms Stephen-Smith did not attend the protest although she was seen looking at the protest from inside the members' entrance to the Legislative Assembly.
However, the Health Minister did come out following the protest to speak with some union members.
- Support is available for those who may be distressed. Phone Lifeline 13 11 14; Mensline 1300 789 978; Kids Helpline 1800 551 800; beyondblue 1300 224 636.
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