Nurses are working 17-hour shifts at the Royal Hobart Hospital because of a staffing crisis that is hurting both patients and the workforce, the nurses' union said yesterday.
Nursing Federation Tasmanian branch president Neroli Ellis said double shifts had reached "epidemic" proportions.
Speaking at the federation's annual conference, Ms Ellis said nurses had worked 440 double shifts at the Royal in the past two months alone.
"This is not sustainable," Ms Ellis said.
"It is hurting patients and hurting the workforce."
Ms Ellis said the staffing crisis was caused by last year's slashing of more than 280 nursing positions, resulting in large numbers of nurses leaving the state.
She said the stressful work conditions were taking a toll on nurses.
"Goodwill is unfortunately fading," she said.
"Nurses are exhausted and stressed across the board."
Health Minister Michelle O'Byrne has asked the department to investigate the claims about double shifts.
Ms O'Byrne said there had been significant efficiencies made in the nurse workforce, including less reliance on casual agency staff.
She said she had asked the health department to investigate whether this had led to a corresponding spike in double shifts.
No comments:
Post a Comment