Nurses have walked off the job at two Western Sydney hospitals today sighting severe understaffing and a lack of government support. 

Westmead Hospital Nurse Anne McShane joined Jim Wilson to explain the reasons for the stop to work.

“Staff levels are very grim,” she said.

“We’ve been short for a long period of time but COVID and influenza have made it worse.”

Ms McShane talked about how many nurses have become rundown, causing them to get sick or take time off which contributes to the shortage.

“People are burning out, people are leaving … people are just not being supported by the administration,” she said.

“It’s just a vicious circle unfortunately.

“We’ve been calling for a long time for nurse ratios … our base level of nursing staff needs to increase.”

Press PLAY below to hear the full interview

Image: Getty