Nurses, midwives, councillors and supporters gathered in Memorial Park to protest the ever-growing staffing crisis in public healthcare as nurses work increasingly long shifts to cover the shortage.

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The rally was held as part of a statewide strike on March 31, was held to call for better pay and conditions for nurses in NSW. Those gathered called for mandatory ratios of nurses to patients in hospitals, the same demands from an initial strike held six weeks ago.

Noting that the state government hadn't yet made attempts to come to the table, the NSW Nurses and Midwives Association was forced to hold a 24 hour strike.

Kristy Wilson, the Griffith branch secretary of the NSWNMA, began events with an assurance that despite rumours, the maternity ward would not close due to the staffing crisis.

"A lot of you are here today under the assumption that maternity is closing, I want to make it clear right now that that is not the case. We are certainly not aware of that happening."

That doesn't mean that the crisis isn't well past a tipping point though.

Young nurse Stephanie Bell made a powerful speech, asking how she could recommend the industry to her kids or new graduates in it's current state.

More nurses leant their voices to the cause.

"The whole health across the state is in crisis. Hospital and ambulance services are in dire straits. Griffith Base Hospital has been understaffed for years, funded staffing levels are not safe - this is not a new thing," said Julie Henderson, a nurse since 1981.

"Staff come to work every day worried about patient safety, they are scared they're going to miss something important or make a mistake."

Mrs Wilson said that there were likely to be repercussions from the government including fines for unapproved industrial action or even deregistering the union.

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She said that they wouldn't be deterred however, with the battle needing to be fought.

"The general feeling across the state of nurses - they want to keep striking, they need to be heard."

Mrs Wilson said it was good to see more of the community come to support the rally compared to the one six weeks ago, which was mostly attended only by nurses and midwives.

Time will tell if the statewide strike will yield results, but the NSW NMA are committed to fighting for safer and better conditions for as long as it takes.

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