Member for Murray Helen Dalton said she would support a bill to mandate nurse-to-patient ratios

Mrs Dalton was in NSW parliament on March 31, as nurses and midwives rallied in a 24-hour strike for better conditions and more staff on floors.

In lieu of attending Griffith's rally, Mrs Dalton attended a NSW Nurse and Midwives Union protest rally in Sydney.

She revealed that the NSW Government was urgently recruiting temporary nurses to work in Griffith Base Hospital to alleviate the pressure on existing staff after a very worrying Tuesday that almost led to seven mothers and their babies being forced to relocate to Wagga.

"It's incredible that a base hospital servicing a population of 80,000 - an area the size of Scotland - could be left with no maternity services. But that's how dire the rural health crisis has become," Mrs Dalton said.

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Greens MP Cate Faehrmann announced yesterday that she would be introducing a bill to legislate nurse-to-patient ratios, a crucial demand from the NSW Nurses and Midwives Association.

Mrs Dalton confirmed that they would be supporting the bill.

"Cate Faerhmann's bill will get my support ... Nurses are absolutely overworked, and if you're on the border, you're likely to get a job in other states instead," she said.

"I'm trying to put pressure on the government to change it, the community needs to be aware of what's going on."

March 22 saw just two midwives able to work due to staff shortages, in a ward that should have a minimum of three and an ideal of four.

"If something happened to just one of those midwives on shift, all seven mums would have been transferred to Wagga," Mrs Dalton said.

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She added that the efforts of parliament to hire temporary staff were just that - temporary.

"In response to the recent public outcry, the Government are trying to bring in temporary staff to plug gaps ... Unless they raise pay rates, improve rural incentives and address the culture of bullying, this will only continue."

At the strike in Griffith, branch secretary of the NSW Nurses and Midwives Kristy Wilson assured those present that the maternity ward would not be closing, hopefully putting an end to recent rumours.

"I want to make it clear right now that that is not the case. We are certainly not aware of that happening," Ms Wilson said.

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