Registered nurse Amy Halvorsen will work her last shift at Sydney's Westmead Hospital on Monday after resigning from the job she loves in protest at ongoing staff shortages that she says have left her burnt out and anxious.
Key points:
- Registered nurse Amy Halvorsen says staff shortages at Westmead Hospital are contributing to burnout and anxiety
- She felt the only way she could protest at conditions inside the hospital was to resign
- The Black Dog Institute says it's seeing a spike in health care workers seeking help for mental health issues
After four years as a nurse, she's decided she could no longer keep working in the "chaotic and dangerous" conditions she saw every day on the wards.
The 32-year-old said she was speaking out to raise awareness about the chronic staff shortages that were crippling the state's hospitals.
"I am nervous about coming forward, however, I believe this is becoming a health crisis and the public needs to know how dire the situation is inside the hospitals right now," she said.
Ms Halvorsen said under-staffing had left nursing staff "riddled with anxiety about what they're walking into every shift".
With staff on annual leave or off sick or isolating due to COVID-19, her high-dependency ward was down to a third of its usual number.
"People don't want to go in because it's so daunting," she said. "No-one wants to come near the place."
With fewer staff, she said nurses had less time to spend with patients.
"It's scary. We don't have the support to care for our patients the way they need to be cared for.
"There's fear around making a mistake. It's a big responsibility."
On top of the increased workload, staff are fearful for their own safety.
In recent weeks, Ms Halvorsen said the hospital was so short-staffed she had witnessed colleagues who were close contacts and should be isolating being told to stay and finish their shifts.
"They're told to get tested, keep their mask on and only go home if they test positive," she said.
This, she believed, was putting patients and other staff members in danger.
"Where's our protection?" she said. "My colleagues have families they are going home to."
A spokesperson for the Western Sydney Local Health District (WSLHD) said there were clear guidelines on when health care workers who were close contacts needed to isolate.
"We support asymptomatic staff to continue working safely where those guidelines permit them to do so," the spokesperson said.
Ms Halvorsen said staff were "too scared" to speak out for fear of losing their jobs.
Industrial action was also not an option because "if we walk out people will die".
Two years into the pandemic and "with no end in sight" she decided she had no option but to resign.
"I got to a point where I thought 'it's not worth it,'" she said.
"I look at the money in the bank at the end of the week and I look at how much work I am putting in physically, mentally, emotionally. It doesn't balance.
"The only way I can protest is to leave."
She decided she wanted to become a nurse when she was young after her mother had breast cancer.
"I felt helpless and I chose nursing for that reason, to have those skills," she said.
"I found my passion until COVID hit."
She has no regrets about leaving her job in the western Sydney hospital's neurosurgical trauma ward.
"I feel like a weight has been lifted. I feel such a relief," she said.
"My mental health has genuinely struggled."
She said she was looking forward to a future outside of the health system.
"I am just so sick of the COVID narrative and constantly feeling the pressure of the government's failures," she said.
"I want to go out and enjoy my life a little better."
Jill Newby, a clinical psychologist from the Black Dog Institute in Sydney, said the recent rise in COVID-19 cases had prompted a spike in the number of health care workers seeking help to deal with the "unrelenting pressure".
"They're experiencing increased rates of stress, anxiety, high levels of burnout and depression," she said.
"We know from research that the more stress people are under and the longer it goes they have increased rates of mental health issues."
She said the health system was likely to see an increase in the number of staff leaving.
"We have seen from past pandemics that there is increased attrition from the workforce," Dr Newby said.
"It is understandable that people have reached the limit of how much they can cope with."
NSW Health said there was "no evidence" of increased staff turnover since the start of the pandemic.
A spokesperson said 2,900 graduate nurses and midwives were employed last year and the NSW Health workforce has increased by 25 per cent in the past decade.
"Since the start of the pandemic, NSW Health has engaged in forward planning with clinicians to ensure our hospitals have capacity to care for COVID-19 patients who need to be hospitalised."
NSW Health said staff safety was of "utmost importance" and $4 billion had been spent on measures to keep staff safe, including $340 million on personal protective equipment.
All staff, the spokesperson said, had access to a website with tools and resources "to manage staff wellbeing" during the pandemic.
In a statement, the Western Sydney Local Health District said it remained "committed to supporting our staff while maintaining the absolute focus on patient care and safety".
"For almost two years, WSLHD staff have shown up day-in, day-out to protect the community from COVID-19 and we thank our staff who continue to not only support the community but also their colleagues during this challenging period."
The local health district said staff have support available to them "around the clock" and hospital managers were working with NSW on strategies"to address the impacts of COVID-19 on staff".