THE nurse staffing issue at Bowral and District Hospital is the main focus of a state-wide campaign.
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NSW Nurses and Midwives' Association organiser Jeffery Crebert is at the head of the campaign which aims to give nurses at Group C hospitals, including Bowral Hospital, the same workloads as nurses in Sydney hospitals.
"If you're being treated for pneumonia at Campbelltown Hospital, you should receive the same treatment in Bowral Hospital," Mr Crebert said.
"Why should your postcode matter?"
Mr Crebert said metropolitan hospitals had one nurse to four patients while Group C hospitals, such as Bowral, had one nurse to every five patients.
These ratios have caused the NSW Nurses and Midwives' Association to believe there is a "crisis" looming in rural NSW hospitals.
"While in hospital, country patients such as those in Bowral receive less face-to-face nursing care than city patients and we don't think that's fair," Mr Crebert said.
"The state government is not doing enough to fix it."
As a result, the association will be dedicated to lobbying local MP Jai Rowell to commit to increasing the number of nurses at Bowral Hospital.
"Nurses at Bowral believe that all patients deserve a safe quality of health care regardless of where you live," Mr Crebert said.
"More nurses save lives and that will also save money. It's a no brainer."
As part of the campaign, the community will be educated about the different nurse to patient ratios and pressures placed on country nurses.
Community surveys will be conducted where residents will have the chance to say what they want in the community in terms of health care.
"An increased number of nurses in Bowral will have a positive outcome for patients and at the end of the day nurses should be able to go home satisfied with their job," Mr Crebert said.
Wingecarribee Shire NSW Nurses and Midwives' Association members said they hoped the campaign would promote improvement and awareness of the nurse to patient ratios in country areas and safe patient care.