NURSES will stage a protest rally about understaffing at Naracoorte Hospital next Tuesday.
Local nurses will be joined by Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation officials in front of the hospital for a 30-minute rally from 12.30pm.
The federation's SA branch CEO/secretary Elizabeth Dabars told the Herald the gathering was aimed at bringing attention to the nurses' battle with Country Health SA over understaffing at the hospital.
The federation has lodged an official dispute with the Industrial Relations Commission after first airing the issue in February this year.
Ms Dabars said it related to "understaffing and the consequences to patient health and safety as a result".
Ms Dabars said a local working party had been formed and "had some reasonable results for a time", but progress had stalled.
Now, there was "no apparent outcome or genuine interest to resolve the issues" and there was "a lot of anxiety and concern" among nurses about the understaffing.
The rally has been organised to coincide with the lunch break for most nurses, to reduce the impact on hospital operations.
"These are nurses working hard to provide good patient care, and they feel compromised," Ms Dabars said. "Enough is enough."
