A midwife in the public hospital system says she feels good about attending today’s rally over pay and working conditions because nurses are exhausted, angry and see no other option left but to take a stand.

Sam told Gary Adshead on 6PR Mornings that no nurses wanted to strike from 7am to 9pm today, the first such action in two decades, but they felt vindicated by the “phenomenal” support from others, including the public and Australian Medical Association of WA.

“Double shifts is an issue, nurses have been doing them for a long time, but it’s also about the workloads,” she said.

Press PLAY below to hear from more nurses on their working conditions

“If you’ve got five patients for example, and three or four of them require full care, they literally need assistance with every single activity of daily living that they have … that’s a huge toll physically and mentally as well.

“There are nurses getting urinary tract infections because they are going entire shifts without a break, without being able to go to the toilet, they’re dedicated to their patients, they are making themselves ill.”