<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Nurses have sounded the alarm over "severe" understaffing at a busy neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) ward at a western </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/sydney" rel="" target="_blank" title="Sydney"><span>Sydney</span></a><span> public hospital.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Alicia Rodgers has worked at Nepean Hospital in Kingswood for 11 years and told 9news.com.au nurses in the NICU ward are being stretched thin as funded beds frequently exceed the safe staffing ratio.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Rodgers claimed the most vulnerable members of society – sick newborns – were being left behind by the state government.</span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/darling-downs-zoo-queensland-update-woman-arm-injured-animal-bite/8e913db2-37d4-44d0-b0a6-2b07dd1b8318" rel="" target="_blank" title="Queensland zoo 'won't punish' big cat after woman loses arm in attack"><strong><span>Queensland zoo 'won't punish' big cat after woman loses arm in attack</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"These are the most vulnerable patients in the health system – tiny, sick and pre-term babies who don't have a voice and are reliant on their caregivers for all their daily needs," Rodgers said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"Sometimes they're as sick as our adult patients in intensive care, but they're not being afforded the same level of safe staffing as their adult counterparts."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Rodgers said the NICU unit is only funded for 12 beds, but that the level of sick babies needing care often exceeds the safe staffing ratio.</span></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/national/nepean-hospital-nicu-ward-nurses-claim-understaffing-impacting-care/93ea9c66-eaad-4b04-99d0-365bcb69e47a" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>She said additional staff are desperately needed in the ward to stop nurses being forced to work double shifts and overtime.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"The challenge [we] have is that you have a bed space, but you don't necessarily have a nurse to look after the patient," she said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>As a result, NICU nurses often can't go above and beyond the "basic" level of care for the newborns.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>This means mothers and family members often aren't supported, Rodgers said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE: </span></strong><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/rich-choup-murder-contract-crew-sought-over-death-torture-incidents-in-nsw-queensland/7270a0e4-7d13-4f62-bea1-39d74cb95ec7" target="_blank" title=""><strong><span>Victims of deadly 'contract crew' worked for drug gang, police say</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Rodgers said the hospital also only has a part-time lactation consultant on staff for new mothers.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"We don't want nurses or midwives who are tired and fatigued... people get very tired and get burnt out," Rodgers added.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"We need people who are refreshed and ready to work.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"Ideally, none of them should have to be doing double shifts. That is something we really need to look at."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Rodgers, along with her fellow colleagues in the NSW Nurses and Midwives' Association, is calling on the NSW government today to take action on the ongoing staffing crisis.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>An own-time rally will be held at Nepean Hospital in Kingswood today to ask the government to commit to more funding and staff.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"We are desperate to be able to provide the most safe and effective care possible," Rodgers, who is the NSWNMA Nepean Hospital Branch Secretary, said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"Our emergency departments have that commitment, our adult ICUs, our maternity units, our general wards, neonatal intensive care and special care nursery deserves that too."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Nurses in the NICU at Sydney's Westmead Hospital went on strike last month </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/videos/national/nicu-nurses-strike-over-concerns-for-patient-safety/cmc8u39ex002k0hqqcknhnww1" rel="" target="_blank" title="over similar concerns about patient safety and staffing levels."><span>over similar concerns about patient safety and staffing levels.</span></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><a href="http://9news.com.au" rel="" target="_blank" title="9news.com.au"><span>9news.com.au</span></a><span> has contacted the Nepean Blue Mountains Local Health District for comment.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/how-to-follow-9news-digital/29855bb1-ad3d-4c38-bc25-3cb52af1216f" target="_blank"><strong><em><span>DOWNLOAD THE 9NEWS APP</span></em></strong></a><strong><em><span>: Stay across all the latest in breaking news, sport, politics and the weather via our news app and get notifications sent straight to your smartphone. 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