Tasmania's emergency departments can't track waiting-room patients
Tasmania's health service is so short-staffed that emergency department nurses lose sight of patients waiting for beds, unable to monitor their condition.
Nurses at Launceston General Hospital's emergency department say they have no choice but to treat patients in waiting rooms when beds run out. Waiting-room patients might need fluids, antibiotics, or medication that requires close watching, but with staff gaps nearly every shift, a nurse might not see the same patient for three hours.
One nurse described not knowing if a patient was even still there or how they had changed. The stress weighs heavily: nurses go without breaks, feel guilty they cannot give proper care, and carry the fear home.
The union says staff are burned out and exhausted, propping up a system working below safe levels.
- Launceston General Hospital
- Hospital
- 3 hours
- Time without seeing patient
- Erin Woodcock, ANMF
- Nurse delegate
Why it mattersPatient safety depends on close monitoring in emergency care, and untracked waiting-room patients risk deterioration going unnoticed.
AustraliaTasmania's public hospitals are operating below safe staffing levels, putting patients at risk and driving healthcare workers toward burnout across the state.
✓ Claims checked against the source and corrected before publish. checked 2 d ago
