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Grace Searle was born and raised in NSW, but says she doesn't regret her decision to move interstate for better pay as a nurse.
The 24-year-old from Greater Sydney's Blue Mountains has been in healthcare for six years, and currently works in a Melbourne emergency department.
"I was witnessing … in hospitals all across Sydney and NSW just how much pressure the nurses were under, how stressful their jobs were," she told ABC News.
"When I first went into [nursing] I was 18, so I didn't really think much about pay — I just wanted to do a job that helps people.
"Then when I did my grad year in NSW, I just realised how poorly I was paid in the context of rent, cost of living, owning a car," she said.
Emergency nurse Grace Searle left NSW Health in 2022. (Supplied: Grace Searle)
The financial strain was in addition to difficult working conditions, with Ms Searle saying she could have "upwards of 13 patients to myself because there was no cap" in place.
The NSW Nurses and Midwives' Association (NSWNMA) landed a deal in February this year for nurse-to-patient ratios after years of campaigning with the state government.
But yesterday in parliament, Opposition Leader Mark Speakman claimed only one hospital's emergency department, Liverpool Hospital, has rolled out the promised nursing ratios.
Health Minister Ryan Park did not directly respond to the claim in parliament or elaborate on the rollout of ratios when later contacted by the ABC.
However, a spokesperson for Mr Park said Mr Speakman "would undo safe staffing reforms and return his cap on wages if he had his way".
Ms Searle said nurses worked in high-pressure situations and governments had a role to play in making their jobs easier.
"The responsibility was really hard when you go into something to try and help people and then you have to do really, really difficult work under a lot of pressure," she said.
"Pressure that doesn't always have to be there … and then also being paid barely enough to live on."
Ms Searle said nurses were "being paid barely enough to live on" in NSW. (ABC News: Tara Whitchurch)
The nurse moved to Victoria about two years ago and said the difference in conditions "almost felt like heaven".
"I get paid better here especially now with the Victorian nurse pay rise that we just recently got, we didn't even have to walk off the job for that," she said.
"Nurses, we're medical professionals, we're literally saving lives … it's a lot of mental, emotional and physical work.
"So it's just crazy that we're not being recognised for the work that we do with more pay, and that's regardless of the conditions which are obviously equally as horrible."
'I just don't know why they stay'
The union says 10,000 nurses and midwives walked off the job in NSW on Wednesday as part of a 24-hour strike that ended at 6:30am on Thursday.
It was part of a series of industrial action pushing for a one-year 15 per cent wage increase across the state.
The NSWNMA, which Ms Searle previously worked for, accepted an offer to receive an initial 3 per cent pay rise back paid until July 1 on the provision its members would not strike during a four-week negotiation period which has since ended.
On Wednesday, nurses across NSW striked for 24 hours, calling for a number of measures to be introduced. (ABC News: Timothy Ailwood)
Mr Park said on Wednesday he was "disappointed" the action went ahead, after the Minns government put forward a proposal for a multi-year 15 per cent deal.
"The premier, I and the treasurer have said we can't deliver 15 per cent in a single year, that's not possible," he said.
In June, Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan announced a "massive" pay rise of 28.4 per cent for "hardworking" nurses and midwives in the state.
The NSWNMA have called for a 15 per cent pay rise delivered in one year. (ABC News: Timothy Ailwood)
Nurses and midwives in Queensland are also paid 18 per cent more than their NSW counterparts, according to NSWNMA secretary Shaye Candish.
Ms Searle said she catches up with former colleagues back home regularly, and that hearing their stories compared to her situation was "astounding".
"Some of them want to own their own homes but they can barely afford rent … their experiences compared to mine, I just don't know why they stay."
She said she wasn't alone in the decision, with a "whole group of people from NSW who used to work in Sydney" working in her department as well.
However, the move away from NSW was not a "light" choice, especially leaving her loved ones behind.
"It really sucked to leave all my friends and family behind because everyone I know lives in NSW, I knew no-one in Melbourne before I moved here," she said.
"It was a good decision, but it has been hard as well."
Nurses and midwives doing 'important, integral, fundamental' work
On Monday, the Police Association of NSW said some of its member officers could receive up to 39 per cent more over the next four years in what would be "the highest pay increases achieved in" three decades for NSW Police.
Meanwhile, the Minns government has closed pay deals with unions including the NSW Teachers Federation, the Health Services Union and Crown Employees.
"Obviously teachers and police officers, they're public servants, they deserve a rise as well," Ms Searle said.
"My partner is a high school teacher … and he doesn't do night shifts, he doesn't work holidays — they do very, very important work, but he doesn't watch people die every day.
"I just feel like nurses deserve the same amount of pay, if not more."
She said the 15 per cent pay rise is important to recognise the "important, integral, fundamental work that the state and people could not live without".
"Midwives are there when you're born, nurses are there if you end up in NICU all the way through your life. If you're sick and then when you die, nurses are there to help you.
"If you can't provide [NSW nurses] with good conditions you should at least increase their pay otherwise they're just going to leave like I did."