Royal Darwin Hospital Nurses Face Daily Threats

0:00It's April 8th. You're listening to Sydney News today, AI-powered local news. I'm Corey with the story. Nurses that Royal Darwin hospitals emergency department are reporting daily threats and assaults, leaving them feeling unsafe and traumatized. The union says the department runs at 150 percent capacity, way over the ideal 90 percent, forcing one nurse to handle up to 30. Patients in the waiting room. The Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation wants faster responses from security and police, plus real-time alerts for nurse leaders when duress. Alarms go off. They've also called in NT Worksafe, which has started an investigation into the working conditions. Staff worries someone could get stab soon, and patients are at risk from stretched ratios. Police haven't commented with our specifics, but the union points to delays of up to 15 minutes for help. NT Health's chief executive denies any systemic security problems, calling slow responses isolated. They're rolling out personal duress alarms for nurses in real-time notifications, while

1:03two new wards later this year. I-832 beds plus A. 24-bed mental health union should ease the pressure on the existing 400 beds, way times of slit 2, with only 54 percent of patients leaving within 4 hours now, down from 67 percent 6 years ago. Officials say it's a national struggle, but a bigger hospital is the real fix down the line.