Nurses and midwives across NSW hospitals will strike next week for the third time this year over staffing and pay.
The nurses union General Secretary Shaye Candish said nurses will walk off the job for 24 hours on September 1, while maintaining life-preserving measures.
"This is in direct response to the government's inaction," she told reporters on Wednesday.
The union wants one nurse for every four patients to ensure the system is not overstretched and patients receive the best care.
Nurses had put their own health and lives on the line for the community, Ms Candish said.
"All they want to do is provide safe patient care and their inability to do that is actually making their job impossible."
"Frustrated" nurses and midwives are also demanding a seven per cent pay rise to keep up with the rising cost of living, and that "recognises the value" of their labour.
That's more than double the government's public sector wage increase cap of three per cent.
Some surgical procedures could be delayed, but efforts would be made to ensure life threatening surgeries proceed, Ms Candish said.
Premier Dominic Perrottet said on Wednesday the government had invested more than any other state in building and upgrading hospitals over the last decade.
But Ms Candish said the government has not been "open at all" to negotiating over urgently needed staffing.
"This health system will look fundamentally different if we don't see the government making real and genuine investment in nurse and midwives workforces."
