Hunter nurses from the region's hospitals will march in Newcastle Thursday as they strike, rally for safe staff patient ratios, COVID payments, and pay rise

That is the message from the organisers of a strike rally that will march from Newcastle Museum to Foreshore Park as they take their fight for safer staffing ratios and a payrise to the streets on Thursday.

Rachel Hughes, secretary of the John Hunter and John Hunter Children's Hospital branch of the NSW Nurses and Midwives Association, said nurses were burned out and fed up.

"We are all suffering with the impact of the pandemic - being understaffed, overworked, and putting ourselves and our families at risk, and it has reached a point where we have all had enough," she said. "We're concerned about patient safety, we're concerned about our own and our colleague's safety, and the way it is at the moment is not safe for anyone, and it's scary."

Nurses plan to walk off the job for 24 hours on Thursday due to the NSW government's failure to address the ongoing staffing crisis.

They will leave from Newcastle Museum at 10am and march to Foreshore Park.

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