More than 150 beds have now been closed in 15 hospitals across NSW and nurses say the number is set to increase dramatically.
More than 50 beds closed on Tuesday as the NSW Nurses' Association protested against the state government's failure to meet its demands for a one-to-four ratio of nurses to patients.
By Wednesday afternoon, beds had been closed in 15 hospitals including Wollongong, Sydney's Royal Prince Alfred Hospital (RPA) and Springwood.
This took the total number of beds closed to 152.
"We will start to see some real escalation from tomorrow," the union's acting general secretary, Judith Kiejda, told AAP on Wednesday.
Big branches like Westmead, St George, John Hunter, David Berry and Coonamble will decide on Thursday when they're going to start closing beds.
Despite the current action and the threats of more closures, Ms Kiejda said the union hadn't heard back from the government.
"We're still encouraging them to understand that this is a huge issue," she said.
"We believe the claim that we are putting forward for the ratios is the only way to go."
Emergency and intensive-care beds won't be affected, nor will paediatrics, maternity or oncology wards.
The union says a one-to-four nurse-to-patient ratio at most metropolitan hospitals should be included in the new award after the old one expired on June 30 this year.
The union has also put in a claim for a wage increase of five per cent per annum and a one per cent lift in superannuation.
NSW Health Minister Carmel Tebbutt said on Tuesday that the government wanted to continue good-faith discussions with the union but was unable to do so in an environment of industrial action.
Source http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-national/nsw-nurses-close-more-than-150-beds-20110105-19g0s.html