More than 50 nurses and midwives walked from Victory Memorial Gardens to Robertson Oval yesterday in protest over excessive workloads in NSW public hospitals.Organised as part of state-wide industrial action, staff from Wagga Base Hospital held picket signs and attracted onlookers as they marched."One man called out 'patient safety'," said NSW Nurses' Association (NSWNA) Wagga branch president, Jodie Godfrey."People were clapping their hands, tooting their horns; people were coming out of their shops and saying it was great," she said.While support from onlookers was forthcoming, the estimated 50 protesting staff is only a fraction of the 638 nurses and midwives who work at Wagga Base. The protest served to postpone some scheduled surgeries and the closure of child and family health, sexual health and diabetes education clinics.But hospital management said apart from this, for the most part it was business as usual.NSWNA members have launched the one2four campaign in the hope of securing a major overhaul of the state's health system.They want mandated changes that will see a ratio of one nurse to every four patients during the day, and one to seven at night. NSWNA Wagga branch secretary Tania Gleeson said it was not uncommon for Wagga members to monitor eight patients during the day, and 12 at night.The union is also calling for better skill mix amongst staff.Ms Godfrey said when a registered nurse was unavailable they were often replaced with an 'assistant in nursing' who wasn't qualified to provide the same level of care.