Wagga branch members of the NSW Nurses and Midwives' Association (NMA) will meet at Bolton Park from 9.30am on Tuesday and march to the office of state MP Joe McGirr.

NMA member Natalie Ellis said nurses were striking to address chronic staffing issues which have reached crisis point during the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Even before COVID, people weren't getting their breaks, they weren't leaving on time," she said. "Even though we're supporting each other, it has come to an absolute crisis ... we can't keep doing this, and someone needs to listen."

Mrs Ellis said she and her colleagues had taken their concerns to their managers but the Murrumbidgee Local Health District (MLHD) had done "as much as it can" to support staff during the pandemic.

"Their hands are tired as far as being able to solve the problem," she said. "Which is why we have to do it across the state as a state issue."

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NMA members across New South Wales voted overwhelmingly for the statewide strike on February 15, the largest in the state since 2013.

It comes a week after the NSW government announced a return to non-urgent elective surgery, and in the same week as 54 new graduate nurses start work in the MLHD.

In a document distributed to members, the NMA said members should "ensure New Grads are not relied upon to remain on shift without support."

A NSW Health spokesperson said the department's current approach to staffing ratios addresses the needs of patients while allowing for the professional judgment of healthcare professionals.

"This model helps to ensure the right number of staff in the right place at the right time," the spokesperson said in a statement.

NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet has previously dismissed calls for ratios similar to those in Victoria and Queensland, saying they hadn't "actually worked so well in other states."

Mrs Ellis said she disagreed with this claim.

"The evidence supports it and it has made the world of difference in Victoria and Queensland."

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