SA nurses consider industrial action

Nurses in four South Australian country hospitals will take industrial action next week unless the state government comes up with a solution to staff shortages.

The Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation says the situation in hospitals at Port Augusta, Port Pirie, Mt Gambier and Whyalla is a "ticking time bomb".

"Overworking our nurses is not a sustainable solution," federation state secretary Elizabeth Dabars said on Friday.

"It's a practice that is not only taking its toll on the health of nursing staff, it presents a ticking time bomb when it comes to patient safety."

Ms Dabars said unless Country Health SA offered an acceptable solution, nurses across the four regional sites would take industrial action next week.

That would include limiting services to regional patients and staff working only their contracted hours.

Nurses would also limit the number of beds in each hospital to the number of available staff.