The striking nurses say they are not greedy and just want a paycheck to pay bills and take vacations.

The nurses on the picket line deny their greed and say their strike is driven by a desire for a decent standard of living.

With no money left to retain and hire staff, they fear that the National Health Service is becoming increasingly unsafe for patients.

The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) continued the strike on Tuesday and warned that more strikes could begin if the government does not take action and wage demands are not met.

This was told by nurses at Great Ormond Street Hospital in central London. I Their workload became unbearable as they bled the staff and struggled to hire new nurses.

Jody Elliott, 33, a pediatric operating room nurse, said: “We are demanding a pay back because I didn’t have a salary to match inflation the entire time I was qualified.”

She said, “Nurses are not greedy. We just want to have enough money to make ends meet, maybe save for a vacation, maybe save enough money, maybe buy a house one day, it’s just a little utopia.”

The RCN is demanding a 19 percent pay rise but is offering to settle for less. The government has indicated that it will not negotiate compensation for 2022–23.

Ms Elliott said she and her colleagues were largely successful in keeping the workforce safe, but were concerned about closing beds or canceling surgeries.

“Knock on wood, I’m not mistaken. But when you talk about tired, overworked and underpaid employees, I think unfortunately mistakes happen or things don’t get done because of a lack of staff.”

She was joined by 36-year-old Killian Grey, a nurse who has worked in the healthcare system for half her life. His parents and sisters are nurses and he hopes that his little daughter will go into healthcare.

Mr Gray said he was on the picket line “to keep the profession”. “People don’t take jobs if they don’t get paid enough.”

The future of nurses is daunting, he said, as he fears hospitals will one day have to hire unskilled workers.

“If we say that patient safety is dangerous while well-trained workers are under pressure, unskilled workers will be under exactly the same pressure. I think it’s pretty dangerous.”

Many nurses struggled to afford food and transportation to get to work, Mr Gray said.

“With basic pay, you can potentially pay rent and buy groceries… It’s ingrained in you to work extra shifts.”

The care crisis reminded staff of the pandemic, when they were “just getting a life” instead of caring for it, he said.

“We provide security, but… how far can a rubber band stretch?”

Megan Swan, a 26-year-old neonatal intensive care unit nurse, says parents of her patients generally understand the pressure she and her colleagues face every day.

“They take on a lot of burdens that we can’t handle… But some of them get really angry, angry and sometimes take it out on us.”

Some mothers and fathers took on caregiving responsibilities, she said, including minor medical tasks that nurses wanted to take on, but had no choice but to rely on their parents.

Gemma Bea, who works in the cardiology intensive care unit, said parents can see in nurses’ faces how overworked they are taking care of their children.

The 37-year-old man said, “I don’t want to go. My biggest fear is that the National Health Service will collapse and people who don’t have money won’t be able to get the health care they need. That’s why we’re here.

“It comes to your mind in the days when I burst into tears [to leave]. I’ve seen people leave because of this, and it’s terrible.

“I stand here right now, passionately believing that what we are going to do today and on other days will make a difference. I have to believe it, I can’t go alone because… I don’t agree with it morally.