Nurses gathered outside Ipswich Hospital for strike action today, with some joining the picket line after an exhausting 12 hour shift.
For the first time in the history of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN), members have voted to take industrial action against the government.
Strike action took place in December, but today's event is the first involving Suffolk nurses.
RCN senior officer Tony Durcan hopes that holding these strikes will help people "understand and value nurses by giving them a decent pay award."
He added: "We're here today supporting our community because enough is enough."
Specialist nurse Teresa Woollerton, 56, has worked in the NHS for 20 years and is striking to support her colleagues who she believes have not had a fair pay rise in the last ten years.
"It's become the norm for everyone to be working against staff shortages constantly," she said.
"People have had enough and we're seeing people leaving a lot."
Registered nurse Craig Buxton, 40, said he goes into work some days and does the job of two other nurses as well as his own.
"We have unsafe working conditions," he said.
"Some days we'll do a 12-hour shift without a break and then leave late because we're filling in so much paperwork.
"It's got to the point where patient's family members are coming in to help because they can see the strain on the service."
Jana Shehu, 29, a registered nurse in trauma and orthopedics, added to this by saying she worries for the future of nursing if the NHS continues this way.
Echoing these concerns was Chloe Green, 25, who has worked as a registered nurse in Ipswich Hospital's A&E department for the past two years.
She said that while she's there to support her colleagues, her main reason for striking was for her patients.
"The staff shortages are affecting patient care," said Ms Green.
"At the end of the day, the care we provide to our patients is paramount and at the moment there's simply not enough of us to go around."
Going forward, she would like to see a "fair pay rise" and incentives to bring more people into the profession to combat the current lack of nurses.
Royal College of Nursing strike action will continue outside Ipswich Hospital until 7:30pm tonight and will resume for a second day tomorrow.
East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust (ESNEFT), tweeted: "Our hospitals are affected by nursing strikes today (Wednesday) and tomorrow (Thursday) but it's important you attend your appointment unless you've been contacted."
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