The 33-year old's claims come as the hospital increasingly finds itself on red alert - having to turn ambulances away yesterday for the second time this week.

Mr Ellis said eight senior emergency department nurses had resigned recently because they were fed up with the "uncontrolled chaos".

"We all love our job but the goverment has made it intolerable," he said.

"Nurses are shouldering the responsibility of doctors because there are not enough.

"Patient after patient is brought in but there is often nowhere to put them because there are not enough beds.

"If a safety audit was conducted it would be shut down."

Hospital acting manager Graham Carswell said school holidays had contributed to the situation.

The department's staff numbers were comparable to similar departments across the state.

Stressed doctors gagged by their Queensland Health contracts are struggling silently as Sunshine Coast emergency departments buckle under increasing demand.

During fevered debate this week, Parliament was told Queensland Health has gagged its staff from speaking to the media and their own local members.

However, reports from the College of Emergency Medicine show a medical community in trouble, with systemic problems forcing doctors to leave critically ill patients waiting for treatment.

One doctor from the Sunshine Coast said patient care was being affected each day due to long waiting times and overcrowding in the emergancy department. "That put huge stress on medical and nursing staff at the Sunshine Coiast facility," the doctor stated.

Another Coast doctor reported an increased wait in emergency for critically ill patients, along with more transfers to Brisbane, early discharges from intensive care, and an inability to admit patients to intensive care from operating theatres and wards.