Southern District Health Board confirmed yesterday it was looking to Southland Hospital for assistance, but denied the situation was a crisis.
The DHB also confirmed it had reminded staff of its media policy, after Ward 4C nurse Helen Adair went public about the situation earlier this week.
Management met Dunedin Hospital nurses on Thursday to address their concerns, the day Ms Adair's concerns were reported in the Otago Daily Times.
Patient safety in her ward was at risk because of understaffing, Ms Adair told the newspaper.
Ms Alexander said Dunedin Hospital had been "stretched" by a busier than normal period for about the past month.
Because of a lack of communication, staff had been unaware of the activity already under way to address the staffing shortage.
Moves included possibly bringing in Southland nurses, cancelling some elective surgery, and hiring temporary workers.
A major issue was the lack of a casual pool of nurses in Dunedin, Ms Alexander said.
"There is a nursing crisis of people [not] available to do the work who would be suitably qualified and ready to work." She believed the recession helped create the shortage, which was being felt in other centres too, as nurses opted for permanent work rather than waiting around for casual hours.
Asked if the DHB's grip on the nursing budget meant casual workers were less likely to be available when required, she agreed this was the case. The nursing budget was underspent by nearly $1.6 million in the year to March. However, the DHB said the result was expected to be unfavourable to budget by the end of the financial year.
Southern DHB chief midwifery and nursing officer Leanne Samuel said Dunedin Hospital was dealing with increased demand caused by the approach of winter, patients with highly complex needs, and more emergency department attendances.
"This is not a crisis. Hospitals often face these issues over winter periods or holiday times and we are working hard to manage the increased demand.
"The hospital continuously manages its elective surgery lists and some elective surgery has been postponed as part of its usual management of hospital beds. Where this happens, we will re-schedule procedures as soon as possible, as we are committed to ensuring people get the surgery they need."
The DHB was working to improve communication, which many staff felt was getting better under new chief executive Carole Heatly, Ms Samuel said.
"Staff have been reminded that we prefer that they don't speak to the media individually, but instead do this through their union representatives.
"We do, however, recognise that clinical staff may speak to the media if they have raised issues appropriately through management and professional lines and still have sufficient concerns."
Ms Adair, who earlier this week said she was speaking out because management was not listening, said yesterday she was largely happy with the response.
