The recruitment of 84 nurses from the Philippines as well as 59 newly qualified Irish nurses has enabled Beaumont Hospital to recommission all its beds.
"We now have the equivalent of 908 full-time nurses, which is a full complement," said the hospital's director of nursing, Ms Marie Keane. "The new nurses are very important to us because at one stage last year we were 130 short." Last autumn, the hospital was forced to close 67 beds and cut back theatre operating time by 20 per cent because of the nursing shortage.
Ms Keane travelled to the Philippines in September, where nurses were recruited in Manila and Cebu. Filipina nurses working in Singapore have also been recruited.
The nurses are employed on two-year contracts, with the option of renewing them for a further two years.
Four groups of nurses have arrived from the Philippines since late last year, said Ms Keane. "They are given accommodation by the hospital for the first eight weeks of their stay, after which they make their own arrangements."
She said the Filipina nurses had adapted well. "Our ward staff are delighted with their expertise in patient care and the consultants working closely with them in theatre are very happy with their skills."