Patients needing surgery at St Columcille's Hospital, in Loughlinstown, Co Dublin, may have to be brought to other hospitals after 4.30 p.m. each day if theatre nurses vote to extend their industrial action from Monday, writes Padraig O'Morain.
Nurses in the Irish Nurses' Organisation say they are spending intolerable amounts of time on-call and the on-call allowance of 84p an hour cannot compensate them.
The Labour Court recently recommended that the nurses accept an earlier offer promising more staff and improved rosters by the end of the year. However, there has been disagreement over the terms of the earlier offer and the nurses will ballot on Monday on whether to extend industrial action which has already closed the theatres on some nights of each week.
The East Coast Area Health Board says it is "surprised" and that it has been "flexible and generous" in dealing with the situation.