Senior nursing managers are to meet the Department of Health early next month to discuss the chronic shortage of staff nurses. Most hospitals expect to have to close some wards, with geriatric units in particular hardest hit by the shortage.
As reported in The Irish Times earlier this month, the health services face a nursing shortage that is likely to last at least three years.
It is caused by the switch from in-hospital training to college-based courses for student nurses, who traditionally made up 50 per cent of the nursing staff in major teaching hospitals.
Yesterday the vice-president of the newly-named Association of Irish Nurse Managers, Ms Mary Courtney, said the organisation was meeting Department officials on November 6th to discuss the problem. The association is hoping more resources will be put into the provision of ancillary staff "to ensure that the nurses available can be used completely for nursing duties", Ms Courtney said.
The association's president, Mr Tom Houlihan, said the Department was "taking a much stronger line this year on people staying within budget, but that has been overshadowed by the shortage of nurses problem. A lot of hospital wards will be closing this winter for lack of nurses, rather than a shortage of money.
"Almost all hospitals are looking at end of year bed closures because of the changes in the status of training." Ms Joan O'Neill, director of nursing at the Carman Centre in Leopardstown Park, Co Dublin, agreed the shortage would be particularly felt in geriatric units where the demands for services increase significantly in winter. These units are "nurse-driven" where there is little medical backup from doctors.
Ms Courtney said: "With the wisdom of hindsight we can see we were not active enough in highlighting the potential shortages when the new courses were introduced." The association says it is also dealing with bullying in the profession. The interim report of the Commission on Nursing identified this as a major issue for nurses. Mr Houlihan said some members of the association had been surprised that bullying had come up as an issue. But he added: "We acknowledge it's there and we are dealing with it."
The association had already discussed it with experts at its a.g.m. and guidelines on policies and procedures to eliminate it are being sent to members. Mr Houlihan said only a small number was involved in bullying, but their attitude could affect an entire hospital. He also pointed out it was not just bullying of nurses by other nurses that had to be addressed, but bullying of nurses by other health professions.
Ms Courtney said stress and trying to cope with limited resources were making the problem worse. Yesterday's meeting unveiled the new name for the association, formerly known as the Irish Matrons' Association.
Mr Houlihan said nursing had changed and so had the role of directors of nursing. They were expected to give leadership and vision, and ensure that the voice of nurses was heard adequately when key decisions were made.
The association was also concerned that the role of directors of nursing was under attack. Directors should be brought into the mainstream of decision-making, it believed.