Madam, - As you are aware, hospital services all around the country are suffering from a shortage of nurses. I am writing to express my dissatisfaction and frustration with the workings of An Bord Altranais, the nursing bord, which processes nurse registrations.
We have Australian nurses available for work who commenced the registration process with ABA last January 2005 but are still not registered. One Australian nurse who has a degree and many years' experience has just been informed she will need to complete a six-week adaptation programme. To date ABA had advised her this would not be necessary.
A neighbouring hospital in Cork has recently had to close wards as a direct result of the excessive time taken by ABA to process foreign applications.
Critical areas are being affected unnecessarily while recruitment is hampered by the slow wheels of bureaucracy. Something must be done. It seems obvious that additional resources need to be put in place to deal with the increased demand for foreign nurses.
In this age of modern technology and rapid communication it must be possible to process applications more quickly than the six- to eight-month procedure currently in place. - Yours, etc,
DONNA ROCHE,
Service Manager,
Bon Secours Hospital,
Cork.