Nurses in Naas General Hospital, who are members of the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO), are to begin industrial action on 9 February in a dispute over staffing numbers.
The action will initially take the form of a work-to-rule but it could be escalated to strike action.
The INMO said that current staffing levels across multiple clinical areas are unsafe, unsustainable, and non-compliant with professional standards.
“The ongoing reliance on agency, overtime, and redeployment places both patient safety and staff wellbeing at significant risk,” said INMO Industrial Relations Officer Karen McCann.
“Despite repeated efforts to highlight these clinical risk concerns, no substantive action has been taken to address the unsafe staffing levels currently impacting patient safety, staff wellbeing, and compliance with agreed safe staffing frameworks.”
“Our members are very disappointed that it has come to this, but unfortunately, they feel the risks being posed to patients due to ongoing understaffing problems have become too significant and that their concerns are not being taken seriously,” Ms McCann said.
The HSE has been contacted for comment.
