‘Short-sighted system’ runs risk of losing nurses

IRELAND risks a major shortage of nurses unless hospitals correct their short-sighted approach to health service provision, one of the country’s largest nurses’ union warned yesterday.

Foreign nurses working in Irish hospitals are already making arrangements to move to Britain, Saudi Arabia and Australia simply because the job security in those countries is better.

SIPTU nursing president Mary Durkan said the seriousness of the situation was underlined by the fact that many temporary Irish nurses were also making plans to move abroad.