Qualified foreign nurses passed over, INO hears

WARD managers appointing staff to act in their absence are passing over non-nationals in favour of more junior Irish staff, overseas nurses’ representatives have claimed.

Speaking at the Irish Nurses Organisation (INO) AGM in Killarney yesterday, Filipino nurse Fidel Taguinod said favouring Irish staff left equally or better-qualified foreign nurses feeling undervalued and discriminated against.

“Qualified overseas nurses feel they are being denied the chance to develop skills by ward managers who delegate more responsibility to junior Irish colleagues.”