Nurses have an 'unsustainable workload'

IT is unethical, unprofessional and dangerous to accept nurse/patient ratios that prevent nurses from providing safe care, the Irish Nurses' Organisation (INO) has claimed.

According to INO president Madeline Spiers "It is not unusual in a medical-surgical acute ward for a nurse to have responsibility for 13 patients during an afternoon shift and for up to 30 patients at night.

"At a personal level I am continually alarmed at the unsustainable workload being carried out by dedicated nursing professionals in our hospitals throughout the country," she added.

The INO wants a situation where there are a specified number of nurses for a specified number of patients and for the system to be underpinned by legislation.

The need for these ratios was recognised in 1998 by the Commission on Nursing which identified the need for a system to regulate nurses's workload in the mutual interests of patient and nurse safety.

Ms Spiers said the failure to implement such a system had led to an exodus of nurses from the Irish hospital system.

She explained the ratios would be set by regulation that guarantee safe care and safe nursing practice.

It would mean there would be different ratios depending on the needs of the patients in the ward or unit.

"Mandated ratios are a key component in tackling the current nursing shortage as they address the key issues of excessive workloads leading to burn-out, reduced job satisfaction and damage to nurses' health," she said.

Ms Spiers urged the newly appointed chief executive of the Health Service Executive (HSE), Prof Brendan Drumm, to examine research that overwhelmingly supports the implementation of mandated nurse/patient ratio.

A HSE spokesperson said the authority was committed to working with nurses on this important issue.

The HSE has established a working group on which the INO is represented to determine the most appropriate nurse staffing levels.

"Obviously, our position in relation to this matter will be informed by the report of the working group that it nearing completion," she added.

INO general secretary Liam Doran said the organisation would be arguing that the ratios apply to both the private and public health care sector.

"Mandated nurse/patient ratios are now more important than ever, particularly in light of the steady increase in the private health care sector so it is a matter for Government as well as the HSE," he pointed out.

"It is a Government issue because only legislation can change what the private sector does."