Union calls for safe nurse-to-patient ratio laws

AT a time when a single nurse can find herself caring for up to 30 elderly patients, the country’s largest nursing union has called for legislation to guarantee safe nurse-to-patient ratios.

Liam Doran, general secretary of the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO), said it was the only way to “find a floor” below which staffing levels should not drop.

“At the moment we don’t have that floor. As far as we can see, there is nothing low enough that some managers in the health service will view as being acceptable. They will cut and cut and tell midwives and nurses to go short regardless of the illness of patients.”