Theatre nurse needs to double-job to support family

Amanda Freeman, a 41-year-old theatre nurse, would “happily leave nursing” if she had some other means of paying a mortgage; instead, with two children to support, she finds herself double-jobbing.

Ms Freeman said she works “three long days” in her nursing job and then another four as part of a “relief bank” — the hospital’s own panel of emergency staff. Drawing staff from the relief bank is cheaper than using an agency.

Ms Freeman’s was one of many hardship stories outlined yesterday at the annual delegate conference of the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) in Letterkenny.