New nursing plan for wards based on sickness rather than size or cost

A new model of nursing care where wards are staffed according to how sick patients are rather than ward size or cost will shortly be trialled in three hospitals under a €2 million pilot scheme.

If it proves viable following testing throughout 2016, it will be rolled out nationally, ending the current “one size fits all approach” to calculating ward staffing levels.

The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) said extending the model nationwide would “avoid any repeat of the recent years when there was no floor to nurse staffing levels, and reductions took place without any assessment of impact upon patients or upon the nursing staff and their ability to provide safe care”.