Nurses' union calls for whistleblower protection

Nurses need to be protected from victimisation if they expose bad practices or problems in the workplace, their union demanded today.

The Irish Nurses Organisation has published a “whistleblower” position paper at the annual delegates’ conference in Killarney.

The union is also calling for legislation on the matter, without which they say there is no protection to stop people who raise issues being victimised.

The document – Protection of Nurses and Midwives upon Disclosure of Procedures of Concern in the Workplace – sets out a number of provisions the organisation wants adopted.

They include agreed procedures within the workplace for complaints, and agreed people for employees with concerns to go to in order to ensure issues are properly dealt with.

“The key is that the person who raises these issues is protected and not seen as a troublemaker,” Clare Tracey, director of social policy of the INO said.

“The requirement is that the matter is raised in good faith and is a reasonable claim to make,” she added.

Ms Tracey said there were cases where nurses had raised issues at work, and had ended up going public and having to resign because of the response.

She said there were concerns around “a culture of fear” which prohibited people coming forward to disclose problems in the workplace.

Issues of concern that nurses or midwives might raise include low staffing levels, health and safety issues or poor service afforded to a patient, Ms Tracey said.

The Health Services Executive has indicated to the INO that it is willing to discuss the proposals with the union.