'My back is gone, my hips are gone, my knees are gone,' says former emergency department nurse

Former senior emergency department nurse Sarah Meagher left her role after over 22 years because of the stress. Picture: iStock

Nurses are suffering with chest pains and joint damage as they struggle to cope in hospitals so busy that patients have to wait even for a trolley, according to a former senior emergency department nurse who left her role after over 22 years because of the stress. 

Sarah Meagher said she would go back “in a heartbeat” if her health were not so damaged.

“I miss it every day. If I had the choice, I’d be back on the floor in the emergency department, doing my 13 hours,” she said. “I’d go back in a heartbeat, but my back is gone, my hips are gone, my knees are gone.” 

An executive council member of the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO), she has continued working at Letterkenny University Hospital (LUH). However, she is now a GP liaison for the emergency department.

“We’ve had children in our emergency department as admitted patients waiting on beds for up to 24 hours,” she said. “We only have so many trolleys." Some days these are also full, she added.

“You see 70-year-olds and 80-year-olds sitting on a wheelchair for 24 hours,” she said. “We’ve nowhere to lie them down, literally nowhere.” 

The HSE trolley data for Wednesday showed 335 patients waiting on trolleys nationally and a further 580 on temporary surge beds due to the scale of overcrowding in hospitals.

It showed 65 people were on trolleys for over 24 hours, including four in LUH, 18 at University Hospital Limerick and six at Tipperary University Hospital in Clonmel.

These pressures, combined with staff shortages, mean nurses are often delayed in giving antibiotics to patients or helping frail people use the toilet, Ms Meagher added.

Nurses feel “massive stress” as a result, and she described union members around Ireland with high blood pressure, chest pains, or migraines from working without enough supports.

Ms Meagher is not alone in her concerns, as shown in an INMO survey published on Wednesday. This showed in the last month that some 61% of its members thought about leaving their job.

Around 80% of that group raised fears about unsafe staffing levels at work. This is despite agreements with the HSE for a framework to match staff numbers with patient demand.

Almost half said they are under pressure to work extra shifts or hours to fill gaps in rosters. The survey was discussed at the INMO annual conference in Dundalk.

General secretary Phil Ní Sheaghdha said staff are facing “a national crisis” leading to burnout and people quitting their jobs. “This level of stress is not something anyone can or should live with in the long term,” she said.

“And the fact that conditions have been allowed to deteriorate to this level reflects very badly on the organisations and people who are responsible for this workforce.” 

The HSE previously said it saw a 7.3% increase in emergency department patient numbers by April. A spokesman said many hospitals are seeing patients now who are more ill than previously and need to stay longer in hospitals, leading to higher demand for beds. 

A spokeswoman for HSE West and Northwest where LUH is located said: "we regret that any patient faces a wait to access our services, including those who have to wait on trolleys or in the Emergency Department beyond an acceptable timeframe."

She said a number of measures have been put in place to address the pressures. These include having more consultants on duty at weekends and additional senior nurses. A dedicated Frailty Intervention Team is in the ED to support older patients.