Nurses must be given the support and resources they need to do their job - INMO

On International Nurses’ Day, the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation has called on Government to invest more in the nursing profession and focus on introducing measures to retain nurses in the profession.

INMO General Secretary Phil Ní Sheaghdha said:

Today is a day to celebrate nurses. We have been deeply humbled by the strong public support for our profession. Irish nurses and midwives are working in extremely challenging environments, dealing with a return to overcrowding while also dealing with the COVID pandemic, which is still a very real feature in Irish hospitals.
We must ensure that nurses are given the support and resources they need to do their job. To provide safe care, we need to build up our staffing levels but also take every measure possible to retain those who are working within our health service.
There is a world-wide nursing shortage which is a huge threat to our health service. Our nursing graduates are in high demand right across the world. We need to do everything we can to make it an attractive option for newly qualified nurses to remain here in Ireland but also to attract recent graduates who may have travelled to work in Australia or in the NHS home. Nurses last week called on Minister Donnelly to establish a meaningful Bring Them Home campaign to bring young Irish nurses back into the Irish health system.
If we are to meet the healthcare challenges of the future, then we can no longer continue to undervalue and underinvest in nursing.