Nursing representatives say their members are facing an 'impossible task'
(Source: Pixabay)The ratio of nurses to patients in Irish hospitals is scarily low.
That's according to the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation ahead World Patient Safety Day today.
There should be 1 nurse for every 6 to 8 patients on wards, but in Ireland its often 14 to 1.
5,210 patients have been left on trolleys in Irish hospitals since the beginning of September and the INMO says that increases the likelihood of unnecessary deaths.
INMO General Secretary Phil Ní Sheaghdha says patients spending more than 6 hours on a trolly also take longer to recover from illness:
"If you spend longer than six hours on a trolley the likelihood of you recovering at that rate in which you should from the original issue or illness is reduced and also the likelihood of people dying unnecessarily is increased. It is completely poor practice, it's bad for patients and we know all of the studies tell us this."
