Loss of 2,000 nursing posts represents potential threat to patients

Hospital patients are at a seriously increased risk as a result of the loss of 2,000 nursing posts. The president of the Irish Association of Directors of Nursing and Midwifery, Irene O’Connor warned the Government of this risk in a speech delivered at the Association’s AGM. {openx:269} The speech was delivered on her behalf by Association vice-president, Aveline Casey. O’Connor accepts that nursing cannot remain immune from the current crisis in the public finances but questions why nursing and midwifery are the only frontline clinical posts in the health services to be affected by the moratorium. Speaking on the vital…