Over 4,016 nurses were assaulted between January 2023-February 2024 according to new figures obtained by the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO).
"On Worker’s Memorial Day, we remember colleagues who died while going to work. One death in the workplace is one too many", said INMO General Secretary Phil Ní Sheaghdha.
“This day is also a day to reflect on how we can limit the number of injuries in the workplace. Far too many nurses and midwives are assaulted in the workplace, over 4,106 nurses were verbally, physically or sexually assaulted in their workplace last year.
"We know that this is a conservative figure as many nurses and midwives do not report these incidents, not indeed do their employers.
“The HSE as an employer needs to radically shift its focus when it comes to the safety of its employees. Our members, the majority of whom are women, need to know that they can go about very difficult jobs of treating patients in a safe manner without having to worry about their own safety.
"Too many of our members have had career-ending or career-changing incidents happen to them in the line of their work through no fault of their own. Far too often it is the overcrowded conditions that they are working in that is to blame."
The figures come as 506 patients are on trolleys in hospitals across the country.
University Hospital Limerick once again has the highest number of patients without a bed, with 123 patients on trolleys. 53 of those patients are in the emergency department.
University Hospital Galway has 51 patients without a bed, with 41 people in the emergency department. Cork University Hospital has 45 patients on trolleys, with 38 in ther emergency department.
Reporting by Michael Bolton
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