National survey: There are 1,131 nursing vacancies in hospital and healthcare facilities across the State, latest figures show. Eithne Donnellan, Health Correspondent, reports.
This is a slight increase on figures for nursing vacancies released a few months ago.
At the end of June 2005 the number of vacancies, according to the Health Service Executive Employers Agency (HSEEA), stood at 1,118.
At the end of September the vacancy figure stood at 1,131.
"This represents a vacancy figure of 3.24 per cent of an increased total nursing workforce of 34,878 compared with a vacancy figure of 3.22 per cent reported at June 2005," the survey report states.
It also states a total of 989 nurses were employed on overtime and 720 agency nurses were employed between July and September to cover the vacancies.
The survey also reveals a huge level of movement of nurses within the system.
It says employers reported that a total of 1,078 nurses were recruited between July and September and a total of 865 nurses resigned, retired or moved to another employer in the same period. Some 369 of the nurses recruited during the three months were recruited from abroad.
More than half of the 1,131 vacancies are in HSE hospitals and healthcare facilities, most of them in the eastern region.
In two HSE regions - the west and south - there were no vacancies reported.
Some 414 of the vacancies were in the voluntary hospital sector and the majority of these were at Our Lady's Hospital for Sick Children in Crumlin, Dublin.
And while the vacancy rates in the eastern region are higher than in others, an initiative by the Dublin Academic Teaching Hospitals (DATHs) to overcome nurse staffing shortages seems to be paying off.
The hospitals came together to devise a recruitment and retention plan in 2000 and have been recruiting internationally as one group. Since then the number of vacant nursing posts at the DATHs (which include Tallaght, Beaumont, St James's, St Vincent's, the Mater and Connolly Hospital) have been significantly reduced.
In September 2004, five of these hospitals, excluding Connolly, had 335 vacancies between them, according to the HSEEA's then nursing survey report.
The latest HSEEA survey puts the number of vacancies they have at 143.
Maureen Lynn, co-ordinator of the DATHs nurse recruitment and retention project, said her figures indicated the vacancy level was now down to 113.
She said this was despite the fact that everyone expected there would be difficulty recruiting nurses this year, given that none would be graduating as a result of a change in the format of nursing education from a three to a four year degree programme.
"We knew this year was going to come and a lot of planning went towards having sufficient nurses until our new graduates become available later this year.
"Our plan has worked very well. Our vacancies are lower than a year ago and we would have expected them to be higher with the year that was in it," she said.
She added that the plan had resulted in 1,500 nurses being recruited internationally for the six hospitals.