The Irish Nurses' Organisation (INO) has voted to conduct a series of lunchtime protests outside hospitals in response to overcrowding in accident and emergency units.
The campaign, entitled Enough is Enough, will involve protests from 1pm to 1.30pm, starting on Thursday, April 7th in Beaumont Hospital, Dublin, and Wexford General Hospital.
The protests will then be repeated on Tuesday and Thursday throughout April with one Dublin and one provincial hospital being involved each day.
The full schedule of protests will be announced following consultation with INO reps at the affected hospitals.
The situation will then be reviewed at the organisation's annual conference which will take place in Killarney during the first week of May.
Commenting on the union decision, deputy general secretary Dave Hughes said: "The Tánaiste and Minister for Health, on taking up office said the numbers of people waiting on trolleys was a disgrace and an unacceptable feature which could not be allowed to continue.
"She said it would be her number one priority and that she would ensure that it would not continue. The reality is that the numbers are now worse than when she said that, and even a comparison of the trolley watch of March to February of this year shows they are still increasing."
He added: "Even recent pronouncements from the HSE relating to the employment ceiling are a direct contradiction of commitments given by the Tánaiste in relation to lifting the staff ceiling to allow for a relief in A&E departments."
The objectives of the protest are the immediate implementation of an action plan, a timeframe for the full delivery of the additional bed capacity promised in the Government's health strategy and better management of existing resources.
The organisation is writing to the Irish Congress of Trade Unions and all other health service unions seeking their support. The INO is also calling on patient interest groups and the wider community to support fully this protest.