Measures to give nurses at ward level control over spending, recruitment and decision-making were announced yesterday by the Minister for Health and Children.
Mr Martin warned that nurses should not be faced with "inappropriate resistance" when they asserted their decision-making role.
The measures arise from the Report on the Commission on Nursing and from a Labour Court recommendation in late 1999. They are being coordinated by a steering group, for which the Minister yesterday announced a range of management development programmes for clinical-nurse managers and middle-nurse managers.
The measures were welcomed by Mr Liam Doran, general secretary of the Irish Nurses' Organisation.
Giving nurses a greater say in what happens in their wards is one of the ways to encourage them to stay in nursing, according to the Minister.
"It is the enhancement of autonomy with real involvement in decision-making that makes the difference," he said at the headquarters of the Health Service Employers' Agency.
But he warned that nurses could face resistance in enhancing their role.
"We must be vigilant to ensure that nurses and midwives who are educated to expect an involvement in decision-making do not encounter inappropriate resistance when they try to put this into practice," he said.
The aim of the entire process was to transform the health management landscape, the Minister said.