Seven nurses a week are being assaulted in Irish hospitals, new figures have revealed.
The President of the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) has warned of a rise in assaults on nurses, saying overcrowding in hospitals guarantees "adverse reactions".
New figures provided to Sinn Fein’s health spokesman David Cullinane shows 5,672 incidents of physical, verbal and sexual assault have been reported by all hospital staff between January 2021 and March 2022.
Read More: Hospitals not safe for patients or staff, INMO warns
Speaking in the Dáil on Thursday, Green Party leader Eamon Ryan has said the figures are “intolerable” and raise “real concerns.”
The breakdown of figures shows 3,416 nurses reported being assaulted within the 14 month period.
Mr Cullinane said an Emergency Department plan is needed that increases in-patient bed capacity to speed up hospital admissions.
Speaking to the Irish Mirror, he said: “There can be absolutely no justification whatsoever for attacks or assaults against front line health care workers.
“We need to have robust protections in place in hospitals and adopt a zero tolerance approach to assaults.
“We also need to recognise that hospital overcrowding is in part adding to the number of assaults.
“We need an emergency department plan that increases in-patient bed capacity to speed up hospital admissions, increase community bed capacity to speed up discharges and increase GP capacity to take pressure away from acute hospitals.
“We also need to ensure that each hospital is doing all it can to reduce emergency department waits by utilising speciality wards and making best use of medical assessment units."
Ms McGowan said overcrowding and assaults on nurses has been raised at the unions’ annual conference in Co Sligo this week.
Speaking to RTÉ, Ms McGowan said it is “no surprise” to hear there has been an increase in assaults on nurses.
She said a lack of space can create aggression and increase people's anxiety and said that mortality rates for patients are much higher when they are treated in overcrowded departments.
The Emergency Department nurse described it as “a recipe for disaster" and said “we know what overcrowding is and it has definitely got worse."
Ms McGowan said the INMO is calling on the Government to invest heavily in healthcare and investigate emergency departments.
Health Minister Stephen Donnelly is expected to address the INMO conference on Friday.
The INMO’s trolley figures on Thursday morning showed 428 patients were waiting for beds in hospitals around the country this morning, with 355 in emergency departments.
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