500 care home nursing jobs unfilled - graduate jobs

Around 500 graduate jobs for nurses are available in private care homes across Ireland, it has been claimed.

Nursing Homes Ireland (NHI) has invited nurses, struggling to find employment in the public sector following a recruitment embargo, to apply for one of the 448 nursing posts immediately available in the private and voluntary sectors, according to a survey by the NHI.

The invitations come after unions warned of a mass exodus of nurses leaving the country to find employment elsewhere.

NHI highlighted the number of vacancies available after a third of its members reported difficulties filling posts in the past.

Tadhg Daly, NHI chief executive, said: "Nursing graduates are finding their employment prospects greatly diminished and some are choosing to move overseas, while experienced nurses are being forced into early retirement from the public sector. We want nurses to be aware nursing homes are offering challenging and rewarding employment opportunities in their own local communities."

Copyright Press Association 2011