Icelandic National Broadcasting Service, RÚV, reports that 21 wards at the National University Hospital (Landspitali-Haskolasjúkrahús) are looking to hire nurses.

Nurses at the hospital held a meeting yesterday. At the meeting, which was well-attended, they expressed their concerns about the lack of nursing staff at the hospital. It transpired at the meeting that shortage of nursing staff had already caused a deterioration in the level of service at the hospital and was a threat to the safety of the patients.

RÚV reports that the nurses were "quite upset" and that "it was obvious that many of them are fed up."

Many women described the conditions in the wards where they work. They said the stress was unbearable, the hours long, and often they did not have time even to eat lunch or sit down during their coffee breaks. When off-duty, they said they were inundated by calls from the hospital asking them to come back to work. The said they were afraid of making mistakes working under these conditions.

The meeting resolved to call on the ministries of healthcare, education and finance, the University of Reykjavík and the University of Akureyri and all the medical institutions in Iceland to work together in solving the problem.