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Some 100,000 patients have waited for their bed with a cart since the beginning of the year – the highest level ever recorded.
The nurses warned that "one month into the year, 2018 is already the worst record of overcrowding recorded."
Today, 451 patients are on carts and chairs in Irish hospitals, bringing the total for 2018 to 100,385, said the Irish Organization of Nurses and Midwives.
The most affected hospitals so far this year are:
- Limerick University Hospital – 10,554
- University Hospital Cork – 8.566
- Galway University Hospital – 6,821
- Midland Regional Hospital Tullamore – 5,362
- Tallaght University Hospital – 5,085
The worst year ever recorded before was 2017, with 98,981 patients at the end of the year.
INMO Secretary General Phil Ní Sheaghdha said, "We are not even in December and we have already broken the record for the largest number of patients in trolleys. Behind these statistics are vulnerable individual patients, forced to wait in dangerous and uncomfortable conditions.
"Front-line health workers make every effort to provide care in impossible circumstances. But the health service simply does not have enough capacity or staff.
"The addition of extra beds requires additional nurses and midwives. Without tackling the recruitment and retention crisis, the HSE will not be able to recruit enough nurses and midwives to resolve this crisis. "
A spokesman for the Irish Medical Organization (IMO) said the figures show "the extent of the crisis" that the health service is facing.
IMO President Peadar Gilligan called the situation "national shame".
He added: "In Ireland, 100,000 patients have already spent the night waiting for a daybed on trolleys or chairs in overcrowded emergency departments. A greater number than ever at this time of the year.
"When will this national shame be definitively resolved? When will our government stop telling us that it can not be settled overnight ?.
"Waiting trolleys in Ireland have been a problem of patient care for two decades.
"When will the suffering of patients and staff be approached with sufficient bed capacity and staff?
"Judging by the information published to date, the HSE Winter Plan will not in any way improve the morale of doctors and front-line staff, and will not attract staff to a health facility. public without any capacity, without support and under constant pressure.
"While any additional funding is welcome, this plan will not help us avoid the kind of overcrowding we have experienced in recent winters.
"Overall, this plan has failed to tackle the root causes of the problems our health service is facing."
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