A strike by theatre nurses at the Mid Western Regional Hospital in Limerick yesterday resulted in 30 operations being cancelled.
The action involving 60 nurses, from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., will be repeated on Friday in protest at on-call rates of pay, which amount to just over €1 extra per hour.
The action came despite the intervention of the Labour Relations Commission, which has invited the nursing unions and their employers to talks next Tuesday in a bid to resolve the dispute.
The nurses, who are members of the Irish Nurses' Organisation and SIPTU, have been involved in a work-to-rule since last October.
The Mid Western Health Board said the action had serious implications for patient care.
The protest is a replication of similar industrial action by theatre nurses at James Connolly Memorial Hospital in Blanchardstown, Dublin, last week.
Theatre nurses at Wexford General Hospital are also set to take industrial action over on-call rates of pay this week. They will begin a series of stoppages at 1 p.m. today, when they will stop work for one hour.
This will be followed by a two-hour stoppage tomorrow and a four-hour stoppage on Thursday.
Further stoppages are planned for next week unless the dispute is resolved.