Nurses to strike twice in January
Nurses from the Royal College of Nursing will take further strike action in January on two separate days.
Director Pat Cullen confirmed the action is planned for 8 and 10 January.
It comes as part of an ongoing dispute over pay parity, with nurses in Northern Ireland not being paid the same as their counterparts in others parts of the UK.
Staff had already taken strike action on last Wednesday, with thousands walking out across Northern Ireland in a 12-hour action.
A health summit at Stormont the following day failed to resolve the outstanding issues.
“Nurses in Northern Ireland are angry that no-one appears to be taking seriously the crisis in our health service," said RCN Director Pat Cullen.
"By now, no-one in Northern Ireland, or indeed the rest of the UK, can be in any doubt about the inequalities in health care that people in Northern Ireland are facing.
"Yet, here we are, a day before Christmas, with the prospect of nursing staff taking strike action again in early January.
“We have written to the Secretary of State to say that we are extremely disappointed to learn of the failure of the health summit last week to produce any resolution to the safe staffing and pay parity issues that form the basis of our action.
"We are also disappointed to hear that attempts to negotiate an agreement leading to the restoration of the devolved institutions has failed.
“Although we wish to see political leadership and accountability in Northern Ireland restored, nurses deeply resent the link that is being made between this and resolving the crisis in health care.
"Sorting out this crisis is a priority regardless of our political situation, which has been in disarray for the past three years. We do not have another three years to wait.
“We wonder how much longer this inaction can continue before somebody, somewhere, can take a decision to rectify the problems we are facing?”