The Irish Nurses and Midwives' Organisation has called for at least an extra 1,000 public hospital beds to be opened.
At the organisation's annual conference, INMO President Claire Mahon said the extra beds were needed to deal with rising waiting lists and the increasing demand for services.
One nurse working in Dublin, Louise Devlin, told delegates how she and colleagues raised money to buy a hospital bed, such were the pressures.
A task force report on nursing staffing and skill mix is expected in around six weeks time, delegates at the AGM were told.
The organisation's call comes as hospital figures for April show a further rise in the number of patients waiting to be seen at an outpatient clinic, or for inpatient or day case treatment.
Across Ireland, there are over 412,400 people waiting to be seen by a consultant at an outpatient clinic for the first time, having been referred by their GP.
This is the highest recorded figure.
There are 778 patients waiting over four years to be seen at a hospital outpatient clinic.
Over 83,300 are waiting a year or more to be seen.
Also, 67,100 adults or children are waiting for a day case, or inpatient treatment.
These national figures exclude 14,500 gastro-endoscopy patients waiting for inpatient or day case checks, as the figures are collated separately by the National Treatment Purchase Fund.
Of these, 516 patients are waiting over a year for these gastro-endoscopy checks.
The latest figures are published on the NTPF website.
