Phil Ní Sheaghdha says nurses are not satisfied it has taken a crisis situation for action to be taken.
The latest INMO trolley watch count recorded 838 people waiting without a bed in hospitals today including 62 at CUH and 21 at the Mercy
The national figure is a fall of 93 compared to yesterday's record figure, but is still the second highest number since records began.
Phil Ní Sheaghdha says all options will be discussed, including a strike, at an emergency INMO meeting on Friday:
"Certainly we will be considering [strike action], the government must listen to the frontline workforce. And if they're saying this has escalated to a point where it is beyond unsafe, we're not happy to continuously be asked to go into those situations. We're not confident at the moment that the solutions that have been put forward are anything other than "wait until the crisis reaches a maximum and then deal with it"."
