New figures show 679 people are waiting on trolleys at hospitals across the country today - the highest figure recorded in 2019 so far.
It's the second highest number since the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation's (INMO) records began.
The worst-affected facility today is University Hospital Limerick, with 63 patients waiting for beds.
That is followed by 60 at University Hospital Cork, and 47 at Letterkenny University Hospital.
The union also highlighted South Tipperary General Hospital, where 40 patients are waiting for a bed.
The INMO suggested the Tipperary site is a "hospital in crisis" - saying it has more patients on trolleys than some of the largest hospitals in the country, despite being one of the smallest hospitals.
INMO general secretary Phil Ní Sheaghdha said the situation today is "simply obscene", arguing: "Winter has not even started, and Irish hospitals are overwhelmed."
She argued that it's time "for extra emergency staffing, an end to the recruitment ban, and for hospitals to curtail services until safe patient and staff levels are reached".
Tony Fitzpatrick, director of industrial relations at the INMO, said the number of people on trolleys in hospitals today is unacceptable for both patients and staff.
He argued: "The record figure was reached of 714 in 2018, and now in November 2019 we have 679 people on trolleys in inappropriate spaces - on corridors, on wards - waiting for a hospital bed.
"It's completely unacceptable - it's inhumane for the patients that have to endure being on a trolley for this length of time, and it's unsafe for the staff working in those locations."
