AROUND 200 PEOPLE gathered outside Leinster House in support of better pay and conditions for student nurses.
The lunchtime protest was organised today after a report on student nurses’ pay that was submitted to the Government in August, but hasn’t been given to unions.
The Irish Times reported leaked details from the report that student nurses in their fourth and final year of placement are to receive an increase of 12.55.
“The Minister has had the McHugh Report into student nurses and midwives’ pay and conditions on his desk for nearly three months,” INMO General Secretary Phil Ní Sheaghdha said, “and only for the fact that student nurses and midwives were taking to the streets today have we seen leaks of the report.”
Student nurses who spoke to The Journal raised concerns about not being able to learn properly because they are carrying duties that don’t fall under the terms of their placements, and for which they don’t get paid.
Student-nurse placements usually last for 12 weeks in the first three years and take place at different times of the year depending on the college and setting. During fourth year, student nurses are paid around €20,000 for their 36-week placements in hospitals.
Student nurses said that their workload was made more apparent during the pandemic, when student nurses were asked to take on more duties for no extra pay. A €100 weekly placement grant was given by the Government for the last academic year in recognition of the extra work they had during the pandemic.
One example of how student nurses are put under pressure during their placements, is that they should be looking after three patients at a time, but often are looking after six.
Some students say they have to work one or two other jobs in order to pay for college.
Buses and taxis beep in support of the student nurses protest. pic.twitter.com/Vm3On8OEZo
— Gráinne Ní Aodha (@GNiAodha) November 2, 2021
These issues make prioritising their studies difficult, and put some students off from staying in Ireland once fully qualified.
‘Clapping for the nurses is not worth anything when you can’t pay your rent’
Third-year student nurse Ollie told The Journal at the protest: ”We’re fed up of the treatment, fed up of all the expectation of working without pay. We’re just, we’re working two jobs, sometime three.
There was one point last year where I was doing deliveries last year, and I was working a job, and I was coming into placement, it was very hard.
We want proper pay and acknowledgement. Everyone is clapping for the nurses, but it’s not worth anything when you can’t pay your rent.
Lucy, who is also in third year in DCU, said: “We’re not put on wards as extra staff, we’re there to learn, not just to do the extra jobs that need to be done.
We’re taking on more patients than we should be, and if you have too many to look after, you can’t learn as much… If you have six patients to look after, if you only had like what we have to look after which is three, you can really learn more.
Ollie added: “Three is if you’re lucky. You could have two nurses call in sick, so you could have them putting the student in that day and we’re not being educated on how to be a nurse, we’re just being put in so that everyone else can get their jobs done.”
They both said that leaving the Irish nursing industry is a common discussion.
Lucy said: “I know out of last year’s fourth year, 15 left nursing completely. A lot of nurses I’m talking to on the ward are talking about leaving.
Ollie said: “If all the nurses were treated properly, they wouldn’t be leaving. I know I’m not staying here, I can’t stay in Ireland with this sort of treatment. Six months to a year after I’m qualified I’m gone, to a different country, a different life.”
Isabelle, first-year student, said she attended the protest because “we see how other student nurses are feeling, that they’re not appreciated enough, and we don’t want to go through that. So we’re here today to hopefully put a stop to that before we get to their level”.
“We want politicians to hear our voices,” she added.
Another first-year student Aisling said: “Especially last year with Covid, hearing from second and third years about what they went through. People were expected not to work outside of their placement, but we need to pay for college, so that’s why we’re here.”
At the moment you’d have to go abroad. The working conditions in Australia are so much better, it wouldn’t seem worthwhile to come back at the moment.
I know a lot of signs around here say it’s free labour but it really is. people don’t realise how much you do when you’re on placement, you’re really taking on the role of a staff nurse.
Sinead Roche, education officer in the UCD Students Union, said nurses are “worn out”, “tired” and are not paid for the work that they do.
They’ve been expecting this for months now and it’s not fair that they’ve been pushed aside. They’re a student, they have modules and learning outcomes, that needs to come first.
When asked whether the Government doesn’t take students seriously, Roche agrees. “There is a huge amount of student issues – but we are the future generation.”
When asked about the viewpoint that everyone starts at the bottom and has to work their way up, Roche replies: “That mentality has to change.”
“One of the big problems in talking to the students is they feel completely disrespected,” Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald said at the scene of the protest. “These are very passionate, very valuable people that we need to build the Irish health service.”
“If I were Taoiseach, and if we were in Government, we would be engaging directly with them, not just to deal with the here and now, but to encourage them to stay in Ireland.”
“It shouldn’t have come to this.”
Ní Sheaghdha said: “Student nurses and midwives have been on the frontline as part of their placements since the start of the pandemic and they are exhausted, frustrated, and disillusioned with the State’s treatment of them.
“Their goodwill and patience is running out.”
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