Why not pay the student nurses?!

I do think as a student nurse you need to be on the floor to get experience, learn and understand how wards are run and managed, but that does not mean you exploit them for 13 hour shifts and not pay them. Student nurses should not be doing 13 hour shifts, and they should be getting pay for the hours they do.

weisses wrote: »

There is a sponsorship available in the HSE that allows HCA's to do their nursing degree, they are getting paid their wages while doing the course. They are committed to stay and work within the HSE for a good while though after graduating.

I assume you're referring to this:
https://healthservice.hse.ie/about-us/onmsd/cpd-for-nurses-and-midwives/onmsd-sponsorship-schemes/student-public-health-nurses.html

To apply for this programme you must be registered in the General Nursing Division with NMBI.

You must also have at least 3 years post-registration nursing experience.

This can be 3 full years of general nursing experience or 18 months of general nursing plus 18 months as a:

Registered Midwife (RM)
Registered Children’s Nurse (RCN)
Registered Nurse Intellectual Disability (RNID)
Registered Psychiatric Nurse (RPN)

This doesn't apply to the nurses who are not being paid, obviously. I suspect you either knew that or couldn't have been bothered to actually look in to it.

It's like this. Teachers and gardaí don't get paid for their training because of the nature of the work being done. The pay scale reflects that the more experience you have, the more effective you'll be in these positions, but you need to learn how to actually do it on the job before you're not a liability to those around you. Nurses; emptying bedpans, changing catheters, taking bloods - all of it is visceral and risky work. It's the nature of the job and it's hard from the get-go.

If we want to train and retain nurses, the only way to do it is to do it properly. It's a nasty, horrible job that I'm sure has huge fulfilment for many, but I wouldn't do it myself and I don't know many at all who would. We need to incentivise and reward the people who do.

The issue is really that Leo Varadkar and Simon Harris are never going to experience the actual realities of hospital ward chaos due to nurse shortages, so they don't give a toss about paying them or keeping them here.

Luckily the usual begrudgers have somehow latched onto this cohort as people who deserve to be mistreated so it looks like public opinion, however misinformed, is once again on the absolute wrong side of the argument. I can only hope that those same plebs are satisfied with their treatment at the end of their life when there are no staff to look after them, although I'm sure at least a small proportion of those happy to watch nurses get sick and die from covid have private healthcare and are confident that they'll never have to rely on the state for that.

This country is a shltshow.

[Deleted User] wrote: »

They’ll be working 13 hour shifts when they qualify.

I don’t understand what the problem is. Student nurses get €13 odd per hour during Covid. Or have I misunderstood. Sorry if this has been discussed before.

How many hours does the on call S.H.O. work in a row? No one is forcing them to do anything like that while studying medicine. This obsession with the 'practical nature' of Nursing is baffling. Is surgery not hans on? Physiotherapy? Radiography? Somehow, they manage to qualify and practice competently without being treated like drudges during their degrees.

They do a lot of donkey work, and have to wear a boring outfit. Surely it's worth paying them something.

khalessi wrote: »

I know they will, but they dont need to now. Each hospital have different shifts so it shouldnt be 13 hours, that is just covering ward shortages. They are not getting paid now and are still working those hours to my knowledge

No its not covering ward shortages .. .As a student nurse you do 35 hours a week on placement and you do the hours that are required for the ward you are on, In ED its a 12 hour shift while on other wards you might do 8. Once you have done your 35 hours you are finished for the week. And those 35 hours include training sessions with the CPC and reflective practice, So time spend on the ward with your preceptor is less then 30 hours a week.

Can't pay student nurses risking their lives re COVID but will pay €389m on a Christmas Welfare Bonus.