Now ye're talking - to a Nurse

Hi Everyone,

Again I am sorry for the delay but I was in work today

Thank you to Niamh and Mark for sorting out this thread also.

Before I get to some answers I just wanted to introduce myself a little.

I have been a nurse for 10 years, in my 30s. In those 10 years I have worked as a general nurse in a specialist medical ward, an out patients clinic for a little while as they were short staffed at the time, a bank nurse (hours as required wherever you are needed) and an Emergency Department. I then made a move to children's nursing (best decision I've ever made) and I now work in a surgical ward that also deals with medical patients.

I have spent 7 years in University, 4 for my degree and 3 further years completing 4 different courses to further my knowledge and my professional development.

All of this is important for me to let you all know as it may show that I do have a broad experience of acute hospitals.

I know this thread will be dominated by all that is currently in the news with the strike and everything else and I am happy to answer what I can but please remember I, like everyone else, have my own opinions. I would love however if people would aslo ask whatever other questions they may have to better understand what a nurse does.

Speaking of the strike, I am a member of a union and I have been picketing and although I will speak about it again I just want to say a huge thank you to every person who has shown support over the past number of months

Here we go.... :cool:

ectoraige wrote: »

First, thanks for the work that you do, I understand how demoralising it is to be understaffed and still be expected to provide the best care for your patients.

Is there any support for the idea of living-rate allowances so that nurses working in higher-cost places such as Dublin can be paid more than their country counterparts?

Has anybody complained to you about being called "Pet"?

Hi Ectoraige,

First of all thank you for acknowledging how demoralising it is as you are completely correct. The burn out associated with not being able to provide best care to patient's causes massive strain on nurses, particularly when it is due to under-staffing.

When I first went into nursing I remember being told that you got paid more for working in Dublin.... that was untrue! It works in London so I do think it is something that should be looked into and has been discussed throughout the years, however, Where do you draw the line considering the cost of living has increased everywhere over the past number of years. I have actually moved out of Dublin as I could not afford to rent there any longer. Despite commuting costs it still works out cheaper to rent in a commuter town that it would to rent a 1 bed in Dublin.

I personally have never ever received a complaint for calling somebody pet or other pet names, however, I did work with a nurse who a formal complaint was made about because she used a pet name for a patient. Although I would have rarely used a pet name whilst looking after adults I find it difficult to not use pet names when caring for children I absolutely 100% agree that patient names should be used, never ever ever called by their bed/room number or other terms.

Dakotabigone wrote: »

What is your opinion on Simon Harris?

I personally feel he is out of his depth. He is actually a nice man to be honest which makes me sad as I felt he was making a difference compared to previous ministers.

vandriver wrote: »

What's your basic pay,allowances and overtime.

My basic pay, which is available online, works out at roughly 2,400 net/month. I do not work any overtime but it is the same hourly rate as usual when you do. We get paid unsociable hours between 1800-2000 and double pay for a Sunday. I do not receive any allowances at present. I did receive allowances previous jobs due to specialist areas.

jay0109 wrote: »

Are restrictive working practices and Union 'rules' in our hospitals stopping any real reform of the health sector?

I am sorry but just to clarify, do you mean at present due to strike action?

jay0109 wrote: »

What are the main roster arrangements that you see amongst your colleagues and what are the %'s on each of them i.e. how many are on a 3 day week on long shifts

The main roster arrangements I see are either 3 or 4 day weeks (I wonder how many people know we work an extra day every 4-6 weeks for free:mad:) and night duty which is either a week with mixed nights and days or 7 nights on either in a row or split with 7 nights off in the middle. Nursing managers and specialists mainly work Monday to Friday however, many managers also do weekends. More senior managers also do nights. If you work a 3 or 4 day week, it is generally a 13 hour shift. Nights are 12 hours.

jay0109 wrote: »

Do you know of any nurses who work full time for the HSE and also supplement that with agency nursing? How widespread is it?

I personally don't know anyone who is employed by the HSE and an agency. I do however know many nurses who will do extra bank nurse shifts either in their own hospital or in a private hospital. I know one couple who did 4 bank shifts each a month. It worked out at approx 200 extra a month.... no chance i'd offer to do 4 extra shifts a month for 200.... but that is just me!!

seannash wrote: »

I gather that the salary for Nurses is well documented and laid out for all to see.
So seeing as you had prior knowledge of the earnings potential was that a factor in your decision to become a nurse or did you not consider it.
My mother was a nurse and I know how difficult of a job it is and I agree that they are underpaid.

I absolutely agree that it is very easy to see what a nurses salary is, however, at 18 when filling out my choices it is not something I ever would have considered looking into! I also qualified after cuts were made so even if I had of expected one wage I would have received less by the time I qualified. It is not something I can imagine many people looking into.... however, many students have asked me over the years and been shocked when I told them how much I got an hour leading me to believe that they assumed it would be more!
Also thank you

seannash wrote: »

Also to add my personal belief is that nurses who move abroad were always going to move abroad. They move for the experience of living abroad or make a lot more money and I don't think a raise would change this. What would be your opinion on that subject.

I do absolutely agree with you that many people have it in them that they want to travel, however, I think many nurses get to enjoy the amount of money/potential of climbing the ladder quicker abroad and then they don't come home. I personally know at least 15-20 people who have left for the middle east in the past 6 years who were only going for a year but still have not come home :eek:

I personally am currently looking into moving abroad to get some money to buy a house at some stage so I do also think the money aspect to moving abroad is bigger than people know!

jay0109 wrote: »

Do you acknowledge that Irish nurses are amongst the most highly paid in the world? And that is even before allowing for the pension benefits.

I acknowledge how it looks on paper but in reality with friends nursing across the world, who have also worked here, I don't feel that this is how it is in real life. I can move abroad tomorrow and have housing paid for, gym memberships, food allowances etc. The cost of living in Ireland is much higher than many places where nurses are paid less also. Cost of living in the UK is said to be 14% less than Ireland. Nurses in London, where the cost of living is higher receive more money for working/living there.

Nurses in Ireland are also doing jobs that are done by extra health professionals in many countries. Nurses in Ireland carry out many tasks that are only done by doctors/allied health professionals in many other countries such as the UK, America and Australia.

seannash wrote: »

I think you'd have to include that Ireland is one of the most expensive places to live in the world (Think we are 15th most expensive) along with that statement