Now ye're talking - to a Nurse

jimgoose wrote: »

Nurses in Ireland enjoy a starting salary considerably greater than the average graduate salary. Salaries also increase relatively quickly, broadly in-line with other public sector roles to and well beyond the average industrial wage. It is true that salaries are much higher in Australia, but everything is much higher in Australia because of the huge boom there at the moment, largely because of the eye-watering amount of money the Chinese are printing.

Bottom line: I put it to you that wage increases are the Wrong Thing(TM) and won't solve the actual problems of overwork and short-staffing.

Hi Jimgoose,

I think what is not considered when discussing nurses pay is what a nurse actually does. The responsibility a nurse has. I think comparing graduate salaries to those in the medical field may make it easier to understand why nurses are looking for pay parity.

I do think that a pay increase will actually change the situation to a degree. Yes nurses will still choose to travel and go abroad but I feel they would come back and I also feel not as many would leave which would in turn assist in the short staffing. If there were adequate staff then nurses would not burn out or want to leave.

The Oz thing is interesting, they may be in a boom right now but they were still offering more money when i qualified...

jay0109 wrote: »

Dublin is expensive, Sligo and Castlebar a lot less so.

Sydney, Melbourne and London are right up there with Dublin but a lot of nurses heading that direction still.

The thing about Dublin is there are more college places and larger teaching hospitals. People, like myself, will still choose to train in Dublin over places closer to home. It is also the same for the other cities mentioned. Greater experience in bigger hospitals. My friends in Sydney have stayed as they are on more money there and can still afford to live where as people like myself have moved out of Dublin due to the cost of living. Hospitals in London offer massive experience but friends that have worked there said that it was much like here salary wise however, despite high rents they felt that travel, food, drink and gyms were cheaper.

chicorytip wrote: »

Hello. Do you think school leavers today regard Nursing as an attractive profession to enter and does it still have the same kind of status as a job that it had twenty or thirty years ago particularly among those from rural Ireland?
Also, would you say that there are a sufficient number of nurses graduating each year to fill the available number of positions in the public health service?
Finally, sorry for being so long winded, approximately how many of your colleagues are a) male and b) non - Irish?
Thank you.

I don't think it is still regarded in the same way as when I maybe went to college. It was seen then as a forever job and a qualification that could be used all over the world. I think trolley counts, increasing health care requirements and short staffing have unfortunately turned people off. I recently watched a blogger explain that she wanted to do Midwifery after school but she decided against it due to increasing patient numbers and short staffing which I found incredibly sad.

I don't feel that enough are qualifying, however, I feel sorry for students coming into nursing now. They are not getting the same attention as I would have gotten. It is too busy in many areas to properly teach.... However, students I have had the pleasure of working with seem to be thriving and are amazing maybe because they are being given more responsibility than I would have been given. They of course work under supervision but I feel when I first had my own students I was able to spend so much more time with them than in recent years.

Tell me how wrote: »

Do you think it was a good idea to do an AMA at this time when considerations of nurses are heavily influenced by the ongoing strike?

Was that a motivation in doing the AMA?

Hi Tell me how.

I had a few reasons. My main aim would be to show people the real side of who a nurse is.
I overheard 2 parents the other day saying they never realised how much a nurse actually did and then told us on their way out the door that they had the wrong idea of nurses from recent media and that they fully supported us after watching us work which again reminded me that some people do not know what a nurse does.
Also, i made the mistake of reading certain comments on another thread here which were totally false and frankly upsetting. I would prefer to maybe answer some questions and give MY reality and maybe let even one person see that what is being put out on the media about cruel nurses is not true.

easygoing1982 wrote: »

Is it true most nurses are really living in poverty. I follow a nurse on instagram and she's constantly posting with her colleagues pics of nights out/holidays etc.

How can nurses expect restoration of pay without everyone else in the public sector getting theirs aswell. Do nurses really think the country can afford it.

I will speak for myself and the colleagues on my current ward to answer this. We work a 5 day week with no premiums or overtime and I can honestly say that we are all broke. Most of us are in debt of some sort such as an overdraft or credit card. Most of us are renting despite almost all of us being in late 20s, early 30s and older. 2 of the girls appear to have a great social life but they both live at home so perhaps that helps. Most of us now live outside of Dublin also.

Gloomtastic! wrote: »

Why do you believe you deserve more money now when your Union signed up to the current wage agreement?

If the government give you more money, you'll have all the other Unions crying me too! So why do you believe you deserve more money than all your public service colleagues? Why not look for increased staffing levels which will lighten your load?

I was at talks with my union around that time and the massive majority nurses in the room wanted to strike then. The same issues were being discussed at that stage. As far as I was concerned at that time there were promises made with regards to recruitment and retention which have not happened. Hospitals I have worked in went abroad to recruit and people abroad are not attracted enough to what is offered here. So as far as I am concerned we did look for increased staffing. We have looked for safer nurse to patient ratios. This is not a new battle. I think we deserve as much money as other healthcare professionals that have also spent 4 years in college!

Duffryman wrote: »

Assuming that there's only so much money to go round, and that we can't magic up some more of it to give nurses a pay rise, has the INMO or anybody else ever done a detailed proposal as to where money could be found to fund a pay raise?

If so, what exact cuts or budget freezes would it entail in the other areas that would be affected?

I don't know how to answer this to be honest.

beertons wrote: »

Where do you see yourself in 5 years?

I would love to either be working in palliative care. Dream job would be teaching/lecturing but I can't see that happening within the next 5 years.

AMKC wrote: »

Hello. Do you think the HSE is inefficient?

What do you think can be done to help keep nurses trained here from going abroad?

Do you think the location of the new children's hospital is a good place for it or do you think a greenfield site might have been better?

I do think there are things that could be done better that would assist in the efficiency of the HSE. Using the same systems and programmes so that information could be shared easily. The recruitment process in the HSE is also long and drawn out.

In 2 college courses I had, I had to pay back a year and work my usual full time hours whilst doing those courses.... maybe there should be a repayment of time introduced to hold on to newly qualified nurses for a year?! May be an unpopular opinion with some newly qualified nurses but its only my opinion

I think a greenfield site would have been better...

Mantis Toboggan wrote: »

How awful is the HSE and should it be done away with?

I feel its disjointed. I think it could be improved instead of doing away with it and starting afresh again

Calhoun wrote: »

Do you think that the money issue has consumed the current action going on? What the nurses want is much more important than just a wage but that is being lost by the demand for a salary increase .

Would it be best if we introduce a mandatory term of service for those going into nursing which can be bought out at any time? That way we could address the amount of nurses goong abroad and servicing other countries off the back of our tax payer.

Yes I do. I feel that people are not seeing the bigger picture and I don't blame them. What is being put out in the media is money focused and everything is being shown in a bad light from what I can see. Nurses want pay parity with our colleagues who do the same length degree as us and we also use skills they use. Nurses want more staff and one way to attract more and keep them may be more money but the realistic side is they have tried to recruit and retain which is not happening which has led to this in my opinion. There is also the fact that nurses have increased responsibility and more demands. We work an extra day for free every 4-6 weeks as per the current agreement. It is so upsetting to see a poor public opinion because people simple don't understand where we are coming from.

And yes I think a mandatory term of service might be a good idea and should be looked into further. Even if it was a delayed term for a certain time which could be followed up I think it is an area that should be investigated. There are courses where you do have a mandatory term of service to pay back and it does keep people there for the year which is great.

John Hutton wrote: »

Do you think the questions here are rabidly right wing and anti worker in comparison to your experiences on the picket line and dealing with the public in general?

Good luck with the strike

Yeah some questions are difficult to answer. However, I will speak a little of my experiences on the picket line.... which is a more positive note.

So I have done 3 days on the picket line so far.... and no... I will not be getting paid for any days I strike!

Some of the experiences i have had on those 3 days have moved me and many of my co-workers to tears. One thing in particular was a child asking her mum what we were doing and her mum stopping and explaining what we were doing. They went to the shop and the little girl walked up with a box of heroes. That to me was overly generous but so lovely. People from the area making food to drop over, companies arriving with tea and coffee, people dropping off pastries and doughnuts. Support from other amazing frontline workers. Doctors going off and buying hats/gloves/coffees and picketing with us. The amount of beeps of cars and people just saying well done or keep going as they passed. It has been an eye opener in a way. When I worked with adults it was rare to receive a thank you some days.... it is different obviously with children and their parents but the support has really kept our chins up.

realdanbreen wrote: »

You certainly can't be accused of being a chatterbox anyway nurse!

I am sorry.... contrary to popular belief nurses are sometimes too busy to be on their phones/internet in work :P:pac:

Yer Da sells Avon wrote: »

With regard to the strike, have you had any negative reaction from people 'in real life' - particularly patients and their families (who actually witness the work you do, day in, day out), or is that sort of unpleasantness confined to a minority of malcontents on the internet, none of whom have ever expressed a nice opinion in their lives?

I have seen one negative reaction whilst out picketing which was an old man tutting at us. Everyone I have come across outside and in work has offered their support. Many parents have commented that that agree with the strike as many of them have spent plenty of time in hospital and understand why it is happening.

Afollower wrote: »

Are the INMO and PNA Nurses getting paid while on strike? I've heard rumours that they are and, if so, it is very peculiar. I have never before heard of Union members on an official strike getting paid by their employer.

So, a straight answer would be welcome please - are the Nurses who are striking getting paid?

Here is your straight answer. No.

I will not get paid for any strike days. The strike committee members do not get paid. I think the majority of nurses including myself are worried about this but I think the time for us to try and make a difference is here and we need to try our hardest to try and improve things for our patients and our future nurses....

freshpopcorn wrote: »

Do you believe all nurses are caring/kind?
We often hear in the media about the nurses being lovely and kind/etc and most of them are. Do you ever encounter nurses who aren't?
I know a good few nurses my age late twenties.
Some just wanted to go to UCC(sort of keeping up with the Joneses) and it was sort of a job for life in a way and they'd threat people quite badly in reality.
I'd also note most of the nurses I've encountered are lovely and kind.
Do you think some people shouldn't have become nurses? Yes/No and Why?

I do not believe every nurse is kind and caring no. Like every single walk of life you will always have bad eggs. I experienced some horrific care towards a family member last year. Thankfully that was something I have not witnessed in my career up until then. Of course, in those years i have absolutely encountered nurses who weren't very nice or caring and in my opinion were not suited to nursing at all.

Thankfully I have never worked directly alongside nasty or horrible nurses. I have worked with some of the most amazing nurses... the most caring men and women. I have of course worked directly alongside people that I haven't liked but I don't think i've ever worked directly alongside with someone I wouldn't trust looking after a family member.