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HEALTH MINISTER SIMON Harris has said that student nurses and midwives completing placements during the Covid-19 outbreak will be paid.
Hundreds of student nurses across the country are set to begin their unpaid work placements this month and some have already started.
Although this is a common practice – doing unpaid work to earn enough hours to become fully qualified – the public health crisis affecting the country led to calls for this to be changed.
Harris has now confirmed that all student nurses and midwives will be offered a contract as a healthcare assistant (HCA) and be paid accordingly. HCAs are paid €28,000 a year.
Students will complete their placement in a HCA role and continue to complete the course.
The Department of Health says there are about 4,000 student nurses.
“We need all hands on deck through this challenging period,” Harris said this afternoon.
This is an offer and not an obligation. But I know so many of our student nurses want to play their role as we navigate our way through these difficult times. Our healthcare professionals have shown immense leadership and I will do everything I can to support them.
Today’s announcement and comes following pressure from groups such as the Irish Nurses & Midwives Organisation (INMO).
The INMO had argued that students taking up roles should be paid and protected as employees, if that is the role they are undertaking.
Student nurses will be asked to apply online through the HSE’s On Call initiative.
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Good
@Pùca: excellent. How can they work their part time jobs to pay rent etc if they have to isolate etc
@rosetheone: they would normally be doing their placement during this time regardless and not being paid so they already would have had to make arrangements
@LittleBee: big difference between placement and on the front lines like this
@Pùca: absolutely the right thing to do
And rightly so..
I love the way FG are all of a sudden acting in the most unFG way possible, right as they want the public to think that putting them back in power would be a good thing.
Will there be a deal announced by/over the weekend with FF?
@Larkin About: very cheap comment for a crisis health pandemic not seen in our lifetime.. hopefully we have the finances to beat the virus and save as many lives as possible..
I am no financial expert, but we are facing a recession that will make the last one look like a fairytale in comparison.. irregardless of what party will be running the country..
@Larkin About: Jesus man, give it a rest. You do realise you’re criticising politicians for acting humanely and trying to help the country, of which you are a citizen who could be impacted? I suppose Covid is a deep state Fine Gael plant in order to help them look as good as possible?
@Daniel Morrissey: well it just shows the fragility of the system we live in today where two massive recessions will have occurred and on both occasions nobody predicted them.
@Johnny O’Hooligan: If we could predict them, they probably wouldn’t happen. Black swan events.
@Séamus Heffernan: I think he has a valid point – how FG and FF -the very parties who brought us the bank bailout and a decade of austerity, crippled the people and ushered in an era of record homelessness, spiralling rental costs and a healthcare crisis through deliberate policies have overnight introduced measures such as rent freezes, childcare and pay supplements, mortgage relief and providing funds for more healthcare staff – things they were emphatically insisting before the elections were just not feasible or possible either legally or economically.
This “don’t criticise the government during a pandemic” talk we see a lot on the journal now is utter bullshit – people have a right to be concerned that two parties – with less than 50% of the votes between them – one of whom ran on a platform of NOT going into coalition are now forming a coalition under the guise of “for the good of the people”, the same parties who as I’ve mentioned have easily and quickly taken decisive measures when they were up until now content to let people struggle and suffer for the last decade as they lined their pockets.
As for the supposed “great job” they are doing at reacting to Covid19 – their measures are insubstantial and we’ve done everything about 3 weeks too slow or late – we’re well on the way to becoming the next France, Spain or Italy. Watch this space.
Good they will earn it
@paul mc donough: they always did..
FG have to be shamed into action as usual. Those nurses were paying for fuel, parking and lunches etc out of their own money and not getting anything in return. Pure madness in 2020 that people are put into such a position.
Years ago student nurses got a non means tested grant while training as a form ‘payment’ for their placements. The general public created uproar about it and demanded it was stopped……., how the public change their tune
@karen: at €250 a month it was still slave labour for four weeks a/l a year . It only changed when the degree programme came into effect in line with other degrees ! Such a pity the starting salary isn’t in line with others too
@karen: at €250 a month it was still slave labour for four weeks a/l a year . It only changed when the degree programme came into effect in line with other degrees ! Such a pity the starting salary isn’t in line with others too
@karen: at €250 a month it was still slave labour for four weeks a/l a year . It only changed when the degree programme came into effect in line with other degrees ! Such a pity the starting salary isn’t in line with others too
@Linda Brittnell Hardiman: who else gets paid doing a ‘professional’ degree??
and this should be permanent. Student nurses treated like slave labour to date
This should never have even been an issue. No one should be working for free (or a slave wage).
“Work experience” won’t pay for food, rent, or just living in general.
This is why we need parties that stand for workers’ rights because the FG/FF way is to exploit workers as much as possible (such as JobScam for example) so that the economy is booming for the high-up.
Damn right. They should be getting danger money given the shortage of PPE.
@The Risen: turning a positive into a negative. Classic
@The Risen: If they need any advice on “danger money” contact Mary Lou…
@Anto Curran:
He knows no other way!
Please don’t put any more people on the frontline if there’s no adequate PPE or you’re just gonna get them infected and killed. Look at Italy and Spain.
Welcome news,they deserve to be paid!
Sincerely hope that our wonderful frontline staff urgently get the PPEs that they desperately need to perform their duties safely.
In the Dail today those resources coming Sunday won’t be available until Tuesday….the shortage is there now!
Will carers who are sick and care homes be also provided with PPEs?
And after I hope…
Excellent, however I just hope the payment is not above what the more experienced and accountable rostered 4th year students are receiving.
@Alberto Mcevoy: unfortunately it is. As an intern nurse I fully support payment for supernumerary students. However it extremely insulting for intern nurses to be paid less when we have had to be in the hospital regardless of being students. It’s unfair to be paid less than a first year student when we have a much higher level of responsibility, more experience and skills.
FG and SF looking very similar these days lol
They should NEVER have had to work for free ! Some sort of social
Welfare payment should always have been paid . They are already well underpaid by comparison for what they do ! Look what our leaders are paid for just listening to advice from spin doctors and voicing opinions
Some turn around
There should be no question about it, why should they not? Front line and will be desperately needed with them Covid-19 tsunami that is coming!
There should be no such thing as unpaid employment. Regardless of weather it’s work experience or not.
Great to see! Unfortunately UCD final year radiography students are starting there final clinical block on Monday with no payment whatsoever. Ridiculous considering every patient who is diagnosed with Covid19 will require diagnostic imaging off some kind couldn’t get much more front line than that.
Welcome news.
I have a question related to the Covid19 unemployment payment. I have missed the topic a few days back, so Does anyone know if your income was a mix of 3 day part time work and 2 day jobseekers can you apply for this new payment if you have been laid-off temporarily? Does anyone in similar situ? Thanks
Are the loony left now claiming there are medical doctors in direct provision in Ireland?
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