November 16: Newly qualified nurses are getting a raw deal

I am a newly qualified nurse at University Hospital Limerick, with an honours degree in General Nursing. I have worked extremely hard to receive my qualification. As a group we are proud to be nurses helping to save lives of those around us, however the payment that we receive is outrageous and far from what we deserve for the long hours, hard work, stressful jobs and poor conditions that the Irish health service allows us to work in.

During our course at the University of Limerick we had to complete 45 weeks of placement at a hospital, unpaid for a 35-hour week.

During the 36-week internship we worked 39-hour weeks receiving €6.49 for the first part and got a pay rise to €7.79 for the final three months (well below minimum wage).

In the last month we have become registered general nurses. However we are still being paid on the student rate of €7.79 per hour.

Now we are responsible for our own patient load and doing the same work as every registered nurse within the hospital. Employment Rights Explained by the Citizens Information (2010) states that “employees cannot be paid less that an equivalent employee doing the same job” and also states that ‘all employees have the right to be treated equally’. So how can the HSE continue to exploit young nurses? We are being paid less than everyone working within the health service: healthcare assistants, porters, kitchen workers and cleaners.

For many newly qualified nurses/midwives, employment within HSE-run institutions will now only be possible if we agree to undertake an additional two-year educational programme, on top of the four-year degree we have just completed.

This will mean that we will be employed at 85% in year one (€11.36 per hour), and 90% in year two (€12.03 per hour), of the first salary point of the January 2011 staff nurse scale. Bearing in mind that deducted from out miserable wage pack is tax, USC charge and two pensions. At the end of the programme there is no promise of a job, permanent or part-time, after completing the two years of a lower rate of pay.

The healthcare system is already overstretched and overrun and Irish nurses are choosing to emigrate and work in health systems as fully qualified staff nurses where their existing qualifications are valued and respected. A

lmost all of my year has received job opportunities in England where they offer a decent rate of pay, a postgraduate programme of your choice paid for and help with accommodation and living expenses up to £1,000.

So why should we stay here Minister Reilly? Once again we are saying NO to this disgraceful, disrespectful and unacceptable job opportunity that you continue to pursue year after year. Clearly you have little respect for nurses and the work we do!

A Newly Qualified Nurse,

University Hospital Limerick