INMO critisised health department’s temporary grant for student nurses and midwives

DUBLIN: The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organization (INMO) criticised the Health Department’s proposal to pay €100 per week temporary grant for nursing and midwifery students on placement in hospitals.

INMO said in a statement that the Department of Health’s proposal did not reflect the high risk of Irish hospitals and the work that students would have to do in the coming weeks and months.

Student Nurses and Midwives are working incredibly at the frontline, said Phil Ní Sheaghdha, INMO General Secretary. “They engaged in this process in good faith and are deeply disappointed in this report. The COVID situation has deteriorated rapidly. This report is already obsolete and no longer reflects the risk or work that students will be taking on in the coming weeks,” she added.

Ms. Ní Sheaghdha asked Health Minister Stephen Donnelly to do the right thing and pay the student nurses a decent salary. “He should pay students the healthcare assistant rate of pay – something which was done earlier in the pandemic. This would better reflect the work and risks students are undertaking in COVID-intensive hospitals,” she said.

At the same time, Sinn Féin’s spokesperson, David Cullinan, said the new reality of COVID in hospitals must be taken into account in the context of the rapid spread of COVID-19 in the country. “Nurses and midwives are working in what is now an even more difficult and dire situation. We cannot ask more students to train and work in a situation like this on only €100 per week,” Mr. Cullinan said.

Meanwhile, INMO had a discussion with the Minister of Health about the current reality faced by nursing and midwifery students and how to deal with it. Student representatives also met yesterday evening to discuss the content of the review commissioned by the Department of Health.