Nursing and midwifery students have strongly criticised a report into their treatment during the pandemic released tonight.
Student representatives, who met this evening, said that the report does not reflect the high-COVID risk Irish hospitals now pose, nor the work they will be asked to do in the coming weeks and months.
The report does not address any issues for final-year interns and proposes a €100 per week temporary grant for those students on placement.
The INMO has sought an urgent meeting with the Minister for Health to discuss the current reality faced by nursing and midwifery students and how it can best be dealt with.
INMO General Secretary, Phil Ní Sheaghdha, said:
Student nurses and midwives have been doing incredible work on the frontline. 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 students will take in the coming weeks.
It’s time for the Minister to do the right thing. 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.
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