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Student nurses deserve to be paid

THE situation where student nurses will not get paid for their work placement is deplorable, morally reprehensible and just plain wrong.

Students, in any event, should not be put on work rosters until after they have completed their degrees. The nine-month work placement should be axed from the nursing degree. Newly qualified nurses can then get their work experience on the job in the same way as newly qualified doctors do.

Students should not be rostered to work, they should be studying and observing clinical practice whilst on their degree course.

For registration with An Bord Altranais they would have to complete a number of supervised hours on the job. Nurses would qualify sooner and there would consequently be less strain upon resources in the third-level sector.

Under the present system student nurses are already used as a low-cost replacement for a qualified nurse. This practice strikes me as flawed in its approach.

Furthermore, if student nurses are not to be paid many of them may be forced to moonlight in order to support themselves.

Working elsewhere prior to carrying out ‘placement’ duties could seriously compromise patient safety.

The decision to eliminate their pay, therefore, is not only wrong but also a false economy.

Killian Brennan
Malahide Road
Dublin 17

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