Nurses propose graduate scheme to reduce working hours

NURSES believe their working week can be reduced to 35 hours without any cost to the Exchequer.

This can be done by replacing each nurse who leaves the service with two graduates and by paying these graduates a reduced salary for two years, according to a new report.

The proposals were outlined at the Irish Nurses Organisation (INO) conference by Annette Kennedy, director of professional development. Ms Kennedy, the INO representative on the seven-person Commission on the 35-Hour Week for Nurses and Midwives, said the graduates would be employed on a two-year rolling basis and replaced by another two graduates at the end of that period. She said they would fill the places vacated by approximately 1,800 nurses who leave the service each year.

Ms Kennedy said it was a way of keeping graduates in the system on a cost-neutral basis and it would also allow the employment of an additional 200 healthcare assistants and 200 clerical workers. Ms Kennedy said nurses were more likely to stay in nursing if they can keep their skills up and have job prospects.

“We need to hold on to nurses. In community nursing alone, half the nurses are over 50, they’ll be leaving in the next five, six, seven years. The vast majority in the general service are over 44. If we can’t bring in graduates, we’ll be in serious trouble,” Ms Kennedy said.

She said the report had been given to Health Minister Mary Harney.

Ms Harney, who attended the conference yesterday, said the report had given her “food for thought” and said she would discuss it with HSE chief Prof Brendan Drumm.

Speaking at the conference Ms Harney called on nurses to “separate their personal grievances [on the pension levy] from their professional concerns” following their threat of strike over the reduction in pay and posts.

INO president Sheila Dickson warned Ms Harney the INO would “not sit passively while the public health service is dismantled”.