Nurses propose graduate scheme to reduce working hours
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.
