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Around 4,500 nursing students will receive a new Pandemic Placement Scholarship worth € 100 per week when in hospital placements following reports of exploitation during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The payment, which could cost up to 5.4 million euros a year and would last until the pandemic ends, is recommended in a review commissioned by the Department of Health and conducted by Professor Tom Collins.
The issue of pay for nursing students and midwives took center stage politically late last year when the opposition alleged that many were being used as unpaid staff and assigned to inappropriate tasks.
The Dáil heard allegations that one of those students had been assigned to place a baby who had passed away, although the HSE has said that senior management has received no complaints of inappropriate assignments.
Collins’ review recommends that the pandemic placement grant be paid without tax from January 2021 until the end of the pandemic.
If implemented from now until the end of the academic year in June, it would cost 3 million euros.
However, that cost would increase to 5.4 million euros if the Minister of Health, Stephen Donnelly, acceded to the recommendation of Professor Collins to consider retroactive until last September.
Eligible students must also retain the right to existing placement allowances of around € 50 per week for travel and accommodation costs, along with SUSI scholarships and PUP payments that some may have been entitled to.
Many students who financed their studies with part-time work as nursing home health care assistants suffered further difficulties when forced to quit their jobs in case they transmitted the infection from their hospital placements to vulnerable clients in non-hospital settings .
At the end of last year, Minister Donnelly arranged for students in this position to benefit from Pandemic Unemployment Pay.
A new, longer-term review of remuneration for nursing students will be launched shortly.
Professor Collins also recommends that the Pandemic Placement Scholarship be included in the terms of reference of that review of supports for nursing students and midwives, which should also examine the pay rates of interns on listed tasks.
It highlights the educational element of student placement, urging higher education institutions to address any psychological issues that may arise for students exposed to trauma during the clinical setting.
Traditionally, female nursing students and midwives in years 1-3 have to undergo hospital stays ranging from nine to 12 weeks, during which they are assumed to be “supernumerary”, which means that they do not count as active personnel as they are supposed to. they must be in training.
Fourth-year students complete a 36-week internship in which they enroll and are paid between € 21,700 and € 22,200.
The report notes that to address staff shortages in the early stages of the pandemic, the listed fourth-year interns received three months’ salary as health care assistants, while 1,250 of those They had a “supernumerary” placement and accepted voluntary temporary contracts as health care assistants.
The Collins report notes that, while the government could do so again if new staff surges were to lead to staff shortages, it would be preferable to address those shortages through normal staffing strategies.
Nursing unions have rejected salary proposals for nursing students as inappropriate.
The Irish Organization of Nurses and Midwives held a meeting tonight with 40 student representatives, but described their reaction as “deeply disappointed”.
INMO said that the payment of € 100 per week was totally inappropriate and pointed out that the proposals did nothing for the fourth year students.
He also stressed that circumstances had changed since the review began, with the number of cases skyrocketing and an increased risk of infection.
SIPTU official John McCamley said the proposals did not go far enough to address members’ concerns.
The Association of Psychiatric Nurses is considering the review. Minister Donnelly has yet to comment.
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