HSE Advocates Sending Nursing Students To Work In Nursing Homes Affected During First Wave

THE HSE HAS said that having student nurses working in a nursing home in North Dublin during the first wave of the pandemic was “fully compliant” with the HSE protocol at the time.

In a statement this afternoon, the HSE recognized the work done by the staff at St Mary’s Hospital and said that nursing students were assigned to the facility after volunteering to work as part of a public health emergency response.

“The HSE would like to acknowledge the incredible role that all St Mary’s Hospital staff have played during COVID-19, including student nurses who chose to work in partnership with other healthcare workers and under the supervision of the nursing staff,” said a spokesperson. for the HSE.

Records of the HSE crisis meetings, originally reported by the Sunday Independent, show that nursing students and midwives were working night shifts and covered for health workers who were ill or self-isolating with the virus.

The students were hired as health care assistants and received temporary pay on the health care assistant scale.

Some students were sent to St Mary’s Hospital in North Dublin, one of the worst-hit nursing homes in the country, where 24 residents died of Covid-19 in April and May.

HSE Community Healthcare Organization Dublin North City and County thanked the nursing students who volunteered to work at the height of the pandemic.

“Their dedication, hard work and contribution was and continues to be of great benefit to the residents and the team in general,” they said in a statement.