Ireland’s national students union is to work with the country’s biggest nursing and midwifery trade union to launch a student campaign against underpayment and bullying on placements.
At its national congress today, the Union of Students in Ireland (USI) voted to mandate its officers to push for a national campaign – featuring students’ unions, students and the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation – to demand better remuneration for student nurses and midwives on placement.
The motion, proposed by Craig McHugh, USI’s vice-president for the Dublin region, also means USI will push for political lobbying on the issues facing nurses and midwives to include students’ perspectives.
Speaking in favour of the motion, McHugh said that “nurses and midwives are the real heroes of society”, adding that the treatment is often “bordering on slavery”.
“Without them”, he said, “we wouldn’t have gotten to where we are – with zero deaths recorded yesterday from Covid-19 pandemic”.
Ciaran Mac an tSaoir, a nursing student in NUI Galway and a member of NUI Galway Students’ Union’s delegation at congress, said that “I feel more welcome speaking here as a student nurse than I do anywhere else in Irish society”.
“We are entering into an area and training in an area that isn’t welcoming or supportive for our learning”, he said. “Wards are chronically understaffed. There is a shortage of nurses as a result of low pay.”
Research conducted by USI found that 51.8 per cent of student nurses and midwives had a negative impact on the performance aspects of their studies.
Some 57.3 per cent found placement has a negative impact on physical health, while 51.9 per cent reported a negative impact on their mental health.
Meanwhile, 81.9 per cent felt burnout due to the long hours on placement, and 92.5 per cent had thought of emigrating once they’ve qualified as a nurse or midwife.
Next year’s vice-president for campaigns must work on a “comprehensive, evidence-based campaign” to remove the negative culture of bullying and harassment on placement.
Earlier today, USI also voted to lobby for reform of the “shoddy and broken” SUSI grant, with congress opting in favour of a motion to push for changes to SUSI’s eligibility criteria.
