Laois nurse explains why nurses are going on strike later this month

A stint doing voluntary work in Moore Abbey in Monasterevin in the 1990s inspired me to pursue a career in nursing.

As a member of the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation, I support the upcoming national nurses strike, the first day of which is scheduled for Wednesday, January 30, with further action planned for February.

Nurses are seeking a 12% pay hike to bring them into line with other medical staff, and to increase recruitment and retention in what is an understaffed service.

It can be tough, and at the minute that’s because of retention and recruitment of staff.

Because of overcrowding in A&E, there is a demand to discharge patients from wards. Some mornings you come in and there is 15 or 20 on trollies, so you know straight away there’s going to be a demand for the beds.

You're trying not to rush people out the door. You don’t get a chance to do some of your basic nursing care, like spend time with the patients.

You’re thinking, ‘I need to get this patient discharged and others in’ - it takes away from some of the stuff you used to be able to do.

You do know that you are rushing them… but then you remember that someone has been sitting on a trolley for 48 hours in A&E, and then they get a more comfortable bed and are taken off the trolley and the corridor.

In years gone by, staff could predict busy periods such as winter flu epidemics - however, that has gradually become a situation where they are busy and short-staffed every day.

A lot of patients would understand that we are busy and seem to be short-staffed. They would have sympathy for us.

I even got it last night, when a patient asked were we going to strike, and said to us, ‘we’re dead right’.

From our point of view, for the new recruits, their wages and conditions at the minute - it’s ridiculous.

They’re in college for four years and they’re earning slightly over the minimum wage, for 13-hour shifts where their responsibilities are quite tough.

It’s about the future of the profession. If the wages and conditions stay as bad as they are, who will want to go into the profession?

 For the new recruits, their wages and conditions at the minute - it’s ridiculous...

The older staff here will say to the younger ones, ‘you’re doing the same work, but you’re getting less money’.

We get some students, and they say ‘I am here for six months and then I’m gone’. You have to respect that.”

I trained and worked in north London and spent time in Australia before returning home to Ireland. But, he says, knowing what he knows now, he would consider staying abroad permanently.

In Australia, people have been saying that they’re not working the long hours and the staff are paid quite well. It does seem to be a lot better.

We had one girl who came back and is thinking about going back out there.

Government and HSE statistics which deny there is a shortage of medical staff or that Irish nurses are comparatively underpaid, we cannot understand.

I don’t know where they are getting the figures from.

Medical, A&E, surgical wards - every morning they are ringing saying they are short here.

The whole place is busy, so I don’t know where they are getting those figures from.

None of us wants to strike.

The last thing we want to do is cause inconvenience to patients and their carers.

A lot of nurses don’t agree with striking, but just feel that this is the time now - if we don’t go out it will get worse.

Some of my colleagues were saying, ‘I couldn’t possibly go out’. They put the patients first. But now some are saying ‘I will’.

They feel the nurses won’t go against what the government are saying - but some people have just had enough as well.

We are looking for parity with other pay grades - physios and dietitians.

A lot of newly qualified in those fields are earning five or six grand more than a newly qualified nurse who has a degree after four years in college.

We’re looking for a 12% increase, but it’s to get people into the profession as well. When you think about it, it’s the future of the profession.

It’s long hours, tough work, and you’re not getting paid properly. Why would you go in?

“You’d say ‘I could become an occupational therapist, a physio, be paid a good bit more and work less hours and the conditions are better.

I’d say we are definitely going out on January 30, and on the dates over the following two weeks, unless a very good pay proposal is put to use, and we’re not going back in.

A lot of us are realistic - we hope we get the 12%, but some offer has to come in.

We are thinking about the newly-qualified people, their starting wages are just silly.

A healthcare assistant told me recently that she is earning more than one of the newly-qualified girls.

Why would you stay?