student nurses... are you kidding me?

It makes my blood boil, many groups have a right to protest about pay cuts, about potential job losses, about bad contracts, about recession effects BUT people who have not even achieved their degree yet protest about not being paid. I don't know any other group that gets paid to achieve a degree - it's called internship (which stretches to after achieving a degree in many careers) or work experience or free unpaid fieldwork to ensure you are capable of the bookwork, and practical work you have studied for.

It dilutes the protests that are important and necessary. Get your qualification and then give out about pay conditions. We all have to do it.


That makes my blood boil actually. You want them to be slaves do you. Tend to your kids and elderly parents 40 hours a week and get nothing for it? Are you for real?
 
Plenty of other examples of students/apprentices getting paid, accountants are one group that spring to mind

when i had my business degree completed, and whilst studying for my finals in accountancy, I got £80 per week back in 97...working a full week.
After getting my finals and moving to a full time job in Dublin in 98, i went up to the princely sum of £250 per week!!!

they should never have turned nursing into a 4 yr degree course...made no since to me at the time but it's what the unions wanted
 
Delboy, you have summed it up really well;" its what the unions wanted"..along with 12 hour shifts..
 
Delboy, you have summed it up really well;" its what the unions wanted"..along with 12 hour shifts..


headline shock

UNION IN CAMPAIGN TO DEFEND THE PAY OF ITS MEMBERS.

So the unions have the cheek to fight for the right of people to get paid a fair days pay for a fair days work. They do the same things as qualified nurses they work as hard. Not paying them would be exploitation.
 
Doctors train/get experience/gain contacts for many years post-initial college education so this is not necessarily an internship situation - and I think is unlikely to be. It's much more likely to be to gain experience with a particular specialist in a field that the new(ish) doctor is specialising in him/herself. There's not so much difference between one internship (which for doctors is only the first year post-college) and the next that would make it worth being unpaid. Anyhoo, doctors typically work on 6-24 month contracts until they become consultants so could easily work (and be very well paid) for 12 months (or 5 years) and then work with a reknowed specialist for 6 months for free (if that's what the deal was) and not have to tap mummy and daddy for living expenses at the age of 30...

But why should anyone work unpaid? This is pure exploitation.
 
12 hour shifts must be extremely wearing however nurses who work such shifts can avail of quite a bit of leisure time in that they are likely to work a 3 day on 4 day off rota one week followed by a 4 day on 3 day off rota the next.

I do of course realise that a lot of nurses worker much longer hours on an overtime basis and others work a 7.5 hour day on a rostered 5 day basis.

Shift work is indeed difficult but I warrant that quite a number of the nurses who work such shifts feel that they are more than compensated by the time off.
 
I note some on here compare working for an Accountant as an "apprentice" and the miserable wages (if you can call them that) acquired to a student nurse in a hospital ward.

If I am to be remembered on this site (say in a hundred years time) please let it be for saying that Accountants are the most miserable people from which to abstract money including the pay they give to their trainees. I'm not finished yet, I can say the same for solicitors.

Two wrongs never made a right. Also, for the record nurses work different shifts not only 8pm to 8am, 8am to 8pm, 9am to 6pm etc etc.
 
But why should anyone work unpaid? This is pure exploitation.
I will start by saying I know lots of doctors and have never heard of anyone offering to or actually working for free. However, the upside of some training/experience could be huge so I could understand someone doing it - it might be working for free for a year but it would pay off 10 times over throughout a future career. Imagine a doctor who wants to be an IVF specialist being given an opportunity to work with IVF pioneer Robert Winston (not sure if he works anymore but you get the idea) - but it's on a research project with a tight budget - they're happy to have an extra doctor working but can't afford to pay him and could manage without if necessary. The CV enhancement would be huge - it could add 100s of thousands to future career earnings. Exploitation?
 
Imagine a doctor who wants to be an IVF specialist being given an opportunity to work with IVF pioneer Robert Winston (not sure if he works anymore but you get the idea) - but it's on a research project with a tight budget - they're happy to have an extra doctor working but can't afford to pay him and could manage without if necessary.
The scenario of the pioneer not being able to pay the extra doctor is not credible to me. Every employer/researcher could do with extra staff. That doesn't mean that working for free is a good idea.
 
I will start by saying I know lots of doctors and have never heard of anyone offering to or actually working for free. However, the upside of some training/experience could be huge so I could understand someone doing it - it might be working for free for a year but it would pay off 10 times over throughout a future career. Imagine a doctor who wants to be an IVF specialist being given an opportunity to work with IVF pioneer Robert Winston (not sure if he works anymore but you get the idea) - but it's on a research project with a tight budget - they're happy to have an extra doctor working but can't afford to pay him and could manage without if necessary. The CV enhancement would be huge - it could add 100s of thousands to future career earnings. Exploitation?

Hi Orka, I knew a doctor who wanted to specialize in ophthalmology (eys) and she worked free - for your exact reason, and yes it does pay pack. Programmers work for free too doing opensource projects in the hope that the projects they are working on becomes successful and they can move on to better things...
P..
 
Can anyone answer this question?
Do "student" Nurses work independently during this fourth year of "Training"?

What I am trying to establish is, Is there is a fully "qualified " nurse rostered for say and 8 to 8 shift,,is she then replaced by "trainee" nurse ?

Or does the "fully qualified" nurse,have to remain with the "trainee?

Reason I want to know is ,if the "Trainee" must be Shadowed by a "qualified "nurse are we are paying both of them a wage?
 
from what I can recall, now things could have changed so I am open to correction. Student Nurses that are still in collage are considered supernumery, they will shadow a nurse, and do light duty.

During the 4th year, they are not considered supernumery and will part take in active running of the ward, there are certain tasks like drug rounds, drug administration that must be done by two nurses.

P..
 
The scenario of the pioneer not being able to pay the extra doctor is not credible to me. Every employer/researcher could do with extra staff. That doesn't mean that working for free is a good idea.

Hi Complainer, I appreciate what you are saying, however you think it is not a good idea to work free, but medicine and computing are international careers, and if I don't "work for free" on an open source project to maintain my skill. I effectively place myself out of the running for a job - both nationally and internationally!
I know loads of people (my brother) that worked as interns for free, to gain experience and contacts. Its all about whats on the CV...

Its very prevalent - we may not want to do it, but market forces are market forces, and it has to be done.
P..
 
It is a 'catch-22' situation. As long as people are willing to work for free, there will be employers ready to exploit it. This naturally favours those with more resources.

If people stop working for free, employers will need to take a different approach.
 
If people stop working for free, employers will need to take a different approach.
Easier said than done! In terms of careers that are international, not doing internships, and managing your CV is not an option.

Most young people (I am vein enough to include myself in that bracket!) have the skill set to work abroad if needs be, and thats a good thing.

Ireland is not a stand alone country, and not every one is a teacher - or works in the public sector (and I am not about to start public sector bashing/ and I would hope that this thread doesn't kick off that "tired" battle), Ireland is part of a global community and there are loads of jobs that require internships to get the contacts, and the experience.

Part of it complainer, is getting access to contacts too! And we have to do what we have to do...
P..
 
It is a 'catch-22' situation. As long as people are willing to work for free, there will be employers ready to exploit it. This naturally favours those with more resources.

If people stop working for free, employers will need to take a different approach.

It's only for a limited time period though. In this case the doctor calcuates that it's worth his/her interest in the longer term to forego renumeration now for later. Similiar to students going to college to get degrees, similair to apprentices in the plumbing/carpenter trades, similiar to university graduates (with top grades) working for "relative" pittance for accountancy practices for a number of years...all done on the calculation that it's better to take the hit on pay now.
 
I'm glad to see that the government are looking at this issue again and are now looking at some level of remuneration for their internship.
 
staff nurses

Can anyone answer this question?
Do "student" Nurses work independently during this fourth year of "Training"?

What I am trying to establish is, Is there is a fully "qualified " nurse rostered for say and 8 to 8 shift,,is she then replaced by "trainee" nurse ?

Or does the "fully qualified" nurse,have to remain with the "trainee?

Reason I want to know is ,if the "Trainee" must be Shadowed by a "qualified "nurse are we are paying both of them a wage?

The staff nurse as the fully trained member of staff is the person who will be held professionally and legally accountable for whatever may arise on the ward....

And there must alway's be qualified staff nurses on any unit.....fourth year students are not allowed to manage a ward! Patient care involves the delegation of workload to junior colleagues.....
 
I'm glad to see that the government are looking at this issue again and are now looking at some level of remuneration for their internship.
This is the old FF trick of being the Government and the opposition at the same time. Don't fall for their games.
 
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