The welfare and pay of student nurses have been raised once again in the Dáil in the past week, with INMO calling on the government to give fair allowances for nursing and midwifery students.
Speaking about student nurses in the Dáil, Waterford TD and Sinn Féin Health Spokesperson David Cullinane said they are "the glue holding our public health system together at this moment and time".
Currently, first, second, and third-year student nurses are not being paid for placements. Instead, some students on placement are given an allowance of up to €50 a week.
Aoife from Waterford was on her final year internship in Dublin when the pandemic hit in March.
She said: "One of the wards I was working on had a huge Covid outbreak and the ward itself actually ended up closing down.
"I developed symptoms of Covid around that time and I was self-isolating up in Dublin. I didn't have my family around to look after me and I was trying to protect my roommates at the same time.
"It was really tough for everyone, people didn't see their families for months and it was a lot of responsibility for someone who wasn't even qualified yet."
Many student nurses work as Health Care Assistants to earn money but this is also being discouraged since Covid-19 hit the country to combat cross-contamination.
The newly qualified nurse from Waterford says they can't afford to not work, especially since placements are unpaid.
"Agency work is really common with student nurses because you can work as a healthcare assistant on your days off. I was lucky in that I was getting paid in fourth-year, but other student nurses were told they weren't allowed to do agency work because 'you can work in other hospitals'.
"The reason for this was that they were trying to avoid cross-contamination, which is understandable but people can't afford to not work especially when you're not being paid for your placement."
The issue is set to be reviewed by the Department of Health in the coming days.
You can listen back to Aoife's interview which aired on Déise Today here:
https://www.spreaker.com/user/11231943/waterford-student-nurse-calls-for-fair-p
