STUDENT NURSES are expected to ballot for industrial action in protest against plans to cut their pay during their mandatory placement period in hospitals.
The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation is also expected to organise a demonstration outside the Department of Health.
The former government announced last December it planned to phase out payments to student nurses during their 36-week placement period in hospitals and to eliminate them completely from 2015. As part of this move it reduced the pay of this year’s fourth-year students to 76 per cent of the salary of a starting nurse, down from 80 per cent of a staff nurse’s salary.
For some this was followed by a further 10 per cent cut in line with the pay reductions for all new entrants to the public service in January.
It is expected the nurses and midwives body will make an announcement on a reactivation of its campaign of opposition to the plans this week.
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