Student nurses at St James's Hospital in Dublin began a sit-in this morning over a fee being charged for their immunisation.
Around 60 members of the Irish Nurses Organisation (INO) are staging the protest at the administration building of the hospital because they were refused immunisation against Hepatitis B and TB due to the nonpayment of a €100 fee.
INO industrial relations Officer Phil Ni Sheaghdha said: "The total cost of providing this immunisation to the entire student body is €9,000. Considering the amount of money that has been wasted on a computer system providing, this protective measure to non-salaried students would be an exercise in good management," she said.
"This is a small-minded approach and does not lend itself to best practice considering the huge difficulties in nursing recruitment and retention currently being experienced," she added.
Healthcare workers are generally provided with inoculation for free because of the risk of contracting disease.
A hospital spokesperson could not be contacted.