Sir, - I welcome the content of your editorial "Changing Nursing" (September 18th). Of particular interest is your comment on the payment of nurses: "In Irish society, no less than in most others, the value of a person's worth at work is perceived in terms of that person's remuneration." The payment of nurses is an important issue which raises a major question in society: How do we value women's work? The undervaluing of nurses' work reflects our undervaluing of women's work and the work of caring in society.
The recommendations of the Carroll Commission need to be viewed in their entirety and taken seriously. The Government should not cherry-pick by sidetracking the more contentious issues such as pay and conditions. Valuing nurses' work is an important measure of how we value caring work in society - both women's and men's. It extends beyond seeking to satisfy the image or status of a particular professional group towards valuing a principal element of life itself: caring for another. - Yours, etc., Jean Clarke, Lecturer, Co-ordinator, Higher Diploma in Nursing studies (Public Health Nursing),
School of Nursing and Midwifery, University College Dublin.