The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) says the pay restoration for student nurses will help to retain more graduates in the Irish health system.
It was announced today that fourth year nurses and midwives will receive a pay rise for their placement work from the 1st of March.
The pay increase relates to when student nurses are on a rostered placement, during which they replace staff nurses/midwives and work the full roster.
The INMO says pay for fourth year student nurses was reduced to €6.86 per hour, from 2011 and 2012.
Now, undergraduate nurses will be paid €9.48 - which is 70% of the staff nurse scale - during their 36 week clinical placement in fourth year.
Secretary general of the INMO Liam Doran, has explained how important this announcement is to student nurses, suggesting a "wrong done to them four years ago has been partially corrected".
The Union of Students in Ireland (USI) has also welcomed the news.
Union president Kevin Donoghue said, “USI welcomes the action by the government to relieve the strain on financially crippled student nurses.
"I read about one nursing student who was paid just €374 after tax for working 114 hours in three weeks, which equates to a mere €3.28 an hour. This change in the wage increase means that student nurses and midwives a more secure financial position," he added.
