Irish Nurse’s Tweets About How Much She Really Earns Are Going Viral

Kiara Keane

An Irish ICU nurse “near the top of the scale” has gone viral after sharing a photo of one of her fortnightly payslips.

Joanna Hickey explained why she supported the nurses’ strike as she listed off what her demanding role entails while being paid €1,120.80 for two weeks of work, as reported by RSVP Live.

Earlier this week, nurses and midwives announced they would be going on strike for 24 hours on Wednesday, January 30, over low wages and difficulties with recruitment and retention.

A friendly reminder of what an ICU (BSc RGN/ PgD ICU/ PgD CCU) nurse’s near top of the scale wages looks like for 2 weeks. And if I work weekends and nights away from my child & partner I might make an extra €100. #nursesstrike #Nurses @INMO_IRL pic.twitter.com/gxDGOjcKYx

— Joanna Hickey (@misspollyanna) January 9, 2019

Joanna wrote on Twitter, ‘A friendly reminder of what an ICU (BSc RGN/ PgD ICU/ PgD CCU) nurse’s near top of the scale wages looks like for 2 weeks.

‘And if I work weekends and nights away from my child & partner I might make an extra €100.

‘My role includes ability to mind complex traumatic brain injuries/ severe sepsis & unstable hemodynamic patients/ continuous dialysis/ know how set up & use multiple ventilators & high flow oxygen delivery systems/ assess ABG’s & change ventilation settings inc. #ARDS patients/

‘Respiratory chest physio outside of normal hours/ weekend and night time pharmacy access as no pharmacist during these hours/ ward clerk/ help families & deal with social services/ be a clinical nutritionist & start appropriate feeding outside normal hours as no CN at w/ends/

‘Recognise the deteriorating patient & act rapid & appropriately/ inter-hospital transfer & competently use mobile ICU equipment/ intra- hospiral transfer & accompany patients from different ICU’s nationwide/ educate & train new staff/ teach undergraduate nurses/ liase with MDT/

‘Continuous education, personal development & be up to date with latest research regarding patient management/ competent with ECG reading/ competent multiple transfusion usage/ ability to prone or log roll patient using correct manual handling…

‘And the rest… I am tired.’

INMO General Secretary Phil Ní Sheaghdha said, “Going on strike is the last thing a nurse or midwife wants to do.

“But the crisis in recruitment and retention has made it impossible for us to do our jobs properly. We are not able give patients the care they deserve under these conditions.

“The HSE simply cannot recruit enough nurses and midwives on these wages.

“Until that changes, the health service will continue to go understaffed and patient care will be compromised.”