73% of intern nurses & midwives struggling due to overcrowding

A very high percentage of intern nurses and midwives believe their education is struggling in the workplace due to overcrowding in hospitals. 

A new survey published by the Irish Nursing and Midwives Organisation has found that almost 3 out of 4 intern nurses and midwives (73%) said that staffing levels are “not sufficient to support a positive learning environment”.

Large numbers of nursing and midwifery interns have said they intend to leave Ireland post-qualification, with 33% stating that if staffing and working conditions were improved, they would delay leaving the country.

Pay is also a significant factor in the option to stay or leave Ireland with 54% revealing their decision to stay after qualifying was dependent on pay.

Other reasons why the interns are considering leaving the country once they are qualified or entering the private healthcare sector is due to the lack of adequate breaks, unmanageable pressure, exhaustion, and a lack of safe staff-to-patient ratios across the Irish health service.

Roisin O’Connell, the INMO Student and New Graduate Officer released a statement on the issue that reads, “We simply can’t afford to be losing newly qualified nurses and midwives, but in light of the conditions they’re describing it’s not surprising so many of them want to leave”.

“Final year students are looking at their qualified colleagues who are burned out and exhausted and they’re seeing how they’re treated by their employer. They see the chronic understaffing and the salary they’re expecting to receive next year and deciding it’s just not worth it”.

She added, “These are young people who joined these professions and completed their training because they love nursing and midwifery, and for many of them we’re seeing that the system has managed to take all of the joy out of their jobs before their careers have even begun”.

INMO General Secretary Phil Ní Sheaghdha also spoke on the matter, explaining, “Measures need to be implemented to ensure safer staffing across the health service and better supports for students and intern, or else we’re looking at a long-term skills shortage in the health service that will have a direct impact on patient care.

“The survey results here show us that student nurses and midwives need to be supported in learning environments throughout and then given early offers of employment with information from the HSE on start date and salary – the delay in this process is actually causing us to lose qualified nurses as they get the information too late and in too many cases the NHS has offers made before the Irish employer”.

“The INMO continues to call for increased undergraduate places and more routes to accessing nursing and midwifery training, so we can increase the numbers of graduates. However, we also need to make working in Ireland a viable option for these graduates, or they will take their skills and their qualifications to countries that can offer them a better life and a better career”.