22% of all Covid-19 cases are healthcare workers
And Exploited Organisation Pandemic And Nurses During Midwives The That Irish Being Said Has (inmo) Student Are Nurses The Midwives
In the space of two weeks, 476 healthcare workers have tested positive for Covid-19.
A third of them live in Dublin and 79% are women.
The Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC) says the infections were recorded between September 29 and October 12.
Healthcare workers account for nearly 22% of all coronavirus cases in the Republic.
Meanwhile, the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) has said that student nurses and midwives are being exploited during the pandemic.
It said students on placements in hospitals are facing additional Covid risks while effectively being asked to work as staff for no pay.
Before their final year internship, most student nurses and midwives get either nothing or an allowance of €50.79 per week.
A HSE scheme to pay students on healthcare assistance salaries was in place at the start of the pandemic in March but it is no longer operating.
The INMO is calling for the payment to be re-introduced immediately and for student allowances to be increased substantially.
A meeting was held between the INMO and officials from the Department of Health but no progress was made on the issue.
INMO General Secretary, Phil Ní Sheaghdha said students are being taken for granted.
"While they are doing indispensable work, they are getting no financial recognition for their efforts.
“They do not have the protections provided to employees. While most third-level students are advised to stay off campus and study online, nursing and midwifery students have to attend very dangerous workplaces to fulfil their learning objectives.
“Extra work, serious risk, and other sources of income being cut: student nurses and midwives are getting a raw deal.
"The message is simple: stop exploiting student nurses and midwives.” A clinical placement coordinator for students said it is "crazy" what is being asked of students.
“They’re being supervised by a dwindling number of staff who are all under massive pressure too. All of it combines to undercut their learning experience.
“So many workplaces would be lost without students. We’re relying on them to not only learn, but to put in massive work.
"Not paying them is cheating them, in my view.”