Aoife Butler from Wexford saw first hand one of the heaveist snowfalls the country experienced all week. The psychiatric nurse and her colleagues were due into work in the inclement weather but had no way of making it to their patients other than wrapping up and heading out on foot.
Aoife wrote a very descriptive message with a photo she uploaded to Facebook showing herself and three other nurses walking to work in the heavy snow. She said that many nurses she knows are already planning on leaving Ireland early next year as the quality of work and life for nurses is so much higher than what the Minister for Health Simon Harris expects them to live by in Ireland.
Read Aoife’s inspirational piece below and share to show your support.
“Dear Simon Harris,
More examples of those who braved the weathers to walk to work.
But this picture tells more.
•This a picture of 4 Psychiatric Nurses. All in our 20’s.
Half of us are planning to leave the country in January 2019. To nurse in other countries, where our quality of life will be much better.
Because you see, yes we are well educated nurses with well known degrees.
But we are also the kind of people, who even though our pay does not exceed our work, and the benefits we get are not the same, we put on our boots and walk miles to work to prioritize patient care.
•This is a picture of 4 of the many nurses in the Waterford services that are also in the middle of industrial action to highlight the poor working conditions, with over crowding and under staffing.
•This is a picture of 4 Psychiatric nurses who had to walk to work because being psychiatric nurses we are bottom
Of the pile in regards to lifts by emergency personnel, because for some unfortunate reason people must think, peoples mental health goes away when the snow comes! ✋??
Or maybe we are not seen as “real nurses”.
As a newly qualified nurse I’ve learned so much already about this country and how we are valued.
But STILL, We put on our boots and WALK to work.
THESE ARE THE KIND OF NURSES YOU ARE LOSING
TO OTHER COUNTRIES!!
Yours sincerely.”