Better pay rates needed to recruit and retain nurses, says INMO
Nurses are calling on the Government to improve pay rates in an effort to keep staff in the Irish health system.
The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) is holding its annual conference in Cork today.
Members say money is the key to attracting and retaining staff. The starting salary for a nurse is currently just over €28,000 per year.
INMO President Martina Harkin Kelly claims wages are poor for all nursing levels.
"Money attracts nurses at the end of the day, and if the money's not correct and conditions aren't right, we're not going to be able to retain, and we're not going to be able to recruit," she says.
"So at both ends of the nursing scale, there is that attrition of nurses out of the system."
