Nurse goes viral after explaining how much she really gets paid

30 December 2023 , 22:58

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Joanna's tweet has gone viral and she has received lots of support (Image: Twitter)

A nurse went viral after sharing her pay slip on Twitter - revealing how much she earns for doing her challenging job.

Joanna Hickey, from Ireland, posted a photo on Twitter which showed what a "near top of the scale" nurse makes in two weeks. The picture showed the net pay for a fortnight was €1,120.80 (£1000.24) which led to supportive followers saying it was "shocking" and a "far cry from the wild salaries we hear about".

Joanna said if she works weekends and nights away from her child and partner she might make an extra €100 (£89.24). This comes amid the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation's (INMO) dispute with the government over their salaries. Joanna explained why she supports the INMO strike planned for the end of January, RSVP Live reports.

Joanna shared the payslip on Twitter (Twitter)

Joanna wrote: "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/ continous 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/

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"Recognise the deterating 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."

Joanna went on to say she takes three hours of parental leave a week "as working "39" hours (more like 45hrs/wk with hand over & patient complexity) was proving too much as a mother. "I now do "36" hrs a week... I start at 07:45am and usually get out at 20:45pm. So no personal time off for free..." Joanna was inundated with messages from her followers who were all supportive of her situation.

A Twitter user called Peter wrote: "I’m not being offensive, but that’s shocking. Net salary is €2,427 per calendar month/€560 per week. This, for a highly qualified staff nurse near the top of the salary scale. Not surprised there are issues attracting and retaining nurses."

One wrote: "Excellent, Joanna. A far cry from the wild salaries we hear about. This is exactly what we need the public to see," remarked another. A third added: "Fairplay Joanna. Crazy you have to even post this to combat the spin."

Ellie Fry