NURSES WHO WERE recruited to Ireland from overseas to work for the HSE and private nursing homes are calling for training to be introduced before they sit a costly aptitude test, as those who fail the exam are left feeling “abandoned” afterwards.
One nurse, who left behind her family to take up a job in a neonatal ward in a children’s hospital, said that she had “thoughts of suicide” when she was told via email that she had failed the aptitude test, and that she should go back to her home country. She completed a BSC in nursing in 2010, and started working in the neonatal ward of a government hospital. She later worked for several years in neonatal intensive care in a hospital in Saudi Arabia.
She wanted to move to a European country to work as a nurse to give her seven-year-old daughter “a better life and a better education”. Sherin was given six weeks free accommodation when she arrived in Ireland in March, and was due to sit her exam four days later. Despite failing the exam and being due to sit it again in two weeks, she claims she was called to duty and started working shifts in a ward for post-operative ward for babies.
“It said that I should contact my agency and see about going home to India. I was standing on the street in the city centre and, it is hard to say, but I did have thoughts of suicide,” Sherin said. Maya’s story Maya is 38 years old and has a nine-year-old daughter. Originally from Kerala, she has worked as a nurse since 2006.
“The exam is very difficult, and we don’t get any help beforehand. You can read things online, but it is hard to get your head around these different protocols and the settings when there is no training. I know I am a good, experienced nurse, but I failed. It was very disappointing,” she said. “What do I do now? I cannot go back home. My husband wants me to stay here and find a job. I am hoping immigration will help me. I hope that God will help me.