The Clinical Placement Coordinator (CPC) is a pivotal nursing and midwifery role with responsibility for coordination and support of essential clinical placements throughout the health service for undergraduate student nurses and midwives during their education. CPC is graded as a CNM2 and is paid on that scale since its inception.
The Report of the Expert Review Body on Nursing and Midwifery recommended additional points on the Clinical Nurse/Midwife Manager 2 (CNM2) pay scale. The Clinical Placement Coordinator has been graded as a CNM2 and on that salary scale since the inception of the role. This point has been confirmed by a Department of Health report which evaluated the grade in October 2001.
The Department of Health is now blocking the implementation of the increases to the CNM2 scale for CPCs. This is notwithstanding that the Department of Health has accepted that other grades paid at CNM2 level, such as Clinical Nurse and Midwife Specialists, should have the increases applied to them.
There is no basis for the differential and less favourable treatment of CPCs, they are a graded as CNM2 and the Report of the Expert Review Body on Nursing and Midwifery made no distinction between those on the CNM2 pay scale.
Additionally, the recent Expert Review Body Report recognises that the CPC grade is central to the support of students while on clinical placement, further the Report recognises the pivotal role they play in ensuring the quality and safety of the learning environment for these key professionals in education.
The Department of Health's stance is bizarre given the acknowledged need for more student nurses and midwives, which requires more diverse placements and additional CPCs. The current pay discrepancy will hinder both recruitment and retention of CPCs, a role essential to meeting the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland's education standards. Without addressing this issue, the government's goal to increase nursing and midwifery students cannot be achieved.
The Department of Health's 2022 report ‘A System Dynamics Model of Nursing Workforce Supply’ stresses the need to increase locally sourced nursing/midwifery staff to meet WHO Code of Practice (WHO-GCP) commitments. It highlights the urgent need for more student placements in Ireland, emphasising that Clinical Placement Coordinators (CPCs) are essential for this. CPCs must be paid according to their grade, and failing to do so breaches industrial relations norms, violating workers' contractual entitlements.
We are calling on the Minister for Health and the Chief Nursing Officer to reverse this position and to resolve this anomaly for the good of the professions, our requirement to comply with WHO code of practice and to ensure sufficient supply of CPCs will be available to support the training of an increasing number of students into the future.
The Clinical Placement Coordinator (CPC) is a pivotal nursing and midwifery role with responsibility for coordination and support of essential clinical placements throughout the health service for undergraduate student nurses and midwives during their education. CPC is graded as a CNM2 and is paid on that scale since its inception.
The Report of the Expert Review Body on Nursing and Midwifery recommended additional points on the Clinical Nurse/Midwife Manager 2 (CNM2) pay scale. The Clinical Placement Coordinator has been graded as a CNM2 and on that salary scale since the inception of the role. This point has been confirmed by a Department of Health report which evaluated the grade in October 2001.
The Department of Health is now blocking the implementation of the increases to the CNM2 scale for CPCs. This is notwithstanding that the Department of Health has accepted that other grades paid at CNM2 level, such as Clinical Nurse and Midwife Specialists, should have the increases applied to them.
There is no basis for the differential and less favourable treatment of CPCs, they are a graded as CNM2 and the Report of the Expert Review Body on Nursing and Midwifery made no distinction between those on the CNM2 pay scale.
Additionally, the recent Expert Review Body Report recognises that the CPC grade is central to the support of students while on clinical placement, further the Report recognises the pivotal role they play in ensuring the quality and safety of the learning environment for these key professionals in education.
The Department of Health's stance is bizarre given the acknowledged need for more student nurses and midwives, which requires more diverse placements and additional CPCs. The current pay discrepancy will hinder both recruitment and retention of CPCs, a role essential to meeting the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland's education standards. Without addressing this issue, the government's goal to increase nursing and midwifery students cannot be achieved.
The Department of Health's 2022 report ‘A System Dynamics Model of Nursing Workforce Supply’ stresses the need to increase locally sourced nursing/midwifery staff to meet WHO Code of Practice (WHO-GCP) commitments. It highlights the urgent need for more student placements in Ireland, emphasising that Clinical Placement Coordinators (CPCs) are essential for this. CPCs must be paid according to their grade, and failing to do so breaches industrial relations norms, violating workers' contractual entitlements.
We are calling on the Minister for Health and the Chief Nursing Officer to reverse this position and to resolve this anomaly for the good of the professions, our requirement to comply with WHO code of practice and to ensure sufficient supply of CPCs will be available to support the training of an increasing number of students into the future.