The INMO has strongly criticised this week’s proposal by the US administration to exclude nursing from its list of "professional degrees" as part of a review of education programmes.
The decision will restrict access to student loans and leave many prospective students unable to pursue a career in the profession.
The union has joined with nursing organisations including the European Federation of Nurses Associations and the Royal College of Nursing, in stating that this decision devalues the nursing profession at a time when growing the nursing workforce must be a global priority.
INMO general secretary Phil Ni Sheaghdha said:
To devalue the nursing profession in this way does not make any sense in terms of healthcare needs and patient care.
In the face of a global shortage of nurses, governments worldwide should be doing everything they can to attract people into the profession and support them to complete their studies.
Nurses in the US, just like their colleagues in Ireland, undertake a rigorous and demanding degree to gain their initial qualification, and can undertake many years of advanced postgraduate training to become invaluable specialists and clinical leaders. To discourage nurses from entering the profession or from pursuing advanced studies is a huge backward step that will have consequences around the world.
This is not an issue that only affects nurses in the US. Many nurses, including myself, have taken our nursing qualifications to the US and to other countries, just as many nurses have come to work in Ireland from elsewhere. Our careers and our professions are unquestionably connected to those of our colleagues in other countries, and the undermining of the nursing profession anywhere affects us all.
It has not escaped the attention of nursing leaders that this downgrading affects a profession that is overwhelmingly undertaken by women. We are sending a message to our American colleagues that we stand with them in calling for the protection of their profession.