Time for change
Wednesday, February 28, 2001
Further to the news story about the amount of compensation for Lisa Potts (8 February), not only is it a disgrace that she received such a pathetic amount of money as compensation for her horrific injuries, but it is an even bigger disgrace that she was earning a salary of 8,500 before the attack. You could earn more money than that cleaning offices. I know from more than 20 years as a nursery nurse that it has to be a vocation rather than a job. Why else would you do it with such poor monetary rewards? But how can we carry on treating childcarers in this manner? Is it any wonder there is now a huge shortfall in the profession?
You could earn more money than that cleaning offices. I know from more than 20 years as a nursery nurse that it has to be a vocation rather than a job. Why else would you do it with such poor monetary rewards? But how can we carry on treating childcarers in this manner? Is it any wonder there is now a huge shortfall in the profession?
What nursery nursing needs is a decent career progression that is actually put into practice, as opposed to constantly being talked about. And there also needs to be a living wage for nursery nurses who live outside of London. I know of many former childcare workers who have left the profession because of the lack of opportunities and poor pay. Will it get to the stage where there are no longer any mature childcarers to help train the new ones?
Lesley Collins via e-mail
