Student nurses have empty purses

They wear a uniform and their feet pound the same floors each and every day. They comfort patients, provide them with the care that every person deserves. They look after your mother, brother, father and sister, and they do this all for free.

Student nurses work in the same hospitals and clinics as staff nurses, often doing the exact same work as a qualified nurse while in their third and fourth year of training. Student nurses are expected to provide quality care, at the level of their professional counterparts, even though they receive no wage in return.

The treatment that student nurses receive is a “sore topic” among that very group, said 4th year Paediatric and General Nursing student Sarah Scanlan. While on their placements, student nurses do a full working week worth of hours, and all for no pay.

During their first and second years the students only observe while on their placements, but it is different during the third and fourth year. “[In] third and fourth year you’re a member of the team, have your own patients, administer meds, write notes, stay late to handover all for free”, said Scanlan.

The students have no issues with the fact that they have to do work as they are training for their future career, but the lack of a wage for what they do is a problem. Many students work extra jobs in order to make ends meet. “A lot of us work in shops or doing Health Care Assistant agency work which means you end up working 60+ hour weeks on top of your assignments,” said Scanlan.