We want the government to ensure that student nurses are paid for their placement hours. With the rise in living cost, even with the training grant and maintenance loans, we feel it is increasingly hard for student nurses to live.

Student nurses are allowed to work for 48 hours a week including their placement hours for safety reasons. If nurses work 37.5 hours a week at their placements, that only leaves 10.5 hours a week to find paid work. As a student nurse, living on my own and estranged from family, with the rise in living costs, I have found studying increasingly harder throughout each year. This has been to the point where I have had a small mental breakdown due to stress and exhaustion. I know many other student who debate during every placement whether they should drop out due to financial difficulties. We believe if the government wants to stop losing student nurses throughout their course, this is a major factor that needs looking into.