We would like the government to put in place better support systems for student nurses financially. 

As of September 2023 the dropout rate of student nurses before they complete their degree was 12%. This can be because of many things but I believe one of the main reasons is because of the lack of financial support for student nurses. 

As a student nurse you have to complete 2,300 hours of placement in order to graduate, working a minimum of 37.5 hours a week. Clinical placement blocks can last from 6 weeks to 12 weeks doing them 3 times a year. This leaves little room for student nurses to have jobs and earn extra money. It is hard to hold down a job while on clinical placement as you can be working various shifts patterns. These patterns can be 12.5 hour x3 a week, 7.5 hour x5 a week and unsociable hours e.g night shifts, weekend shifts.  Whilst also on clinical placement we are expected to be completing assignments often having deadlines while on placement. So although we only sometimes work 3 times a week we often spend our free time completing work and meeting deadlines. 

Although there is options for student finance and NHS bursaries this is not substantial enough especially now more then ever with due to the cost of living crisis. The current maximum student finance amount you can get for studying in 2023/24 living away from home outside of London is £10,227. There is also the option to apply for an NHS LSF bursary of £5000 and other support for parents. When looking at these figures many things need to be taken into consideration;Rent, Water bill, Gas bill, Energy bill, Phone bill, Transport, Food

These are just the necessities and the main bills we have to pay to just live. This list doesn’t take into consideration other expenses that others may not find important and can vary for people.
Training to be a nurse can be very challenging with students often having burnouts after placements (while also completing assignments) because of the stress. However we are finding it difficult to help ourselves both mentally and physically because of financial reasons.

Our mental health is also affected because of this with reasons being we feel we have no time to relax and are also thinking about our work load or placement. Training to be a nurse can be a very hard mentally on people as most have come straight from finishing college or sixth form and have never seen things they would normally see in a hospital. Which is why I feel it is important to have little breaks and do things most people are able to like have day trips or simply going for food with friends. 

In conclusion to all the reasons I have listen above I believe it is vital the government make changes to the way student nurses are supported financially. This can be through increasing bursaries or paying students wages while on placement.