Nursing students across the country took to the streets yesterday amid rising financial pressures and lack of job vacancies.
They've raised concerns about the lack of financial support for nurses-in-training during full-time placements - with many working up to three months with no compensation.
Student nurse Shannyn Bristowe says there's a significant number of students who drop out of training due to financial reasons.
"We need to realise that the cost of living has gone up by such a significant amount that while you're studying for your degree - you don't actually have the costs to meet the basic necessities of living or supporting yourself or your whanau."
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Sunday Session podcast with Francesca Rudgin
from News Talks EDB.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Nursing students rallied across the country yesterday calling on the
government to invest in their futures. The action was around
the lack of financial support for students while completing their
clinical placements, but funded clinical training isn't the only issue
facing nurses. They are also saying is a shortage of
jobs once they're fully trained. To taught me through the situation,
I'm joined by student nurse Shannon Bristow. Thanks for your
(00:34):
time this morning. Shannon.
Speaker 3 (00:36):
Hi, no loans at all. Hi, how are you going good?
Speaker 2 (00:38):
Thank you?
Speaker 1 (00:39):
Hey.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
Let's start with the rally yesterday calling for funding for
financial assistance for student nurses during clinical placements. How much
financial pressure our student nurse has been put under.
Speaker 3 (00:51):
Student nursing students are, sorry, nissances under quite a significant
amount of financial pressure throughout their three years of their degree.
I think at the moment we need to realize that
the cost of living has gone up such a significant
amount that while you're studying through your degree, you don't
actually have the costs to meet the basic necessities of
(01:13):
living or supporting yourself or your far No, So we're
definitely finding that there's quite a significant dropout rate when
students are studying. They actually don't even get through the
degree because the burden is such a great, so greatly
f out.
Speaker 2 (01:28):
Shannon taught me through the clinical placements, how long do
they last and are you working full time for that period?
Speaker 3 (01:36):
Yes, the placements vary throughout your three years. I've just
finished a twelve week placement and it is full time
to the students that are on their placements. It is
full time while you are on that time, and then
students are also having to try and work on top
of that if they are able to. However, a lot
of the time it's not actually possible to do your
(01:57):
clinical placement and then go to a job afterwards because
the burnout is so significantly great. So you're looking at
doing that eight and a half hour shift forty hours week,
then on top of it, happened to try and go
and find work elsewhere if you can. But then you're
looking at working and studying forty hours a week and
then working on top of it, So you're doing seven
(02:18):
days a week, sometimes quite huge hours.
Speaker 2 (02:21):
Yeah, and there's no payment for those clinical placements.
Speaker 3 (02:26):
There's no payment for those, but.
Speaker 2 (02:28):
They're obviously a really critical part of the training, right.
Speaker 3 (02:31):
Definitely, Definitely, it's where you put all your learning into practice,
and you've learned so much on those practices as well,
so it's something that you need to be doing it.
You've got to meet those hours to be able to
actually learn the job and do the job.
Speaker 2 (02:44):
So I can see how stressful that's going to be
and how difficult it is to manage. You either try
and find some work outside of that or somehow you've
got you've got to get yourself prepared so that you
can cope with those twelve weeks stunts. I suppose is
that how you manage it.
Speaker 3 (02:59):
Pretty much even outside of the placement. So you're still
studying full time for those three years, so you're in classes,
you've got such great study load, you've got your assignments
on top of it, so you've been working during those times.
Is proving to be quite difficult for students. You've also
got students that are studying later in life. A lot
of Maori tell would to study later in life, so
they do have families that they need to support on
(03:21):
top of it. So despite the fact that we might
not be on placements for the entire time over three years,
you've still got to manitate a balance and be there
for your finance and support your finot So, yeah, it's
not just the placements that people are struggling to finance themselves,
and it's just a great It's felt a lot harder
in those moments. You've also three years in general, Yeah, the.
Speaker 2 (03:42):
Whole thing altogether. Yeah, you've also opened up about a
shortage of jobs once you graduate. What is the situation there.
Speaker 3 (03:50):
So the situation is the government has put on a
hiring freeze as such. So the intake that happened midway
through the year and my intake, there's no jobs really
going it. Also, for our classes, you're looking at under
quarter of the class that will actually be able to
be offered a position moving into next year. So you've
fought for the three years to get through the degree
(04:13):
and now we're faced with the future of not even
knowing if we can get a job. And it's not
as easy as moving into another town, moving into another city.
I've heard of students that have tried to apply in
other areas but they haven't even been offered that interview,
because obviously the students that are stunning in that area,
the priority has given to them as a job available.
A lot of students are also speaking about moving out
(04:34):
to Australia. However, again it's not the case for everyone
that can just do that. They're the huge cost and
again you've got your families to support. We also don't
want to be losing all of our homegrown students to
Australia because we need our homegrown workforce.
Speaker 2 (04:47):
So what are you hearing from student nurses? What are
they planning to do after graduation?
Speaker 3 (04:53):
Some students, as I said, some students are looking at
moving to Australia if they can, and other students are
just now trying to figure out how on earth they're
going to meet meet their finances. Because if you are
a student that has been our for student I live
in cost or student allowance that gets cut as soon
as your degree is finished, which is before we actually
have to set our state exam, So any finances that
(05:14):
you might be eligible for from the government cut the
service the degree is finished, You've still got up to
a month before you're going to be sitting that exam,
So in between that time you're having to try and
find a way to support yourself, not even knowing if
you're going to be able to get a job after
the exam and after you pass escape.
Speaker 2 (05:32):
It feels like we've had really mixed messages Shannon that
we had a shortage of nurses. We're really encouraging people
to go into the industry. Has a situation changed since
you started training? Is it changed quickly?
Speaker 3 (05:44):
I think that the government is saying that we're in
that we're not in a shortage of nurses. But I
think if you come stand in the hospital or in
any area that they are nurses, you'll see that there's
a shortage. Show. Yeah, the Health Minister is saying that
he is training our own, homegrown, culturally competent health workforce,
including nurses is important to the government, but we're not
(06:05):
seeing the action in that. So it's really you know,
he's saying the right words, but there's no actually action
behind it. Because there is a shortage, there is a
burnout and we need to be focusing on supporting our
nursing workforce and the future of our workforce because we
need a homegrown nurses. So, oh, nothing's changed apart from
the fact we do need nurses. We have a shortage
(06:26):
of nurses and we need to prioritize ensuring we can
keep our current nurses and grow our future workforce.
Speaker 2 (06:33):
Shannon, thank you so much for your time this morning.
Really appreciated. Of course, this isn't a new issue, is it.
We've been hearing about the pressures on nursing students and
placements and been able to afford to train for a
long time now, and it's great to hear that we've
got all these willing nurses training, but yeah, we need
to get them into jobs.
Speaker 1 (06:53):
For more from the Sunday session with Francesca Rudkin, listen
live to use talks there'd be from nine am Sunday,
or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio.
You're listening to the Sunday Session podcast with Francesca Rudgin
from News Talks EDB.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Nursing students rallied across the country yesterday calling on the
government to invest in their futures. The action was around
the lack of financial support for students while completing their
clinical placements, but funded clinical training isn't the only issue
facing nurses. They are also saying is a shortage of
jobs once they're fully trained. To taught me through the situation,
I'm joined by student nurse Shannon Bristow. Thanks for your
(00:34):
time this morning. Shannon.
Speaker 3 (00:36):
Hi, no loans at all. Hi, how are you going good?
Speaker 2 (00:38):
Thank you?
Speaker 1 (00:39):
Hey.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
Let's start with the rally yesterday calling for funding for
financial assistance for student nurses during clinical placements. How much
financial pressure our student nurse has been put under.
Speaker 3 (00:51):
Student nursing students are, sorry, nissances under quite a significant
amount of financial pressure throughout their three years of their degree.
I think at the moment we need to realize that
the cost of living has gone up such a significant
amount that while you're studying through your degree, you don't
actually have the costs to meet the basic necessities of
(01:13):
living or supporting yourself or your far No, So we're
definitely finding that there's quite a significant dropout rate when
students are studying. They actually don't even get through the
degree because the burden is such a great, so greatly
f out.
Speaker 2 (01:28):
Shannon taught me through the clinical placements, how long do
they last and are you working full time for that period?
Speaker 3 (01:36):
Yes, the placements vary throughout your three years. I've just
finished a twelve week placement and it is full time
to the students that are on their placements. It is
full time while you are on that time, and then
students are also having to try and work on top
of that if they are able to. However, a lot
of the time it's not actually possible to do your
(01:57):
clinical placement and then go to a job afterwards because
the burnout is so significantly great. So you're looking at
doing that eight and a half hour shift forty hours week,
then on top of it, happened to try and go
and find work elsewhere if you can. But then you're
looking at working and studying forty hours a week and
then working on top of it, So you're doing seven
(02:18):
days a week, sometimes quite huge hours.
Speaker 2 (02:21):
Yeah, and there's no payment for those clinical placements.
Speaker 3 (02:26):
There's no payment for those, but.
Speaker 2 (02:28):
They're obviously a really critical part of the training, right.
Speaker 3 (02:31):
Definitely, Definitely, it's where you put all your learning into practice,
and you've learned so much on those practices as well,
so it's something that you need to be doing it.
You've got to meet those hours to be able to
actually learn the job and do the job.
Speaker 2 (02:44):
So I can see how stressful that's going to be
and how difficult it is to manage. You either try
and find some work outside of that or somehow you've
got you've got to get yourself prepared so that you
can cope with those twelve weeks stunts. I suppose is
that how you manage it.
Speaker 3 (02:59):
Pretty much even outside of the placement. So you're still
studying full time for those three years, so you're in classes,
you've got such great study load, you've got your assignments
on top of it, so you've been working during those times.
Is proving to be quite difficult for students. You've also
got students that are studying later in life. A lot
of Maori tell would to study later in life, so
they do have families that they need to support on
(03:21):
top of it. So despite the fact that we might
not be on placements for the entire time over three years,
you've still got to manitate a balance and be there
for your finance and support your finot So, yeah, it's
not just the placements that people are struggling to finance themselves,
and it's just a great It's felt a lot harder
in those moments. You've also three years in general, Yeah, the.
Speaker 2 (03:42):
Whole thing altogether. Yeah, you've also opened up about a
shortage of jobs once you graduate. What is the situation there.
Speaker 3 (03:50):
So the situation is the government has put on a
hiring freeze as such. So the intake that happened midway
through the year and my intake, there's no jobs really
going it. Also, for our classes, you're looking at under
quarter of the class that will actually be able to
be offered a position moving into next year. So you've
fought for the three years to get through the degree
(04:13):
and now we're faced with the future of not even
knowing if we can get a job. And it's not
as easy as moving into another town, moving into another city.
I've heard of students that have tried to apply in
other areas but they haven't even been offered that interview,
because obviously the students that are stunning in that area,
the priority has given to them as a job available.
A lot of students are also speaking about moving out
(04:34):
to Australia. However, again it's not the case for everyone
that can just do that. They're the huge cost and
again you've got your families to support. We also don't
want to be losing all of our homegrown students to
Australia because we need our homegrown workforce.
Speaker 2 (04:47):
So what are you hearing from student nurses? What are
they planning to do after graduation?
Speaker 3 (04:53):
Some students, as I said, some students are looking at
moving to Australia if they can, and other students are
just now trying to figure out how on earth they're
going to meet meet their finances. Because if you are
a student that has been our for student I live
in cost or student allowance that gets cut as soon
as your degree is finished, which is before we actually
have to set our state exam, So any finances that
(05:14):
you might be eligible for from the government cut the
service the degree is finished, You've still got up to
a month before you're going to be sitting that exam,
So in between that time you're having to try and
find a way to support yourself, not even knowing if
you're going to be able to get a job after
the exam and after you pass escape.
Speaker 2 (05:32):
It feels like we've had really mixed messages Shannon that
we had a shortage of nurses. We're really encouraging people
to go into the industry. Has a situation changed since
you started training? Is it changed quickly?
Speaker 3 (05:44):
I think that the government is saying that we're in
that we're not in a shortage of nurses. But I
think if you come stand in the hospital or in
any area that they are nurses, you'll see that there's
a shortage. Show. Yeah, the Health Minister is saying that
he is training our own, homegrown, culturally competent health workforce,
including nurses is important to the government, but we're not
(06:05):
seeing the action in that. So it's really you know,
he's saying the right words, but there's no actually action
behind it. Because there is a shortage, there is a
burnout and we need to be focusing on supporting our
nursing workforce and the future of our workforce because we
need a homegrown nurses. So, oh, nothing's changed apart from
the fact we do need nurses. We have a shortage
(06:26):
of nurses and we need to prioritize ensuring we can
keep our current nurses and grow our future workforce.
Speaker 2 (06:33):
Shannon, thank you so much for your time this morning.
Really appreciated. Of course, this isn't a new issue, is it.
We've been hearing about the pressures on nursing students and
placements and been able to afford to train for a
long time now, and it's great to hear that we've
got all these willing nurses training, but yeah, we need
to get them into jobs.
Speaker 1 (06:53):
For more from the Sunday session with Francesca Rudkin, listen
live to use talks there'd be from nine am Sunday,
or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio.
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