As I walk home from my third 13-hour shift this week, I try to reflect on everything that happened today. As a student nurse, I get exposed to a lot: life, death and everything in between. By the time I’ve gotten home, I’ve already called my mum to tell her I want to withdraw from my nursing course. It’s not because of what I do as a nursing student, it’s purely down to how I am expected to live, work up to 40 hours a week and study at the same time.
I have completed 36 hours on a medical ward in the teaching hospital this week as a student nurse. I love it. It’s stressful, but something I’ve always wanted to do. The problem lies, however, in having to work the extra 24 to 36 hours in order to fund going to university because my placement as a student nurse is unpaid and SUSI continue to deny me a more substantial grant. College also continues to ask me to pay my fees, despite the fact that I don’t currently have the money to do so.
In some cases, students don’t even have enough money to pay for bills or buy food. Students are already under immense pressure studying for their degree
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SUSI stands for Student Universal Support Ireland. Support is a word that is probably thrown around quite a bit. When I think of support, I think of helping others to achieve their potential. The best SUSI can do to support me is to give me €168 a month. This is simply not enough. The Irish government has decided that I should have to pay to better myself. Why, I do not know. Other countries with free education show that free third-level fees benefit society massively. Then, there’s countries such as the US and the UK who make students pay for their education which leaves students with massive debt leaving college – a similar model is currently being explored by the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills.
What’s even funnier about the Irish government and its use of support, though, is that they expect me to stay in Ireland and work in our severely short-staffed and under-resourced health service. The conditions are relatively poor and the government wants graduate nurses to work here so the health service doesn’t sink any further than it already has. In essence, the government don’t want to support me but wants me to support them.
The fact of the matter is that students in all courses are struggling with the current system. Many are already in debt, having to take out student loans just to register for their course. We are working up to, and sometimes beyond, 70 hours a week. In some cases, students don’t even have enough money to pay for bills or buy food. Students are already under immense pressure studying for their degree.
This journey puts our mental and physical health at risk, but sure “we’re young”. I swear, if another person tries to tell me that “youth” is on my side and “I’ll be grand”, I’m going to make them do a week in the life of a student nurse without government support. When a student nurse is handed some bread, cheese and milk from the staff nurse when walking off the ward because she can see how that person is struggling, something is severely wrong. In fact, some of the qualified staff are doing the exact same thing.
When a student nurse is handed some bread, cheese and milk from the staff nurse when walking off the ward because she can see how that person is struggling, something is severely wrong
Personally, I know I’m not far off from medical exhaustion. I know my mental health is deteriorating. I’m fighting with people due to tiredness and frustration. I’m crying to my mum who, in turn, is crying right back down the phone because we know this isn’t sustainable. Physically, I am beaten.
I don’t know how I can continue when I can’t fuel my body with the basics like food and rest. Somehow, though, my love for nursing gets me up every morning for placement. I feel privileged to be able to fight in any way possible for the chance to get the education I’m currently receiving – an education that should be a right for all.
The future of Ireland looks bleak. If we continue to treat young people and students like we do then there is nothing to keep us here. We need more support, not more fees.
