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Closed petition PE2039: Fair pay to student nurses while on placement
Calling on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to pay student nurses for their placement hours.
Previous action taken
Wrote to Ash Regan MSP A member of her staff got back to me and provided me with the links to make my own petition.
Background information
As a student nurse, I feel we should get paid while on placement. We are supposed to be there for the learning experience to complete our electronic Practice Assessment Documents) and be supernumerary. However, during my last 3 placements I have been used as a spare member of staff, covering either for staff off sick or for staff not attending bank and agency shifts.
I was a clinical support worker before becoming a student nurse, taking a £1000 pay cut to better myself and study.
NHS paid student nurses during the Covid-19 pandemic, so I don’t know why this can’t continue. The longest placement we do is three months and they already use us in their working numbers which should not be the case. Doing a placement while also writing essays and preparing for exams is not an ideal situation to be in. This adds up to a 50+ hour week, and can lead to burnout, financial difficulties and poor mental health.
We get a bursary but this doesn’t even cover some people’s mortgages. Being paid for placement work would help to reduce the number of people dropping out due to financial difficulties.
This petition was considered by the Scottish Parliament
3,125 signatures