Healthcare students are “fed up” of spending weeks on placement where they expected to work for free or very low wages. 

As part of their degrees, students in medicine, nursing, occupation therapy, dentistry and physio practise their skills while on a placement in a medical setting. 

While students acknowledge they learn valuable skills on placement, many feel also the tasks they carry out are complex and worthy of proper remuneration. 

Nurses and midwifery students are now paid a €500 subsistence grant which student Orla said is meant to “cover our food”.  

“Which works to cover our food costs while on placement - which works out at about €9 a week to cover food,” she told Lunchtime Live. 

“So, it’s not a lot.” 

Orla added that being a student is not cheap and there are many hidden costs for students on health science courses. 

“You’re paying your fees, you’re paying to be there to do the course but you’re not being paid to go on placement,” she said. 

“You’re not getting paid for any of that; then you’ve got extra costs on top of this. 

“You’ve got uniforms, vaccines, blood tests, it’s about €40 for lab coats... It can all add up to hundreds at the end of the day.” 

Hand of nurse holding a senior woman. Concept of helping hands, care for the elderly. Picture by: Alamy.com

Another student, Grace, said budgeting as a healthcare student is “not easy”. 

“Nursing students are actually the only students who go on placement who receive the… €250 per semester,” she said. 

“A lot of the time, it’s actually coming in late or it can take almost two semesters to come in. 

“We’re seeing a lot of mature students who need this money to come in because it’s the only form of payment we receive. 

“They’re not getting it and the HSE are ghosting people when reaching - they’re not helping us.” 

Grace admitted that students do not have “as many skills” as fully qualified nurses but feels they deserve more than €250 a term. 

“We’re looking to get paid,” she said. 

“At the end of the day, we’re putting in the same hours as registered nurses. 

“We’re doing the same work as healthcare assistants but we receive nothing for it, realistically.” 

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Main image shows a student nurse and patient. Image by: Alamy.com