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  • 23 January 2023
  • 8 min read

Unfair Treatment In Student Nursing

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    • Mat Martin
    • Richard Gill
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“You may feel like you might get in trouble for speaking out against people who you see as higher up than you, but at the end of the day, you have to protect yourself, you have to protect your feelings, you have to protect your health, your mental health, your physical health, everything. So just speak up.”

Alex talks openly about her experience of unfair treatment in student nursing, why it’s so important to speak up and how it can even have an effect on students completing their nursing training.

Hi everyone, my name is Alex. I am a newly qualified Children's Nurse.

Today's video is going to be about the topic surrounding unfair treatment in nursing in the NHS. And as I am a newly qualified nurse, I'm going to be talking about it from the perspective of being a student nurse both in practice and as a student in university.

Unfair treatment in regard to nursing I feel like is a very umbrella topic. There's a lot of different aspects of it that people can speak about, and I feel like are really important.

Unfair Treatment?

I think the main things that people will think about when they think of this type of unfair treatment would be bullying, isolation, feeling left out, discrimination. And that discrimination could come in all different forms to do with things like gender, race, religion, age, disability, and sexual orientation. I think those are the biggest factors that allow people to be subjected to unfair treatment.

I don't think I've spoken to a student nurse or an ex-student nurse who has not felt at some point in their career or their student life that they have felt disrespected, or they may have felt like somebody spoke to them in a disrespectful way or that they felt like they weren't listened to. I feel like it is a very common thing.

When It Can Happen

Here are some examples, especially as a third-year student.

I think in your second and third year when you start to be given more responsibility, you are expected to have certain conversations with other healthcare professionals.

People still see you as the student, they may not take you seriously and they may not feel like they want to ask you certain questions about patients. They may think you might not know the answers when you actually do know the answers. So they'll go straight to the nurse that you're working with instead of coming to you even though you've probably had the most patient contact with that patient if you're taking over the caseload with supervision. People don't feel listened to in that aspect.

Obviously with the placement culture as a nursing student, you're moving from place to place. You're not staying on a ward or in a placement area for very long.

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Student Experiences

Sometimes it can be very hard to integrate yourself into the team. People might be a little bit cliquey and not as welcoming which can be quite difficult. If you are a bit different to the team you might be a lot younger, you might be a different race, different religion, you might have a lot of other differences to these people.

If you're a male nurse, you might find it quite hard to integrate yourself into a team that is primarily full of female nurses or for any reason that you may be different to the majority based on your gender or your sexuality or anything else that might make you more of a minority. This can allow people to be singled out by a very small minority of people that aren't as accepting and kind of welcoming. And this can be quite difficult, especially if you come into a new placement area and you feel like you're not being accepted or listened to for any reason. It can be really hard and it can really knock confidence.

I've heard so many people tell me things, tell me about their experiences with feeling like this and feeling like they're being treated unfairly.

You may feel like you might get in trouble for kind of speaking out against people who you see as higher up than you, but at the end of the day, you have to protect yourself, you have to protect your feelings, you have to protect your health, your mental health, your physical health, everything. So just speak up.

I've read so many things on social media about people feeling like nobody wanted to know their name and they were just called the student.

People just not wanting to speak to them and people kind of just forgetting that they exist and just not really acknowledging them.

I think it's really horrible and it is a culture that can be quite off-putting for prospective students if they hear so many negative stories it can be quite off-putting.

It is a shame, because obviously there are so many positive and beautiful things about nursing and about the NHS, but there unfortunately will be people who will be unkind.

How It Can Affect Students

I think as a student it can be really hard to grow and develop in confidence and develop as a professional when you've got people who might not be listening to you or who might not be just taking you seriously. And I think it's something that really needs to be addressed and worked on.

On the flip side, in terms of being a student nurse on the university side, another thing that can fall into unfair treatment is the fact that we are not paid for the placement work that we do. Obviously, we do receive NHS grants. Student nurses are effectively not paid for the work that they do and its full-time work.

The Value Of Paid Placements

People have other things that they have to prioritise in their spare time. So they might be on placement and on their days off, they still have to study, still have to work a part-time job or look after dependents.  There's so much that goes into it and that's why a lot of people can't even finish the course, or a lot of people suffer with mental health issues financial strain, stress, burnout. It's really, really difficult.

It's just quite frankly not fair. Having to go into debt to work for free. It is difficult.

Obviously, we need the placement hours, we need the experience that is so, so, so important. And obviously, that is one of the biggest requirements of the course, but it does become a struggle when you can't financially support yourself and you're trying to do your best.  There's still people who struggle and have to pay for certain things and people have to go that extra mile to be able to pay their rent or to be able to pay for transport to get to and from placement and things like that. It can be really, really difficult for a lot of people.

I've heard a lot of people who have been hesitant to go into nursing just because they're anxious about all of these sorts of things and wondering if they will be able to work on the side and if they'll be able to balance it and afford to live. Especially with the cost-of-living crisis at the moment that is an even bigger anxiety for nursing students and prospective nursing students.

So I think there is a lot that needs to be unpacked within this topic and a lot of that obviously weighs heavily on the government and that is another massive flaw that is a whole different topic. But yeah, there is a lot that goes into it and I think this topic is something that people need to be speaking about more.

The Importance Of Advocacy

Registered nurses and other healthcare professionals need to make sure they're advocating for their students, making sure that they're heard.

If you are a student yourself, make sure that you're seeking advice from anybody that you trust, whether that be on placement, outside of placement, in university.

Report any sort of bullying, harassment, unfair treatment that you witness or experience on placement or in university, because it's not acceptable at all. And that's really something that should not be tolerated at all in any workplace.

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Speak Up!

Just speak up.  It is hard.

You may feel like you might get in trouble for kind of speaking out against people who you see as higher up than you, but at the end of the day, you have to protect yourself, you have to protect your feelings, you have to protect your health, your mental health, your physical health, everything. So just speak up.

I think this is a conversation that shouldn't be stopped. We just need to make sure that we are advocating for ourselves, advocating for each other, and protecting student nurses and ensuring that they can complete their qualification with as much ease as possible and comfort and support.

Please get the conversation going. It is a really important topic that needs to be spoken about.

If you have any issues, please report them, please speak up.

I really hope this video was insightful for you and I will see you my next one.

Bye.

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About this contributor

I'm a Newly Registered Nurse specialising in Children’s Nursing, which I have a great passion for. I feel very strongly about equal treatment and care for everyone, as it sets all children and young people up for the best future possible! I create vlogs following my Nursing journey and advice videos to help others along their own journeys too.

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    • Carolina Valladares 2 years ago
      Carolina Valladares
    • Carolina Valladares
      2 years ago

      Reply to: Kyle Brennan: 1. I comment on whatever I want to comment on. There's still freedom of speech. 2. I start ... read more

    • Carolina Valladares 2 years ago
      Carolina Valladares
    • Carolina Valladares
      2 years ago

      Well. Also, let's talk about when the students treat unfairly or badly their mentors. I have definitely experienced this.

      • You've read an article about the unfair treatment of student nurses and the only thing you've decided to comment is that students also treat service users and staff badly, and that what student nurses... read more

        You've read an article about the unfair treatment of student nurses and the only thing you've decided to comment is that students also treat service users and staff badly, and that what student nurses do isn't "work" and that it takes up some of your time? As a registered nurse, who is also trainer qualified, you are paid to teach the next generation of nurses and be a positive role model. How soul draining it must be for students working with you, if this is your attitude. I imagine you've inspired most of the writings abovementioned. Maybe try thinking a bit beyond your own life and acknowledge the difficulties of future professionals in their chosen field, or should they simply be seen and not heard?
        read less

        Replied by: Kyle Brennan
    • Carolina Valladares 2 years ago
      Carolina Valladares
    • Carolina Valladares
      2 years ago

      Ok. I agree with all except that "students are not paid for the work they do"... and fairly so, because, ... read more

    • temilade oti 2 years ago
      temilade oti
    • temilade oti
      2 years ago

      Hello am interested in this discussion! It time to SPEAK UP

    • Grace Eiffe 2 years ago
      Grace Eiffe
    • Grace Eiffe
      2 years ago

      I nodded my head along to your whole video. I have experienced it personally and I have witnessed it. I’m ... read more

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