Student Nurse

pink_phantom

Also, as student nurses we don't get holidays like the rest of unis. We don't get half terms at all and we start from 7th Sep right through to the end of july with 2 weeks off at xmas and 2 at easter.

rainbow12

If you register with nursing agencies you could be paid as a limited company - where you pay yourself minimum wage and then get paid dividends from the rest of your earnings which you dont pay tax on. You end up gettin gpaid a higher rate because it will include your holiday pay etc.
It can be a bit complicated but I have found it is definitely saving me enough to be worthwhile. I think it depends on how much you earn as to how mch better off you are

Techno

Are there any nursing homes near you? They are always looking for good HCAs to cover shifts - I did this when I was training and little bro (who is doing a psychology degree) is doing the same in an EMH home.
Then again, having read a post from what appeared to be a sister/charge nurse on the mortgage board earlier - they reckon you can earn almost as much stacking shelves!!

BoC163

Have you taken a look at the matched betting thread on the forum? It needs a bit of reading through and understanding but once the 'penny drops' it does work!
I'm at the 'other end' of my nursing career (9 years left and counting ) and work only as a bank nurse and look on my 'matched betting' profits as a reason not feel so guilty about working less hours!
Although the pay and the stress will be the same have you registered with your local PCT nurse bank as they may have HCA hours on the community which are usually much more sociable times?
Hope this helps and good luck!

DrFluffy

pink_phantom wrote:

Also, as student nurses we don't get holidays like the rest of unis. We don't get half terms at all and we start from 7th Sep right through to the end of july with 2 weeks off at xmas and 2 at easter.

Same as medicine then - but we do not get a £5K pa bursary

I realise that the potential earnings (providing we can get a job!) are better than nursing at the end of it all, but that's not much use if you weren't born with a silver spoon in your mouth and wealthy family, and have no real way of raising the fees and living expenses!

sheryldoc

Robothell wrote:

Edit - although I don't know if a £10,000pa rise is warranted, certainly a few more thousand is fair but if you ask for more you can settle for less.

its an increase of the bursary TO 10k pa.. not a 10k rise.. although I wouldnt say no LOL

Its currently around 5k basic.. and considering 50% of our training is ward based FT shifts then I think 10k is much more realistic.

VERY VERY high dropout rates due to finance difficulties.. hard to get a job espec when on placement as your hours vary.

Working a FT job (placement) then a PT job (to get ££) then studying is very hard.. made even worse if you have a family.

Girlzmum

sheryldoc wrote: »

its an increase of the bursary TO 10k pa.. not a 10k rise.. although I wouldnt say no LOL

Its currently around 5k basic.. and considering 50% of our training is ward based FT shifts then I think 10k is much more realistic.

VERY VERY high dropout rates due to finance difficulties.. hard to get a job espec when on placement as your hours vary.

Working a FT job (placement) then a PT job (to get ££) then studying is very hard.. made even worse if you have a family.

I'm in the same boat atm, I have 2 kids - one in school and one who is in Primary school. The bursary doesn't even cover my childcare costs, yet I'm not entitled to any help from CTC unless I work minimum 16 hours per week, so when I'm on placement I have to work 37 1/2 hours on the ward then an extra 16 hours just to try to pay for childcare. I know that in the rest of the UK student nurses are entitled to claim up to 85% of their childcare costs back but it hasn't been brought in in Northern Ireland. Its getting to the point where I don't know if I can continue studying as we're sinking under the financial costs.

scorpio_princess

jayarr wrote: »

i know its not relevant and i'm not having a go, but speaking as a student teacher, i wish i 'only' had a £5k bursary that didn't have to be paid back..unlike my loans

I thought those studying for a PGCE get a bursary? I hope to do a secondary PGCE in English when I graduate and looked into this - as far as I can see, trainee teachers get up to £9,000 in bursaries. Plus if you are training to teach a shortage subject, you can get a 'golden hello' of up to £5,000 (unfortunately they've just scrapped this for English, which cheered me up no end!)

Anyway, I just wanted to say that there are lots of professions that don't pay trainees very much, if anything - that's life! No one is forcing anyone to become a nurse or teacher or doctor - ok, we'd be in a sorry state if there were none, but it's not all about money surely? Everyone wants more money, regardless of what they do for a living. Teachers and nurses salaries aren't some sort of secret that you only find out about once you're qualified - you go into it with your eyes wide open. That might not make it right, but life isn't fair like that!

Girlzmum

scorpio_princess wrote: »

Anyway, I just wanted to say that there are lots of professions that don't pay trainees very much, if anything - that's life! No one is forcing anyone to become a nurse or teacher or doctor - ok, we'd be in a sorry state if there were none, but it's not all about money surely? Everyone wants more money, regardless of what they do for a living. Teachers and nurses salaries aren't some sort of secret that you only find out about once you're qualified - you go into it with your eyes wide open. That might not make it right, but life isn't fair like that!

Nursing training is a vocational training - you spend 50% of your time in class and 50% working full time so it is very unlike teaching or medicine.

DrFluffy

Hell knows what I do on wards from 7.30am-8pm then...???!!!