By Klaudia Hostynska
More than two thirds of student nurses experience mental health issues during their degree, according to a survey by the Royal Medical Benevolent Fund. Almost as many are reluctant to seek help due to the course they are studying.
Student Sasha, who wishes to remain anonymous, says there is ‘not enough support’ for students during medical placements. She’s in her third year, studying to be a child’s nurse. “Especially with Covid, we were treated as experienced staff members. Due to staff shortages we just had to get along with it,” says Sasha.
She was stressed about starting a placement early in the pandemic, and says her university did not offer much help either. After voicing her concerns, she was told ‘not to worry about it’ and did not get any other help.
Student nurse Annie Konov also had problems. “Due to Covid I really struggled with my work at home. There’s not enough explanation.” Most nursing courses are still online. “The only support I can truly find is my friends and family. Whenever I have a hard shift at a placement, no one else is interested.”
On one of Annie’s placements she was working in a neonatal intensive care unit, where a baby died. The baby contracted Covid and had to be put on a ventilator, while there were complications with its kidneys and it did not respond well. Annie says: “I expected more help with what I just went through. I am still human. I understand I will have to get used to it but for nurses who experience it for the first time, there should be some kind of mental health procedure afterwards.”
‘I cried for hours’
Sasha remembers her most traumatic experience: “Cardiac arrest […] Although they teach you how to deal with it, seeing it is completely different. I cried for hours. The nurses just asked if I am okay to stay till the end of my shift but eventually, I couldn’t be there any longer.” When Sasha experienced death at work for the first time, she was shocked how everybody continued to go about their day.
Both Annie and Sasha say the support they receive comes from their families and partners. “As a student nurse I struggle with a lot of trauma,” says Annie. “At the end of the day. I chose this course, and I do not feel comfortable showing how badly I struggle in terrible situations during placements. My life is put on a second plan when you have to make sure people stay alive. I wish it was more encouraged for us to get mental health support.”
Sasha also struggles to ‘juggle her life’ while she’s on placement. She’s worried that if she does not get used to ‘blocking it out’ all the time as she leaves the hospital she will not be suitable for the course.
Leave a Reply