Student nurses 'can't afford' to live due to inadequate financial support during their studies, according to testimonies heard at the 2025 Royal College of Nursing (RCN) Congress.

Natasha Green, a final-year adult student nurse and RCN students committee chair, read testimonies to congress from other nurses and students that demonstrated the toll financial pressures are taking on the next generation of nurses.

Green told congress that students are facing "financial, physical and psychological burnout before we've even graduated."

She said some students are required to work long hours to support themselves, on top of placements and coursework.

Green said one student worked a night shift as a healthcare support worker immediately after finishing a placement shift.

She said another former student said they were unable to finish the course because they "couldn't afford to live."

Green said the means-tested system for maintenance loans, which takes into account parental income when calculating the amount of financial support students receive, "should not be the case."

She said: "Student nurses committing their time and dedication to this essential profession, should not need to visit food banks, request hardship funds or get themselves into credit card debt and bank debt just to make ends meet."

?They are the future generation of nurses. They should be funded fairly, in a way that meets the cost of living crisis.?

Green's motion was overwhelmingly supported by congress.

Annette Davies, adult nurse and university lecturer, echoed Green's statements, telling congress that her students had been going without meals, relying on food banks and overworking themselves due to a lack of financial support.

Davies said: "We are in a situation that I never thought we'd be in. I can't believe I'm sending students lists of food banks, where they can get food. I shouldn't be doing that. That's not right.?

Davies said one student had gone without food for two days in order to afford meals for her 14-year-old son.

Other students and nurses called on the UK's governments to increase the amount of financial support available.

Paul Irving, a nurse and member of RCN?s education committee, said that the government's workforce targets for nursing staff would be impossible to reach "without addressing financial barriers that nursing students face."

He said "the financial support available to nursing students" is "essential for safeguarding our future for the healthcare system."

RCN in Wales also made similar calls for better financial support for student nurses earlier this week. (LBC)

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