The Invisible Curriculum of Nursing
- Robyn Doolan
- 12 minutes ago
- 5 min read
Navigating Bullying, Politics, and Emotional Survival as a Student Nurse
“My name is Robyn, and I am a nurse.”
The first time I said those words as I walked through the door of my first job, after qualifying in December 2023, they felt strange. I remember thinking, I’m not a real nurse. I’m just a student Apparently that part was over. I had the qualification, the responsibility, and the title.
But that isn’t what I’m here to talk about today.
I want to talk about the journey of being a student nurse. Not the version people often imagine before starting the course, the slightly romanticised picture of learning side by side with doctors and confidently bringing critically ill patients back from the brink. I’m talking about the reality. The bullying. The pressure. The constant expectations. The mental load of trying to learn, perform, and survive in environments you may never have stepped foot in before, while still attempting to maintain some kind of life outside of it all. Please note: this article is a personal reflection on my experience as a student nurse, and the views expressed are my own.
This is my story of being a student nurse. I’m sharing it to highlight the struggles that many of us quietly face, and in the hope that bringing those experiences into the open might make things better for current and future student nurses.
The Shock of Placement Culture
Placements make up around 50% of nursing degrees in the UK. While they are invaluable for gaining hands-on experience, it’s important to recognise that they are essentially unpaid, high-intensity work.
Although students are officially considered supernumerary, in practice this is rarely the case. Instead of being purely supported learners, many of us were routinely relied upon to help fill staffing gaps, often stepping in to cover healthcare assistant shortages on the ward.
Walking onto the ward for the first time, my heart was pounding. My uniform was perfect, my pockets stuffed with pens, and my bag full of things I would soon realise I didn’t need. With no healthcare background, everything felt unfamiliar. A nurse greeted me. “We’re about to do handover,” she said. Handover? I had no idea what that meant.
I sat in a room full of strangers, handed a sheet of patient names and cryptic abbreviations. As handover began, everyone scribbled notes while I sat there, completely out of my depth. It felt like a different language. When it ended, people scattered. I stayed put. Where do I go? Who do I follow? Flustered and unsure, I watched everyone else move with confidence.
Then, after a few long minutes, a nurse approached and introduced herself as my assessor. And just like that, it began.
Another Ward, Another Beginning
A year later, I had completed several placements and picked up the rhythm of ward life. I finally understood handover, even if the language of abbreviations still caught me out. But each new placement meant starting again. New ward, new assessor, new routines. Learning names, roles, even where the staff toilet was. Every time, it felt like day one.
It doesn’t take long to realise each ward has its own hierarchy, and students sit firmly at the bottom. You’re expected to keep up and contribute, yet you are often treated as just the student.
That can mean being overlooked, spoken down to, or feeling unable to question anything, especially when those assessing you are the ones you rely on to pass your placement.
It is important to point out that not every nurse treats students this way. Many are supportive and generous teachers. But when the culture is different, it can make an already demanding course feel isolating.
One placement brought this into sharp focus, when I was asked: “Can you go and work with the Healthcare Assistant today, please?”. I have huge respect for HCAs. Wards couldn’t function without them. But they are not registered nurses, and student nurses are training to become nurses.
Day after day I worked with the same HCA, repeatedly asking to join medication rounds or wound care. The answer was always the same: “There isn’t time.” The issue wasn’t the tasks themselves, but the repetition. Week after week, I practised the same skills while opportunities to develop never came. When I raised this, the response surprised me. The concern wasn’t my training, but the assumption I had a problem with HCAs. I didn’t. I had a problem with not being given the chance to learn.
By my final review, several proficiencies were still unsigned. Despite asking, the opportunities never came. I remember sitting across from my assessor, trying to hold back tears. I’m not someone who cries easily, but after weeks of asking to learn, I was being judged on skills I had never been given the chance to practise.
While these experiences are valid, they don’t happen in isolation. Many wards face staffing shortages and heavy workloads, leaving nurses with limited time for teaching and supervision. This can help explain why students sometimes feel unsupported. However, while these systemic pressures are important to recognise, they do not excuse dismissive or disrespectful behaviour.
Room for Change
The bigger question is: what can be done about this?
Student nurses should not simply be expected to endure this. They are paying to study, working long hours on placement for free, and often navigating environments where they feel like second-class members of the team. That needs to change.
During one placement I attended a training session on burnout that had been organised for staff. As I sat there listening, it felt as though the speaker was describing exactly how I felt. The strange part was that I was not even qualified yet.
Research consistently shows that student nurses report high levels of stress, burnout, and low placement satisfaction, often linked to workload, lack of support, and feeling undervalued. Studies have found that negative placement experiences can impact both mental wellbeing and confidence, reinforcing that these issues are not isolated incidents but part of a wider, systemic problem that requires meaningful change.
Many students are afraid to challenge toxic cultures for fear of repercussions. When the people assessing your progress also hold the power to determine whether you pass your placement, speaking up can feel impossible. That silence should not be mistaken for acceptance.
There is a phrase often repeated in nursing that “nurses eat their young.” It is usually said jokingly, almost as if it is simply part of the culture. But for the students experiencing it, it rarely feels like a joke. Sometimes it feels less like eating and more like being chewed up and spat back out again.
Nursing is built on values of care, compassion, and support. The environments we train in should reflect those same values.
My Words of Compassion to Current and Future Students
To the students currently navigating this journey: thank you for what you do. Nursing training can be incredibly demanding. When you are in the middle of it, the finish line can feel very far away.
At times you may feel ignored, dismissed, or as though you are somehow in the way. You are not. You are learning. You are growing. And one day you will be the registered nurse standing on that ward.
When that moment comes, there may be a nervous student standing nearby, watching you closely and hoping to learn. When you see them, remember what it felt like to be in their shoes, and choose to be the nurse you needed when you were a student.
