A motion to provide regional nursing students undertaking placements in Adelaide with financially support has passed the state parliament's lower house.
Mount Gambier independent MP Troy Bell yesterday called for a subsidy similar to the assistance city-based nursing students receive to complete placements in regional areas to be established.
The University of South Australia offers nursing at its Mount Gambier and Whyalla campuses.
But Mr Bell said students from these regional campuses who needed to undertake their placement in Adelaide hospitals were at a "real disadvantage."
"They have to travel to Adelaide for up to … 16 weeks of placement," Mr Bell said.
As well as not getting paid for the work undertaken on placement, the trips came at a cost, he said.
"This is a massive barrier to people finishing off their nursing training and it comes at a huge expense," Mr Bell said.
"That's the real danger in this, people actually being turned away from nursing as a career path because they can't afford to take that time to do the placements."
Mr Bell's motion passed the lower house unopposed.
A huge personal cost
Mr Bell spoke about a local student Belinda Myers who undertook 16 weeks of placement at Adelaide hospital in 2018 as part of her Bachelor of Nursing.
Ms Myers was working as an enrolled nurse when she decided to become a registered nurse through the University of South Australia's Mount Gambier campus.
To cover the ongoing study and placement costs, Ms Myers and her husband had to take out a $10,000 personal loan, on top of a $20,000 HECS debt.
"You've got to have double the amount of groceries, you've got fuel going backwards and forwards, accommodation costs," Ms Myers said.
"I know a girl who paid up to $5,000 to stay in a cabin close to the hospital where they were sent.
"It baffles me that we can assist people who come from capital cities … to work regionally, but it doesn't work the other way around."
Ms Myers's original placement was on the same ward in Mount Gambier she had been working on for five years.
"I didn't think I was going to gain anything by working [in the same place] as a student for free," Ms Myers said.
Placements at Flinders Medical Centre's Women's and Children's Hospital gave her learning opportunities she could not have had locally.
"Becoming a registered nurse has allowed me to move into management positions and different learning experiences [in Mount Gambier]," Ms Myers said.
"But the sacrifice it took for my family, for me to be away — it really did take a long time to build that back up.
"While it was great to get that experience, it did take a toll and really kind of burnt me out if I'm honest."
A federal issue: Pasin
However, Mount Gambier-based federal MP Tony Pasin said the subsidy available to city students was a federal program, and therefore the issue was a federal matter.
Mr Pasin said he had written to the federal Health Minister Mark Butler asking that a subsidy be made available for regional students undertaking the Rural Health Multidisciplinary Training Program.
"He needs to fix the problem … he supports metropolitan students under his program to travel to the country, but he doesn't support country students travelling to the city," Mr Pasin said.
