BACKGROUND

Financial hardship is a defining reality for many nursing students in the Philippines. While nursing education is viewed as a path to family upliftment, the academic burden of sustaining clinical fees, requirements, and living expenses can be overwhelming.

OBJECTIVE

This study explored the lived experiences of Filipino nursing students who face financial strain, while focusing on its sources such as emotional and psychological impacts, coping and survival strategies, and academic consequences.

METHODS

A descriptive qualitative design was employed to capture rich, contextualized narratives from sixteen Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) students enrolled at a state university in the Bicol Region. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews and were analyzed thematically using Braun and Clarke's six-phase approach. Trustworthiness was ensured through member checking, audit trails, and reflexive journaling.

FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION

Four themes emerged: (1) Sources of Financial Strain—family income instability, solo-parent dependency, family medical expenses, and multiple dependent siblings; (2) Emotional and Psychological Impacts—hopelessness, anxiety, and depression; (3) Coping and Survival Strategies—working while studying and sacrificing rest or self-care; and (4) Academic Consequences—difficulty focusing and fear of dropping out. These findings revealed a complex interplay of economic, emotional, and cultural factors that shape students' struggle to persist.

CONCLUSION

Financial strain among Filipino nursing students extends beyond economic limitation to encompass moral obligation, emotional fatigue, and academic compromise. Universities must provide holistic support—financial, psychosocial, and institutional—to ensure that nursing students not only survive but succeed.

Human ; Students, Nursing ; Qualitative Research ; Philippines

PURPOSE: Scholarly works have reported about the nurses' salary and its impact on job satisfaction, nurse turnover, retention, work condition, and provision of nursing care. However, studies are either focused on the nurses in government hospitals or nurses working outside the country. Thus, the study aims to explore and describe the lived experience of nurses employed in private hospitals in Albay province, the Philippines, and explicate the need for better pay. DESIGN: The study used a qualitative design, specifically a descriptive phenomenology approach. METHODS: Purposive sampling and in-depth interviews were conducted among seventeen (17) nurse informants. The audio-recorded interviews were transcribed verbatim and analyzed following the seven-stage process as described by Colaizzi (1978) for data coding and identifying themes. The same process of analysis performed among the responses or data gathered through electronic communication platforms. FINDINGS: Four themes and nine sub-themes were identified. The first theme is 'Over but under,' which includes three sub-themes: (1) Over-worked, underpaid working conditions, (2) Finding an additional source of income as a result of low-wages, (3) More nurses are produced, but less are staying in the country, (4) Required by law in the country but not permitted by low salary. The second theme is 'Same but different,' which includes three sub-themes: (1) The Nursing profession is akin to others, yet uncompensated, (2) Work demands are comparable to government hospitals. The third theme is 'Caring but uncared-for,' which includes two sub-themes: (1) Psychologically upsetting, (2) Stimulates nurses transition. The fourth theme is 'Selfless foresight,' which include only one sub-theme (1) Increasing the salary attracts nurses to stay in the country. CONCLLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS: The study results showed that nurses in private hospitals need better remuneration as they experience poor work conditions. Also, it described a low salary that impacts the nurses' workload, their physical and mental health, their socio-economic being, their ability to avail professional development, the retention or turnover, and the provision of nursing care. The study findings suggest data triangulation of the study in some other private hospitals outside the region and explore strategies for increasing nurses' retention and satisfaction. Nonetheless, these efforts will robust the empirical data about the need for better pay among nurses in the private sector.
Job Satisfaction ; Personnel Turnover ; Hospitals, Private ; Salaries and Fringe Benefits