It can be tricky balancing paid employment against university work, clinical placements and other commitments. Student nurse Grant Byrne offers his top tips

For nursing students, working part-time is often part and parcel of our university experience – for many, it's the only way to make ends meet.

But studying nursing isn't easy and fitting work around university, clinical placements and personal commitments can be challenging.

Golden rules

There are, however, some golden rules that might make working and studying easier to manage.

The following tips worked for me and will hopefully work for you.

• Find work that's flexible. I work set shifts every weekend, but if I need a day off it's easy for me to arrange for a colleague to cover for me. Other students opt for agency or other zero-hours contracts, but, if