Santa Casa launches scholarships for undergraduate nursing students

Santa Casa da Misericórdia de Lisboa (SCML) has set up a scholarship programme aimed at young people studying for a Bachelor’s degree in Nursing, from the 1st to the 4th year, at public or private higher education institutions in the Lisbon metropolitan area. Applicants must be enrolled on a full-time course and demonstrate talent and dedication to a career serving others.

As well as providing financial support throughout the course, these scholarships offer students a unique opportunity to join an institution that provides a wide variety of healthcare settings, thereby ensuring a broad range of opportunities for professional development within the nursing profession.

This diversity of settings includes two leading hospital units – the Centro de Medicina de Reabilitação de Alcoitão and the Hospital Ortopédico de Sant’Ana, the latter equipped with a modern operating theatre – Primary Healthcare Units, Home Healthcare Centres, Integrated Continuing Care Units, Residential Care Homes for the Elderly (ERPI) and specialist units for Mental Health, Oral Health, Cerebral Palsy and Multiple Disabilities.

Students selected for the scholarships undertake to join Santa Casa’s healthcare teams upon completion of their course, for a period of three years; the possibility of also providing accommodation next year is currently being considered.

As André Brandão de Almeida, SCML’s health director, explains, “Through this programme, Santa Casa is investing simultaneously in the students’ future, in raising the profile of the nursing profession and in the quality of care. We want to ensure that financial difficulties do not prevent a talented and dedicated young person from completing their training and, at the same time, we want to foster a new generation of nurses who find in Santa Casa a career opportunity, a place to learn and a mission of care. It is a mutual commitment: we are supporting today those we want to care for us tomorrow.”

Currently, Misericórdia de Lisboa employs around 400 nurses and also utilises a grant scheme to ensure it can meet its staffing needs. Nurses employed by the organisation are entitled to 28 days’ annual leave, plus an additional day off on their birthday, health insurance, the opportunity for mobility within Santa Casa’s healthcare services and access to its network of services.

You can find further information about the grants, including the regulations, on this page.