Nurses at Beaumont and St James's Hospitals in Dublin are to stage a lunchtime protest at 1.30pm today.
According to the Irish Nurses' Organisation, student nurses are protesting at the failure of management to facilitate payment of travel allowances.
The INO insist that some students have not received any payment for three years.
Management at the hospitals have said that they will pay the students when they receive funding from the Department of Health and Children.
INO Industrial Relations Officer Phil Ni Sheaghdha said: "This is a clear example of a breakdown in communication between hospital management and the Department of Health.
"If this is an indication of the support available to student nurses in this country is it any surprise that nurses are leaving the service hand over fist?" she added.
HOwever, the Department of Health said it had specifically provided funding to hospitals for the payment of travel expenses for student nurses.
A spokesman for St James's Hospital said it had agreed with the INO to pay the travel allowance, at a rate of around €15 to pay for a bus pass for each week of clinical placement.
However, he said that if the INO wanted to increase this to €28 to pay for a bus and rail pass, it would have to be centrally negotiated with the Dublin academic teaching hospitals.
A spokesman for Beaumont Hospital said the management were surprised by the INO protest.
"There was a delay in getting funding from the Department of Health, so there are going to be backpayments. But the INO have received assurances on that and it was quite clear they accepted that," he said.
He said there was no case for nursing students getting a €28 bus and rail pass rather than a €15 bus pass to make the journey from Dublin City University to Beaumont Hospital - because no rail link existed.
Additional reporting PA