I suggest the insistance of the R.C.N to making Nursing a degree based occupation has had a large effect on numbers .... I may be wrong, but there also seems to be not enough done to get qualified nurses back into the profession ( those who've left years ago, to have children, career changes etc ). A 12 month " Refresher/Get up to speed " course, combined with working at hospitals, should surely be explored.Caballo wrote:Whilst I don't agree with removal of the bursary Inchy, it hasn't had an effect on overall nursing numbers, despite the students now having to 'self fund' there are still more applicants than training places available.
I'd much rather a bursary was in place that 'handcuffed you to the NHS for a defined period, say 10yrs, with a sliding scale of amount owing versus hours worked.
My mother, an ex-staff Nurse, has an off the wall theory .... she think's the " Nursing stations " act like a magnet to ward staff, when they could be more gainfully employed being with patients ! However, she is 83, and when she started her training, one of her duties as a junior nurse at the end of her shift, was to empty the ashtrays next to patient's beds and replace with clean ones !!
