03.09.18
Quarter of student nurses drop out before graduating
One in four students dropped out of their degrees before graduation, according to shocking new figures from the Health Foundation.
UK healthcare services are already struggling to cope in the face a significant shortage of nurses, and the research offers further bad news for the NHS and nursing workforce.
The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) warned that students are being discouraged by financial difficulties and exploited by “cheap labour” on clinical placements.
Anne Corrin, head of professional learning and development at the RCN, said: “As a new academic year begins, these figures are a stark and timely reminder of the need to properly support student nurses.
“It is vital that student nurses have the opportunity to learn in placements – where they spend half their time –and are not relied upon to make up shortfalls in staffing numbers. They must not be exploited as cheap labour.”
She added: “Nursing is a wonderful career, but student nurses face some of the most demanding workloads of any course. This makes financial pressures of student life and placements even harder to bear.”
Figures released in August showed nursing student numbers had fallen by 4% in the last year and 11% since student bursary funding was removed in 2016.
Earlier this year, a report by the RCN warned of “unimaginable problems” on the horizon if the staffing issues at the NHS aren’t dealt with.
The report pointed to the fact that the number of applications for nursing degree courses had fallen by a third in a year, despite the government’s attempts to boost these numbers.
Jeremy Hunt pledged 5,000 extra places for student nurses at the Conservative Party Conference back in 2017 to combat the worrying decline in numbers.
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Image credit - sturti