Student nurses could drop out of courses amid financial pressures, RCN warns

Evening Standard

More than 32,000 student nurses could drop out of their courses in the next few years because of financial pressures, struggling services and worsening pay prospects, a leading health union is warning.The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) said its study showed that without action to make the career more attractive, the Government’s plans to reform the NHS would be undermined.Student nurses in England have been dropping out since the nursing bursary was scrapped in 2016, but tens of thousands could leave before graduating by 2029, said the RCN.An RCN survey of nursing students in England from earlier this year showed that seven in 10 are considering quitting due to financial pressures.Addressing the debt burden and easing cost-of-living pressures is the best way to reduce the dropout rate, alongside increasing nursing pay to make the career more attractive, the RCN said, adding that in the health service in England, there are 31,774 nursing posts currently vacant.

Transcript

00:00Rising tuition costs and bad pay prospects have left some student nurses questioning

00:05if they want to join the profession at all. The Royal College of Nursing say that at least

00:09one in ten students are considering dropping out, which is estimated to be around 32,000

00:16people. This would be a huge headache for Keir Starmer and his government as they try

00:20and supercharge recruitment as part of NHS reforms. To put this into context, there are

00:26already 31,000 nursing posts currently vacant across the NHS in England. The Royal College

00:33of Nursing described the situation as a tragedy for student nurses and patients. They went

00:39on to say ministers should change the course and agree a social contract with nursing students

00:45that sees pay rise and loans forgiven if they commit to working in public services. A government

00:52spokesperson said these figures are speculative. As we deliver our plan for change, we are

00:57taking action to fix our broken NHS and ensure nursing remains an attractive career choice.

01:04Together with the NHS, we will unveil a refreshed workforce plan in the summer to provide the

01:10health service with much needed stability and certainty.

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