Registered Nurses/Nursing Students Chat Thread

Original post by ForestCat

I understand we need to save money, but not sure this is the way. It's going to have a massive impact on recruitment.

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Definitely not the way in my mind. I understand that is costs trusts money to train nurses but if we had to take out loans for tuition fees then that to me is crossing a line that shouldn't ethically be crossed.
I m wondering if that means that there will no longer be a travel allowance and the sfe childcare one is supposedly worse than the nhs bursary one so that immediately makes a difference to mature students before even considering a maintenance loan in itself

Reply 1182

PaediatricStN

12

Original post by claireestelle

Definitely not the way in my mind. I understand that is costs trusts money to train nurses but if we had to take out loans for tuition fees then that to me is crossing a line that shouldn't ethically be crossed.
I m wondering if that means that there will no longer be a travel allowance and the sfe childcare one is supposedly worse than the nhs bursary one so that immediately makes a difference to mature students before even considering a maintenance loan in itself

This may be a controversial comment, but the government should take their financial backing away from the degrees that are not so essential to society (Not going to name any for fear of upsetting people!) and plow that money into supporting degrees such as medicine, nursing and teaching as these are the professions we are crying out for at the moment.

Sure, everyone is entitled to education - and not just the rich - however at a time where the government are looking to make financial cuts, they need to recognise that not every degree programme is essential to the future of society. Harsh, but true I feel.

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Original post by PaediatricStN

This may be a controversial comment, but the government should take their financial backing away from the degrees that are not so essential to society (Not going to name any for fear of upsetting people!) and plow that money into supporting degrees such as medicine, nursing and teaching as these are the professions we are crying out for at the moment.

Sure, everyone is entitled to education - and not just the rich - however at a time where the government are looking to make financial cuts, they need to recognise that not every degree programme is essential to the future of society. Harsh, but true I feel.

Coming from a very poor background with relatives with both science degrees and arts degree but all of which are doing something that contributes to society in some shape or form (I ve an uncle who has a politics degree who works for a social enterprise for example), I m afraid for a rare occasion I actually disagree with you but I can see where you are coming from.
People could probably argue that my health and social care fdsc is quite useless to society to be honest but it massively helped me develop as a person and gain critical thinking skills so for me its the skills you can gain, not the actual degree subject all the time. (Although I dont have a problem with scraping PPE degrees so we have less george osbornes in the world).

Since reading a bit more I think if I hadn't gotten into nursing now and been a 2017 student, i think i d have struggled as to whether i would have done the course to be honest.

(edited 8 years ago)

Reply 1184

Original post by PaediatricStN

This may be a controversial comment, but the government should take their financial backing away from the degrees that are not so essential to society (Not going to name any for fear of upsetting people!) and plow that money into supporting degrees such as medicine, nursing and teaching as these are the professions we are crying out for at the moment.

Sure, everyone is entitled to education - and not just the rich - however at a time where the government are looking to make financial cuts, they need to recognise that not every degree programme is essential to the future of society. Harsh, but true I feel.

They already have in a way. Maintenance grants will stop for this next intake of general students starting in September.

I'm not sure putting people off higher education is the way to do it. But there are certainly ways the country could be more efficient and cost effective but the government prefer to screw people over to save money.

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Reply 1185

Original post by ForestCat

They already have in a way. Maintenance grants will stop for this next intake of general students starting in September.

I'm not sure putting people off higher education is the way to do it. But there are certainly ways the country could be more efficient and cost effective but the government prefer to screw people over to save money.

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It seems like having ridiculous amounts of debt is going to become the norm for everyone in generations to come now.

Reply 1186

PaediatricStN

12

Original post by claireestelle

Coming from a very poor background with relatives with both science degrees and arts degree but all of which are doing something that contributes to society in some shape or form (I ve an uncle who has a politics degree who works for a social enterprise for example), I m afraid for a rare occasion I actually disagree with you but I can see where you are coming from.
People could probably argue that my health and social care fdsc is quite useless to society to be honest but it massively helped me develop as a person and gain critical thinking skills so for me its the skills you can gain, not the actual degree subject all the time. (Although I dont have a problem with scraping PPE degrees so we have less george osbornes in the world).

Since reading a bit more I think if I hadn't gotten into nursing now and been a 2017 student, i think i d have struggled as to whether i would have done the course to be honest.

Indeed rare that we disagree! I hope that the changes don't affect you and other student nurses Claire.

Inevitably there are going to be exceptions to my above comment and your family may well be that.

I'll elaborate briefly on what I see... I see students going to university, not for a career per se, but to study a subject they enjoy. But I don't know how many actually look beyond that and think "What job prospects are there with this degree?". I think graduates also struggle because they aren't prepared for the workplace enough by their degrees. They do 5-10 hours lectures a week, in classrooms. Few degrees offer full time practical experience. And lacking that is something we probably won't ever understand, as our degrees are so practically based.

I think temporarily the government need to have a more cutthroat approach to which degrees they help fund until we get back to financial stability.

Reply 1187

Original post by PaediatricStN

Indeed rare that we disagree! I hope that the changes don't affect you and other student nurses Claire.

Inevitably there are going to be exceptions to my above comment and your family may well be that.

I'll elaborate briefly on what I see... I see students going to university, not for a career per se, but to study a subject they enjoy. But I don't know how many actually look beyond that and think "What job prospects are there with this degree?". I think graduates also struggle because they aren't prepared for the workplace enough by their degrees. They do 5-10 hours lectures a week, in classrooms. Few degrees offer full time practical experience. And lacking that is something we probably won't ever understand, as our degrees are so practically based.

I think temporarily the government need to have a more cutthroat approach to which degrees they help fund until we get back to financial stability.

I can understand your viewpoint to an extent. i think the difficulty lies is that many jobs may not be fussy on which degree you have but in some jobs these days your cv would go straight in the bin if you don't have one to your name.
So i feel that some people may get a degree purely for that reason.
However, I do feel that some people go to university to gain independence and for the "student" lifestyle and in my opinion that isnt a good use of resources unless they take learning seriously too. I think it would improve if more degree had compulsory experience or placement years attached to them.
But at the end of the day, the universities are businesses and the government likes profits so they aren't going to tell them to get rid of anything that makes them money.

Reply 1188

Absorbaloff

5

@ForestCat nursing students will have to take out both tuition loans and maintenance loans. What a terrible decision by this s-bag government.

@claireestelle there will be no changes to current students, only those starting from 2017.

(edited 8 years ago)

Reply 1189

Absorbaloff

5

@PaediatricStN art/humanities arent funded by the government and a lot of these type of subjects help fund STEM courses. Universities like St Georges have very poor facilities because it only offers vocational courses and doesnt have a humanities/social science department to fund its more expensive courses

Reply 1190

Original post by Absorbaloff

@ForestCat nursing atudents will jave to take out both tuition loans and maintenance loans. What a terrible decision by this s-bag government.

@claireestelle there will be no changes to current students, only those starting from 2017.

I ve been reading the nursing times updates and some academics (on twitter) and was worried as I cant find anywhere with it in writing that it definitely wouldn't effect current students, feel incredibly lucky to have go onto a nursing course when i did.

Reply 1191

Original post by Absorbaloff

@ForestCat nursing students will have to take out both tuition loans and maintenance loans. What a terrible decision by this s-bag government.

@claireestelle there will be no changes to current students, only those starting from 2017.

In a few years we're going to have a massive nursing recruitment crisis, we think it's bad now but it's going to get worse.

Hunt and Osborne should be sent to a desert island far away where they can't hurt anyone (or earn money). They can take Gove with them too.

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Reply 1192

Original post by ForestCat

In a few years we're going to have a massive nursing recruitment crisis, we think it's bad now but it's going to get worse.

Hunt and Osborne should be sent to a desert island far away where they can't hurt anyone (or earn money). They can take Gove with them too.

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I d have a more violent/unethical suggestion but a dessert island will do, they can take nicky morgan with them too.

Reply 1193

lilibet01

9

According to our Head of Programmes any changes will affect 2016 Sept students not those who are already enrolled.

Reply 1194

PaediatricStN

12

Original post by Absorbaloff

@PaediatricStN art/humanities arent funded by the government and a lot of these type of subjects help fund STEM courses. Universities like St Georges have very poor facilities because it only offers vocational courses and doesnt have a humanities/social science department to fund its more expensive courses

Who said I was talking about art/humanities? I didn't name courses...

As far as I'm concerned, although this may not technically be correct, if the government loans students the tuition fees and living costs to study a degree, then they "Fund it" - even in a roundabout kind of way.

(edited 8 years ago)

Reply 1195

Start my 1st placement in a couple of weeks and although I m doing my best to enjoy the well needed holidays, I m feeling quite nervous for starting placement.
Does anybody have any advice they can share?

Reply 1196

Original post by claireestelle

Start my 1st placement in a couple of weeks and although I m doing my best to enjoy the well needed holidays, I m feeling quite nervous for starting placement.
Does anybody have any advice they can share?

If you turn up prepared to get stuck in, you'll generally be ok.

You're going to feel like a fish out of water for at least the first half, but knowing that in advance can help you deal with it. For the first placement, watch the hcas. Learn how to meet the very basic needs of the patient.

And if you ever have moments where you're truly at a loss for things to do, and the staff are too busy to give you suggestions, go and speak to the patients. Get to know them. Find out what they value in their nurses and what tips they can give you on how to be a great one.

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Reply 1197

Original post by ForestCat

If you turn up prepared to get stuck in, you'll generally be ok.

You're going to feel like a fish out of water for at least the first half, but knowing that in advance can help you deal with it. For the first placement, watch the hcas. Learn how to meet the very basic needs of the patient.

And if you ever have moments where you're truly at a loss for things to do, and the staff are too busy to give you suggestions, go and speak to the patients. Get to know them. Find out what they value in their nurses and what tips they can give you on how to be a great one.

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Thank you, forestcat :smile:

I m hoping once I hear back from my mentor as to what my hours are and things that I might feel more comfortable.
I really do feel like I m going to be a fish out of water as I know my colleagues have a lot more experience than I do and personal care and clinical skills wise I don't have any at all, but I will be prepared to throw myself into the placement and get as much as I can out of it.

Reply 1198