Survey reveals half of NHS nurse students have considered quitting

Out of the 1,528 nursing students surveyed, 46% considered leaving their degree program. With approximately 68,000 student nurses at universities, this suggests that around 32,000 have thought about dropping out. Grim, eh?

Ranger called for the next government to fund tuition fees for nursing students and reintroduce universal maintenance support.

‘Government-funded nurse education, proper maintenance support, and loan forgiveness for those working in the NHS would be money well spent. Building a nursing workforce fit for the future is the best investment a government can make, benefiting our vital services and wider society,’ she asserted.

She also stressed that nursing students, the future of health and care services, require support to avoid incurring huge debts and struggling with living costs. To get the long-term workforce plan back on track, urgent action on the retention and recruitment of nurses is crucial for reducing NHS waiting times.

Despite the introduction of nursing degree apprenticeships to attract those wishing to earn while studying, uptake has fallen.

Data analysed by the RCN shows a 20% decrease in these courses over the past year, with 3,420 individuals starting nursing degree apprenticeships in 2021-22, dropping to 2,720 in 2022-23.

The financial crisis affecting universities also threatens these courses. An RCN survey of over 500 nurse educators in England revealed that three in five had been directly impacted by redundancy, staffing restructures, or recruitment freezes.

It’s truly concerning to think the NHS in its current dire straits will deter future generations from helping to bolster our healthcare services. Looking at the data, nonetheless, it appears those are the cards we’ve been dealt.