nicky34

None of my comments were directed at yourself. I simply mentioned that many people do say that nursing training is cr*p when I mention that I am about to embark on a nursing career. No one said that you were a dragon either and it's unfortunate that you seem to have taken the posts personally. I'm sure that patients sometimes do not receive good basic nursing care, but I doubt that things were perfect 20 years ago as your post would imply...I'm sure many nurses are consciencious and know perfectly well that working in the NHS is stressful. I doubt you are the only one on this forum with experience...

Would I be wrong in thinking that the training in the uk post-PK2000 (specialised etc...) has been tailored so that nurses trained in the UK can only work in the UK. As in the UK uni's/NHS won't help you move to the US 'cause after all, they paid you train so they limit you in order to retain you in the NHS ?

I'm not sure if this question was directed at me...as I mentioned in an earlier post, I'm not a nurse, I'm due to start training soon as a mature student. So I can't comment on nursing in the NHS from experience. What I'm more interested in is the training side of things. I very much doubt that a newqualified nurse has learnt everything there is to learn and as the previous poster said, often more learning is done post-registration. My concerns really are that all I seem to hear are "old" nurses moaning about how newly qualified nurses don't know their a*se from their elbow and how cr*p training is today. I discussed this in another thread 'uk training=dangerous'. It worries me as I don't know whether it's just the opinion of a certain group or whether I should really reconsider going into nursing in the first place.

Oh dear, I think it's my post you are referring to. As soon as I wrote it I knew someone would take it the wrong way. Firstly when I said old, I meant old not in age but as opposed to new. And I was just trying to make a logical point in that something practised today is usually more advanced than it was 20 years ago. Not that new nurses are better, just that healthcare and education will obviously advance with time. I'd be extremely concerned if it didn't. And yes, I think that if a nurse that had qualified 20 years ago and had not practised since then would need updating...obviously. Nurses that have been practising for the past 20 years will have been constantly updating their skills on the job, as it is a requirement of nmc registration anyway.... That's all I meant, not that old nurses don't know as much as new nurses, just that the knowledge you would aquire in todays training would be very different from that taught 20 years ago. However, I would like to add that your comment of students procrastinating philosophical issues is typical of many old skool nurses that think that that's all todays nurses are capable of doing...

Yeah, that is something that hacks me off. I've chosen to train in psych nursing. I'm interested in all branches really but seeing as the UK make you choose, I've chosen psych. It really annoys me that I'm going to be doing this for 3 years but if I want to go abroad I'm going to have to do an extra 18 months in adult nursing to dual qualify. Even though I'm not going to be doing adult nursing, just MH which is what I was originally trained for. I'd rather have a training that covered all branches and then later go on to specialise in one (like it used to be I suppose). I'm still a bit concerned that I might not have made the right choice because I'm interested in Adult nursing also. I suppose what gets me just as much is that you have to choose your branch before you start the training even though you do a common programme for the first year and don't start the branch training until the second. Wouldn't it make more sense to do the common foundation programme and then decide what branch you want to do at the end of it. I know how everything changed with PK2000 and it became university based, but does anyone know why they changed it to specialised training and not general like it used to be ?

Are nurses that qualified before a certain year allowed to work in the US and those that qualified afterwards not ??? I don't want to get into a debate about old skool vs. modern training but it doesn't really make much sense. Do the nurses that qualified years ago have higher qualifications or something ? I thought that it would have been the opposite. That older nurses would have to update their training. Not a case of new nurses having to keep up with the ones that qualified 20 years ago. I'm not being nasty here, it just doesn't seem logical and I'm just curious to know how it all works. I was told that years ago it was much easier to go and work abroad, simply because the rules and requirements were a lot less strict than they are today, not because the nurses were much better than they are nowadays...Like it used to be a lot easier to travel abroad but nowadays you need all your jabs, visas, permits etc...

No you are not alone. As I mentioned before, I too come here to read about US nursing and how it compares. Like fonenurse also mentioned, I have no interest in moving to America. I am not a nurse (I will be starting training in a few months) but am keen to learn about nurses experiences worldwide. The few boards I know of in the UK are very quiet and don't have many posters, hence I get much more info on allnurses. But then again, I suppose the USA is a little bit bigger than the UK :) I don't come much to the UK part of the board precisely because it seems to be a place to find info about jobs in the US and I prefer other parts of the forum.

Just wanted to add that at first glance (although it says 'For Nursing issues that are unique to the Uk) , this Uk part of the board looks like it is designed for UK nurses that are already living in the US or are planning on moving there. Most of the thread titles suggest this anyway. So maybe some UK nurses come, look and then leave as they don't feel they fit into that criteria.

Uk nurses will not usually post on a US forum unless they want to go and live there...They post here to get info. So this forum will mainly attract the type of nurse that wants to work abroad. It's probably only a small percentage of UK nurses. The only americans I ever see in the Uk forums are ones enquiring about work or training in the UK. That doesn't mean that 'all' Americans want to go and work there. You probably won't hear from the majority of nurses that are happy in the UK as they probably post in UK forums. It will be more relevant to their life and work. Some of the nurses I know of that are interested in working in the US, aren't doing so because they are unhappy with Uk nursing. They just fancy moving to another country and a registered nursing qualification allows you to work all over the world. I read around here as I'm interested in learning about nursing worldwide but the majority of my classmates never come here because US nursing doesn't really apply to them and they would rather talk about matters specific to Uk nursing.

I just find all this quite alarming. I am due to start training next year and I hate the idea of spending 3 years receiving sub-standard education... I mean if the standards are really crap, then that would make things easier as I would have a much better chance of passing but.... The thing is, I'm not just in it just to pass and gain a qualification....I want to learn and recieve the best training possible. I want to be able to do a good job at the end of it and be prepared. I suppose if all this is true, then I will just have to try and complement what I am taught with a lot of independent study or something.... The University I am going to is supposed to be one of the best, so hopefully the teaching won't be as rubbish as was suggested in some of the earlier posts!

I think that cheating and plagiarism can happen anywhere. It should be up to the tutors to detect this and fail the student. I appreciate that people can manage to scrape through the course, putting in the minimum effort and study and I have heard horror studies myself but.... This thread seems to be putting across the message that most newly qualified UK trained nurses are unfit to practice and totally incompetent ! What happens when they are on clinical placement and have to demonstrate skills. Do the tutors pass them even though it is clear that they do not know what they are doing. Although I imagine that some places of study can be lacking, it seems like a sweeping generalisation to say that UK nursing=dangerous. I do know of many that are making huge sacrifices to do their training and spend almost every waking hour studying in order to remain on the course. So all that seems to clash with the idea that you can just blag your way through training and no real effort is required...If this is the case, I really don't understand why so many nursing students are stressing about their studies

Hi, while'st EBL does seem like a bit of a con (in the sense that you teach yourself) I am suprised to hear a nursing student complain of a "Lack" of work ! I have yet to start, but I have several friends at various stages of their training at a variety of Universities and they tend to talk about the workload being rather heavy. With regards to your above comment about 85 % of your theory not being tested ; well don't you get given assignments, essays, tests and exams ? Aren't they marked, requiring a certain percentage pass level ? I know that in the case of my student nurse friends, if you fail assignments or practical skills you will get thrown off the course ! Don't you go on practical placements where your knowledge and skills are continuously assessed ? I'm just asking because it is the first time I have ever heard a student say that they do practically very little. Also the students I speak to, tell me they have to attend University 4-5 days per week whilst doing the theoretical learning and then have to attend practical placement 4-5 days per week. You mention only having to attend 1.5 days a week !? I was quite concerned about the possibility of the work being too much to cope with but now I know that there is the chance that I will only have to turn up one day a week and not have my work assessed, I feel much better. I don't doubt that this is the case where you happen to be, but I doubt it is the situation of a 'typical' student nurse.