What do you think will be the impact of bursary removal

[vandiola]

The title is really self explanatory. I was a mature student when I started nursing (at age 22) and one of the main reasons I did nursing was because I knew I would leave uni without debt and I very proudly have no debt to my name - university wise. I also went to a very small campus. We started off with 25, whittling down to about 18 by third year. I received an email from my university asking if I know anyone who wants to do nursing and that I should encourage them to apply. While I do have a lot of long term worries and believe it's totally disastrous that they're removing the bursary, one of my biggest concerns is that my old campus will have to close if they do not receive enough applications.

I just want to collate a few personal thoughts on what other nurses think. I've found many of my nursing colleagues are quite unconcerned and a lot of my old lecturers are quite optimistic that this will mean more funding and less restrictions on the number of students they can take on, but I'm definitely not feeling the same vibe!

[GrumpyRN, NP]

Like you I was a mature student and also had a family to support. At that time university tuition was free and nursing was not a degree course (with a few exceptions).

I was paid as an employee to train to be a nurse - found my first contract of employment just yesterday, £3400 per year salary in the first year with 4 weeks annual leave. This was enough to allow me to train and keep my family. Also means my continuous employment goes back to my very first day as a student - important now when I am retiring and am looking for length of service for my pension.

I would not have been able to pursue nursing if I had had to take out loans.

I think the whole pay for education is appalling, we are saddling our young with debt when they can least afford it (I am an old socialist at heart). We have students who have to get specific time off to allow them to work.

If we stop bursaries do we have the right to expect students to work with us? Why should they? They are there to learn and will quite legitimately be able to refuse to do the menial tasks. If you have learned how to wipe a bum once, do you really need to continue to learn that every single day?

Another point, nursing is seen as a low status job - yes, yes, we know better - but why would you saddle yourself with a lot of debt for a job when there are "better" jobs out there.

[Phil-on-a-bike]

The effect, I'm sure, will be nothing short of disastrous.

The removal of the bursary takes away one of the few incentives for a prospective student to choose nursing over other subjects.

Without the bursary, a Nursing Degree has to go head-to-head against other options which are way better-paid, percieved as higher-status, and which do not involve body fluids, infection risks, needlesticks, unsocial hours, tragic & traumatic situations, critical decision-making for which you will subsequently be held liable, horrific physical injury, breavement, abusive behaviour, controlled substances, cytotoxins, the ever-present risk of litigation, and a higher rate of assault than any other profession.

(Wow... didn't mean to vent, there!)

To return to the subject in hand - the removal of the bursary is a tremendously short-sighted move which will result in a severe staffing crisis.

This will lead to large-scale use of high-cost Agency & Locum staff, and a huge increase in recruitment of overseas nursing staff.

The jaw-dropping thing is, though... that those conclusions are obvious. I mean, visible-from-space obvious.

Yet in a couple of years' time, national-policy decision-makers on six-figure salaries, with teams of highly-qualified advisors at their disposal, will be running around like headless chickens dealing with this "acute crisis" which "nobody could have forseen"!

[vandiola]

!

Don't worry Phil, I'm sure the introduction of nursing associates will fix everything!

[Phil-on-a-bike]

Good point!

The State knew what it was doing when it Enrolled N/As to assist Nurses​!