One in four student nurses quit NHS

Last updated at 13:08 15 February 2006


One in four student nurses are so disillusioned with the NHS that they quit their training before qualification, a new survey has revealed.

The Royal College of Nursing has blamed financial pressures and lack of childcare support.

The survey by the Nursing Standard magazine estimated this drop-out rate is costing the NHS £57million each year. Nurse training costs around £11,479 a year per nurse.

While the Government claims drop-out rates across the UK are around 14 per cent, the study found it was closer to 25 per cent. On some courses, half of the nurses quit during training.

'Shattered hopes and dreams'

Nursing groups said more needed to be done to reduce the number of trainee nurses leaving their courses.

Nursing Standard editor Jean Gray said: "To lose a quarter of all students is a huge loss - in terms of the shattered hopes and dreams of thousands - but also in terms of the public purse.

"The statistics should serve as a warning for some serious review of how we are treating our nursing students."

The Nursing Standard asked 83 institutions teaching nursing courses between 2000 and 2004 for attrition data - information on their drop-out rates.

Six universities refused to give their figures,

while 17 were excluded from the analysis for reasons such as providing the wrong information.

Out of 19,995 nursing students whose course was expected to finished in 2004, a total of 4,956 or 24.8 per cent dropped out.

Students were more likely to leave degree courses than diplomas. Four-year nursing degrees had a drop-out rate of 30 per cent, while the three-year diplomas lost 24 per cent of students.

Rates of students leaving courses were higher in southern England and Scotland.

'A waste of resources'

Susan Watt, student adviser at the Royal College of Nursing (RCN), said: "It's time to look seriously at this issue. It is also a waste of people resources.

"It's a lost opportunity for great nurses."

However, Health Minister Lord Warner said the survey were only "rough estimates" which didn't show the real picture.

"Our official figures collected by the Higher Education Statistics Agency puts the national nurse attrition rate in 2003/04 at 16 per cent - a 2 per cent drop on the previous year.

"Since 1997 we have seen big increases in the numbers of new staff joining the NHS, taking up university places to study for a healthcare profession as well as returners to nursing, midwifery, radiography and other career groups," he said.

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