Nursing roles are vital support for all health professional teams while working in any setup worldwide. The role of a nurse in present healthcare settings has become more essential and developed than it was 100 years ago. They are trained to concurrently perform various duties such as caring for patients, giving emotional support to patients and relatives, and doing administration paperwork while managing and tutoring junior staff at the same time. In short, nurses are simply the gems of every healthcare system that remain undervalued as compared to the duties they offer.
The NHS has suffered an overwhelming workload and a shortage of nurses and other clinical staff, where the existing ones are exhausted due to immense work pressure since the COVID-19 pandemic. Perhaps, after holding the bursaries to support nurse training since 2016, there has been a marked decrease in people willing to pursue a nursing career.
However, this year, Boris Johnson announced more job opportunities and funding for the nursing sector in England. The NHS extended the allocated budget for nurses from the existing £180 million to an extra 25 million to support their placement and training this year.
Additionally, in 2020, the UK government announced a new training program worth £5000 per year, on a not paying back basis, for eligible nurses, midwives, and paramedic students.
Subsequently, UCAS (Universities and Colleges Admissions Service) recorded a rise in submissions for 3-year undergraduate nursing courses to nearly 50,000 applications for the autumn session of 2021, which is 35,000 (34%) more than the previous year.
According to the data, 2020 saw a 27% increase in nursing applications compared to 2019. Whereas, in 2021, the rise in applications continued to increase and rose to 34% from the previous two years.
Additionally, the data show that a rise in the application was more drastic among people aged 25–35 years and above 35 years by 50% and 43%, respectively.
On the other hand, the number of EU students coming to undertake nursing degrees slumped to 19%. However, the number of international applicants outside the EU rose more than 20% this year.
Helen Whately, the minister of care in England, stated that ‘we are one step closer to providing more than 50,000 nurses working in the NHS to provide quality healthcare to our people.
The Chief Nurse of Health Education, Mark Radford, immensely appreciated and was pleased to see students showing more interest in nursing and serving humanity.
Additionally, NHS England declared a package of more than £15 million for healthcare assistant (HCA) jobs for those not willing to pursue full-time education. Perhaps HCA job roles do not require formal education or a degree and are mostly related to helping clinical staff or caring for patients during wash and dress, mobility, and supporting the ladies in maternity care. Thus, more job opportunities and recruitment for HCA roles would be a helping hand for the medical team, such as nurses, who are already overwhelmed due to the workload on top of the staff shortage.
Thus, the NHS is proud of its healthcare professionals, from doctors to nurses and paramedics, for their hard work and tireless commitment, especially during the pandemic.
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