The RCN says people are being put off nursing by the poor and unfair treatment the profession gets, often at the hands of politicians. We’ve made the comments in response to figures from UCAS published today (8 December) that show a 10% fall in the number of students accepted onto nursing courses in the UK.
This year there were 29,440 accepted applicants onto nursing courses compared to 32,705 in 2021. The number of people applying to study nursing also decreased from 59,860 in 2021 to 56,155 in 2022.
RCN General Secretary & Chief Executive Pat Cullen says this downward trend doesn’t bode well for the nursing profession, or the safety of patients.
“With record waiting lists, we need the pipeline of future nurses to be expanding, not contracting,” she said.
“Tomorrow’s staff need to know that a career in nursing shouldn’t come with a personal financial sacrifice. A lifetime of service must not mean a lifetime of poverty.
“Nursing students in higher education should have access to adequate financial support for tuition and the cost of living – and fair pay for the work they do. Until this happens, this decline in interest in the profession is likely to continue.”
In a week’s time up to 100,000 nursing staff in England, Northern Ireland and Wales will be striking because they lack that assurance and because staff shortages are putting patients at risk.
We’re campaigning for a pay rise of 5% above RPI inflation to overcome real-terms pay cuts which have left experienced nurses 20% worse off since 2010.
Only by paying nursing staff fairly will we recruit and retain people in our profession.
In the last year, 25,000 people left the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) register. Chronic staff shortages are affecting patient care.
