Putting The Care Into Nursing

I’ve been very interested to hear about the latest proposals for introducing more care experience into the nurse training process, not just from a patient’s point of view, but also because I’m an ex-nurse.

I trained as a registered nurse back in the 80s when it was all a much more ‘hands on’ experience. I initially spent six weeks in the nursing school (attached to the hospital in which I was to gain experience) learning basic theory, taking the blood pressures of my fellow students, resuscitating a floppy dummy and yes, injecting oranges.

Following this I had my first taste of working on the wards, completing two 8-week placements, one surgical, one medical, before returning to the school for the first of the fortnight-long modules that we were to study throughout our 3-year course.

Throughout my training, I worked for a few months on the wards, returning to the school at regular intervals to study more theory. Practical learning was centred on the wards, supervised by clinical tutors and ward staff – and I wouldn’t have had it any other way!

On my first ward I learnt a lot of basic care, from bed-bathing to assisting patients with feeding and mobility, as well as giving my first injection. As time went on I continued with the general care, but also learnt an increasing amount of skills and procedures, such as performing dressings, removing sutures, catheterisation, administering medication and so on.

I loved the fact that I was working and learning at the same time, and contrary to what opponents of that system would have you believe, I never felt I was ‘cheap labour’. It’s true the wages weren’t great, but I was learning through paid employment, whilst working towards a valuable qualification.

Another great thing about this system of nurse training was that it ‘weeded out’ at quite an early stage, those who were not really suited to the profession. Some students left as they turned out to be somewhat squeamish or found that the job just wasn’t what they’d expected, whilst others were asked to leave as they lacked ‘bedside manner’ or did not fulfil certain criteria or pass assessments.

To me, this was the type of training that made most sense. We started in our roles as Staff Nurses with realistic expectations and a wealth of experience behind us. I have never understood the logic of replacing this system with a university-based course.

So if the government wants to know how to improve nurse training, then the answer is simple. Revert to the ‘hands on’ system, with hospital-based nursing schools and the emphasis on practical learning.

What do you think? comments@shoppersjoy.co.uk