NEWS
GAMES CALL-UP IS TRIATHLETE’S DREAM COME TRUE
PA
Newly qualified nurse Carol Bridge has fulfilled a lifetime ambition after competing in the Commonwealth games. Ms Bridge from Llwynypia in south Wales, represented her country in the triathlon event in Glasgow 2014 after world champion Non Stanford was ruled out through injury. The triathlon team competed on Saturday and finished eighth out of nine teams. ‘It has been brilliant,’ said Ms Bridge, a nurse in the acute medical unit at the Princess of Wales hospital in Bridgend. ‘It is like a dream. I have always wanted to do something like this.’ Ms Bridge trained for the swimming, running and cycling event at the Rhondda Triathlon Club.
More district nurses are qualifying but numbers in NHS still ‘eroded’ By Alistair Kleebauer @alistairkleebauer Nearly 40 per cent more district nurses are set to qualify this summer compared with last year, research commissioned by the Queen’s Nursing Institute (QNI) reveals. Figures show that 351 district nurses in England, Wales and Northern Ireland will graduate compared with 254 in 2013 – an increase of 38 per cent. Across the UK there were 427 new entrants to specialist practitioner programmes in 2013/14 and the number of universities offering the courses in England increased from 24 to 30. The number running programmes in Northern Ireland and Wales remained the same, at one and four respectively. Scotland was not included in the 2013 research, but was included this year and has four universities offering the specialist courses. ‘Last year’s figures served as a wake-up call to commissioners and
educators,’ said QNI chief executive Crystal Oldman. ‘At that point many courses had so few students that their viability could be called into question, and 21 per cent of courses did not run at all.’ The QNI commissioned the research in response to concerns that not enough district nurses were qualifying to replace those retiring.
More courses
Anglia Ruskin University launched a specialist practitioner programme for the 2013/14 academic year. Head of the primary and public health department Sarah Kraszewski said district nursing numbers in the NHS had been ‘eroded’. ‘Universities and NHS partners have responded and planned courses,’ she added. Anglia Ruskin has around 20 students in two part-time cohorts and hopes to introduce a full-time cohort in January. But Ms Kraszewski said more still needed to be done nationally to
increase the number of people training to work as district nurses. ‘We would like to see a similar approach taken as with the health visitor workforce. ‘The Department of Health produced a health visitor implementation plan and finance to increase the numbers and strengthen the health visitor workforce.’ The QNI’s previous report showed seven out of 33 district nurse courses did not run in the 2012/13 academic year. Four courses in England did not run in 2013/14 – one because there were not enough applicants meeting the entry requirements and three because the universities are developing revised courses that they plan to run from September. NHS Alliance chair Michael Dixon said: ‘This is definitely a move in the right direction, but we need to ensure that the increased numbers of district nurses have the specialist knowledge necessary to play a major role in the care of our frail older patients and those with long-term conditions.’
NURSING STANDARD july 30 :: vol uses 28 no 48 :: permission. 2014 13 Downloaded from RCNi.com by ${individualUser.displayName} on Nov 24, 2015. For personal use only. No other without Copyright © 2015 RCNi Ltd. All rights reserved.
GAMES CALL-UP IS TRIATHLETE’S DREAM COME TRUE
PA
Newly qualified nurse Carol Bridge has fulfilled a lifetime ambition after competing in the Commonwealth games. Ms Bridge from Llwynypia in south Wales, represented her country in the triathlon event in Glasgow 2014 after world champion Non Stanford was ruled out through injury. The triathlon team competed on Saturday and finished eighth out of nine teams. ‘It has been brilliant,’ said Ms Bridge, a nurse in the acute medical unit at the Princess of Wales hospital in Bridgend. ‘It is like a dream. I have always wanted to do something like this.’ Ms Bridge trained for the swimming, running and cycling event at the Rhondda Triathlon Club.
More district nurses are qualifying but numbers in NHS still ‘eroded’ By Alistair Kleebauer @alistairkleebauer Nearly 40 per cent more district nurses are set to qualify this summer compared with last year, research commissioned by the Queen’s Nursing Institute (QNI) reveals. Figures show that 351 district nurses in England, Wales and Northern Ireland will graduate compared with 254 in 2013 – an increase of 38 per cent. Across the UK there were 427 new entrants to specialist practitioner programmes in 2013/14 and the number of universities offering the courses in England increased from 24 to 30. The number running programmes in Northern Ireland and Wales remained the same, at one and four respectively. Scotland was not included in the 2013 research, but was included this year and has four universities offering the specialist courses. ‘Last year’s figures served as a wake-up call to commissioners and
educators,’ said QNI chief executive Crystal Oldman. ‘At that point many courses had so few students that their viability could be called into question, and 21 per cent of courses did not run at all.’ The QNI commissioned the research in response to concerns that not enough district nurses were qualifying to replace those retiring.
More courses
Anglia Ruskin University launched a specialist practitioner programme for the 2013/14 academic year. Head of the primary and public health department Sarah Kraszewski said district nursing numbers in the NHS had been ‘eroded’. ‘Universities and NHS partners have responded and planned courses,’ she added. Anglia Ruskin has around 20 students in two part-time cohorts and hopes to introduce a full-time cohort in January. But Ms Kraszewski said more still needed to be done nationally to
increase the number of people training to work as district nurses. ‘We would like to see a similar approach taken as with the health visitor workforce. ‘The Department of Health produced a health visitor implementation plan and finance to increase the numbers and strengthen the health visitor workforce.’ The QNI’s previous report showed seven out of 33 district nurse courses did not run in the 2012/13 academic year. Four courses in England did not run in 2013/14 – one because there were not enough applicants meeting the entry requirements and three because the universities are developing revised courses that they plan to run from September. NHS Alliance chair Michael Dixon said: ‘This is definitely a move in the right direction, but we need to ensure that the increased numbers of district nurses have the specialist knowledge necessary to play a major role in the care of our frail older patients and those with long-term conditions.’
NURSING STANDARD july 30 :: vol uses 28 no 48 :: permission. 2014 13 Downloaded from RCNi.com by ${individualUser.displayName} on Nov 24, 2015. For personal use only. No other without Copyright © 2015 RCNi Ltd. All rights reserved.
