Quarter of student nurses drop out before finishing their degree

Student nurses are quitting courses in their droves amid fears over Britain’s 40,000 vacant nursing posts

• One in four student nurses drop out before finishing degrees, research found  
• RCN believe student nurses may quit because they struggle to make ends meet 
• Dropout rates will raise further questions about the value of nursing degrees

One in four student nurses drop out before they finish their degrees, an investigation has found.

The findings are extremely concerning at a time when the NHS is suffering from a severe shortage of nurses and is having to recruit from abroad.

Of 16,544 nursing students who were meant to finish their three-year degrees in 2017, 4,027 quit or suspended their studies. This means approximately 24 per cent of students left. The figures were obtained through a joint investigation by Nursing Standard magazine and the Health Foundation charity, which warned that the dropout rate was a ‘huge concern’.

Previous data from the Royal College of Nursing found that up to 40,000 nursing posts were vacant – about one in nine – with many of these filled by expensive agency nurses.

One in four student nurses drop out before they finish their degrees, an investigation has found (file photo)

The RCN believes nurses quit because they do not enjoy clinical placements and can struggle to make ends meet.

The dropout rates will raise further questions about the value of nursing degrees, which were first established in the 1960s.

In 2009 the Department of Health announced that all new nurses would have to enrol on three-year degree courses rather than take practical two-year diplomas based on the ward. In 2006 the dropout rate was 24.6 per cent – showing little has been done to improve student motivation in the last 12 years.

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Ben Gershlick, of the Health Foundation, said: ‘While the attrition rate has remained fairly constant over the last decade, its impact is becoming more severe bearing in mind the overall shortage of nurses, vacancies in nursing posts and rising demand pressures on the NHS.’

Professor James Buchan, of the school of health sciences at Edinburgh’s Queen Margaret University, said: ‘Student nurse attrition has been for many years identified as a major problem for the UK, both in terms of the negative impact on individuals who leave programmes early, and also for the system at large.’

A spokesman for the Department of Health said: ‘There are currently 52,000 nurses in training to work in our NHS, with more to come thanks to our historic 25 per cent increase in training places which will ensure we have the nurses we need for the future.’

The findings are extremely concerning at a time when the NHS is suffering from a severe shortage of nurses and is having to recruit from abroad (file photo)

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