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The recent announcement regarding the changing requirements by the Nursing Midwifery Council (NMC) to move towards a degree level registration by 2013 has received a mixed reception.
Ranged against those who believe that we will lose the essence of the “caring role” are those who see a need for a modern educated workforce which is robust and grounded to face a new age of healthcare. The NMC have reviewed the standards of education. These will be out for consultation next year. They require that nurses are educated to deal with greater complexity that leads to a degree level education. In no way does this undermine the skill and expertise, knowledge and experience of nurses on the register who do not currently hold degrees and they will not be required to attain a degree to remain on the register.
Following the commentary has been enlightening in seeing the old debates surfacing about nurses as mini doctors or “too posh to wash”. In my view, it is all rather ridiculous. The first undergraduate programme for nurses was introduced in Edinburgh in 1960, some 50 years ago. Wales introduced an all-graduate profession in 2006; I do not recall the cries of horror about that. No one seems to have objected to the all graduate profession of speech therapy, physiotherapy or occupational therapy in the last few decades or in midwifery last year. So why is there such a concern about nursing? Nurses are the single biggest employed workforce in the NHS, predominately female and they provide a constant role in the delivery of healthcare to patients. Is there a gender issue at play? New role developments such as Nurse Specialist and Consultant posts have provided a new pathway for senior clinical nurses. Currently we have 60 posts within the speciality across the four countries of the UK. These posts expect nurses to hold a degree. We need to have robust career structures in place if we are to retain and sustain the profession.
The concern about denying a potentially “good bedside” nurse access to training will be negated by developing a range of access courses to enable individuals to attain appropriate qualifications to gain entry to a degree programme. Most recently, many nurses have topped up their university diploma to degree level, which is the current requirement. I think we underestimate people’s potential and we need to be realistic in the fact that we will need a new hybrid of “nurse” or health worker who is more flexible and can support and lead changes we will see in healthcare services. The economic outlook is bleak. Reform will be continuous and radical change will be needed to sustain the workforce and demands for care. Nursing will be at the heart of that and will require a highly educated and skilled workforce to adapt to the economic pressures and to contribute some of the solutions. We cannot afford to look back as a profession to what went before. We have to look forward and be prepared for a new world of new opportunities and challenges.
The best comment on the nurse degree debate came from my 85 year old aunt who recently spent two weeks observing the NHS from her hospital bed. A retired nurse, politically astute and well versed in current affairs, she said of the critics of the intention to turn nursing into an all graduate profession, ”They can say what they like, you need knowledge to care.” I think that sums it up.
Deborah Sturdy RN MSc (Econ)
Nurse Advisor Older People
Department of Health
BGS Newsletter, February 2010
Issue 25 ISSN 1748-634000 25 |