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£25 million boost for nurse training
Nurses and other healthcare students will benefit from expanded virtual training, and the launch of a new national critical care qualification for qualified nurses.
From:
17 March 2021
Up to £15 million for English universities to rapidly expand simulated learning for nursing and other healthcare students this year, providing flexibility during the pandemic
£10 million for a new nationally recognised critical care qualification to boost the qualified workforce
The government has announced a £25 million boost for nurse training which will see nurses and other healthcare students benefit from expanded virtual training, and the launch of a new national critical care qualification for qualified nurses.
Welcoming the new government funding, Dr Katerina Kolyva, executive director of the Council of Deans of Health, which represents UK nursing faculties, echoed that Covid-19 had “put unprecedented pressure on practice placement capacity for students”.
She highlighted that throughout the past 12 months many universities had responded by increasing the use of simulation experiences, but noted the great expense of such technologies.
“We appreciate the flexibility shown by professional regulators over the past year, which has allowed universities to use simulation more creatively on some courses,” said Dr Kolyva.
Katerina Kolyva
“This new investment will go some way to helping universities provide the equipment and facilities necessary to take advantage of this flexibility.”
A young woman studying
Applications to nursing courses in the UK have risen by almost a third this year, with more than 60,000 people expressing an interest in joining the workforce.
Health and nursing leaders put the extraordinary leap” in applications down in part to people being inspired by the work of nurses during the coronavirus pandemic. The tireless and outstanding commitment of all our nurses over the past year is the best possible advert for the nursing profession”
Mark Radford
The data, published today by the University and College Admissions Service (UCAS), showed that 60,130 people had applied to a nursing course for autumn 2021 – an increase of 32% on 2020.