References
Abstract
Background:
The pre-registration BSc Nursing course in the UK is renowned for being challenging due to its requirement for 2300 hours each for theoretical and practice-based learning. It is therefore inevitable that some students may need to interrupt their study at some point during the course. In many cases, these students do not return and leave the course, which has an impact on the future nursing workforce.
Aims:
To examine the reasons why pre-registration student nurses interrupt their studies and consider ways to enable them to return successfully and complete the course.
Methods:
The research project was based in one higher education institution (HEI) in the North West region of England. Interrupted students due to return to study in semester 1 of the 2022/23 academic year (
Findings:
Health, including mental health was the dominant factor leading to the interruption of study for the students.
Conclusion:
This research has led the HEI to introduce an improved support package for students. Alongside other recommendations it is hoped the changes will reduce attrition and lead to an improved interruption/return-to-study experience.
Attrition in student nursing refers to the number of students who do not complete their nurse training (Hamshire et al, 2019). Attrition from pre-registration nursing programmes is a concern for higher education institutions (HEIs), which negatively affects income and student experience (Lovegrove, 2018). The Health Foundation (2019) put the average attrition rate for UK pre-registration nursing students at 24%, with that in the North West region at 21%. Health Education England published the Reducing Pre-registration Attrition and Improving Retention (RePAIR) study, which identified the 10 main reasons why nursing students interrupt or discontinue their studies, with financial reasons being the most prevalent in that research (Lovegrove, 2018).
At the author's HEI at the time this research project took place there were 157 pre-registration nursing students on interrupted studies. Approximately 75% of these students could have resumed studies in time to have joined the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) register by March 2024, supporting the 50 000 nursing expansion programme (Department of Health and Social Care, 2022). A challenge for HEIs and the future of the NHS workforce is that not all students return from interruption. When these students do return, they may struggle to pick up the pace of academic work and integrate into a new cohort of students (Handwerker, 2018). This research aimed to examine the reasons why students suspended their training and what measures they thought would help them to successfully complete the course.
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