Routes into nursing

[nursenc]

Does anybody have any information about nursing degree apprenticeships or any alternative ways into nursing or midwifery.

I have searched online but the info is so limited. I regularly check NHS jobs but in the last year I've only seen 3 trusts offering nursing degree apprenticeships, none near me! I am in Manchester.

My end goal is do to my health visiting training, I preferably would like to study child nursing or midwifery... but adult could also work! I don't think I would enjoy MH or LD nursing so wouldn't really consider those options.

I can't go back to uni (already have one undergrad) to do my nurse training full time as I need to work to pay my mortgage, I couldn't give up my full time job.

I currently work in a health visiting team but at band 4, I have really good practical experience as well as a relevant first class honours degree so know I am capable. It's just that the routes in are so limited for people like me and I feel totally stuck!

If anyone has any advice or thoughts at all I would really appreciate hearing it.
Thanks!

i'm afraid i don't know much about it but would this be of interest to you? its an hour train ride or 1hr5min drive as its in blackpool, but maybe if you can't find anything closer it may be worth considering?

@sleepismysuperpower1 ah what is it? Do you have a link?
Thanks

If I was in Manchester, I might email the education department at Royal Salford and copy in the Chief Nurse.

sorry i forgot to attach the link! try here. hopefully it works now!

Have you looked at getting seconded through your trust to train either via open university or another course? These schemes are usually only for existing employees - places are limited and you'd have to go through an application/selection process but they do exist.
Your manager or the education and development team in your own trust should be able to give you some advice (if you haven't already explored this).

I'm in NI so it may be different here of course, but check out the OU website if you havent already.

@sleepismysuperpower1 thank you

@CherryPavlova thanks, is there any reason you suggested Salford Royal specifically? My friend is a nurse there I could get some contact details from her.

@Atla my trust are crying out for HV's at the moment and my manager knows that I am looking for a few different routes in. There's nothing online about it or on the intranet but I could definitely dig a little deeper. Thanks!

Salford is a huge trust. It has a strong education department and culture of ‘growing their own’. It’s outstanding rated and likely to offer wide opportunities. A personal approach often pays off.

Ah @sleepismysuperpower1 thanks but the TNA courses still only lead to a band 4 and it doesn't allow me to go on to do my HV training.

My lovely friend ran the course for the first ever cohort of TNA's within my trust but tells me the opportunity to go from 4 to 5 after it doesn't really exist yet.

@CherryPavlova thanks for that, I'm going to look up some contact details!

Sorry it’s Salford Royal, isn’t it? A few years since I’ve been there.
They have HCA posts on website so definitely worth a conversation about career progression and apprenticeships.

You need to speak to your education/ staff development team. I’m in Scotland but here we put staff through their Access to nursing course, then with the OU to do their degree. It’s usually HCA and they have to be in a substantive post, not bank.

@CherryPavlova yes it's Salford Royal, I knew what you meant!

@MrsAmaretto yes I have tried to email but have had no response. My line manager isn't actually an NHS employee so it's abit difficult as she doesn't get the system. Integrated working eh!

We have Practice Development Nurses in my NHS Trust, easy to find their contact details on the hospital website. They’re a fantastic source of information for anything education.

Some hospitals are now employing nurse associates. (Very bad idea imho) you have to be a clinical support worker first, but you can do a years top up to Registered nurse.

Cross post. I see you've already looked into that.

That's not the case in all trusts Toddler my friend is doing the nurse associate course ironically at Salford she wasn't a support worker first ,she does however complain the course is quite disorganised and there are not clear guidelines about her responsibilities etc when she completed the course ,I did my nurse training at Salford 20 + years ago and we also complained the course was disorganised .

@x2boys my friend and the 3 other experienced practitioners who each had years of management experience behind them all went off on long term sick after a year of running the NA course. My friend was the last one standing of the 4, she said it was the most stressful year of her life, it nearly caused her a nervous breakdown. There was no guidance for them at all, and when they raised concerns that the TNA's were not capable of giving the necessary standard of care they were ignored and told there was nothing they could do.

Sounded awful!

We are really struggling to recruit health visitors and have been for about 12 months, people just aren't applying and the ones who are applying aren't suitable.

It's no secret that trusts are in need of more nurses and with the nhs bursary gone, not as many people are applying to nursing courses.

Surely, when there are people like me trying to get into nursing but are unable to because they can't just quit their jobs and put their lives and mortgages on hold for 3 years, something has got to change!?

Why are nursing degree apprenticeships even a thing if barely any trusts offer them?

@x2boys yes. Similar complaints here too. We have no idea what their roles and responsibilities are going to be. We are worried about having less fully trained nurses and being fobbed off with NA's. It's also going to increase our workloads as the ones in our trust will not be allowed to give IV's or CD's. Most of our kids are on CD's.

@x2boys in my trust they have to be supports workers. And I think they sign up to work for the trust for a minimum length of time.

Isn’t the Nurse Associate role what was once the Enrolled Nurse role that the NMC got rid of years ago, despite us all saying that was a grave error?

This is my understanding Alexa, when I started my nurse.training in 1993 they were phasing enrolled nurses out ,most were doing conversion courses to.become registered nurses ,so tbh I didn't really work with an enrolled nurses , looks like they have reinvented the wheel!

x2boys. As Registered Nurses who had worked with Enrolled Nurses for years, my colleagues and I were aghast at the decision to get rid of the role. I worked with some fabulous Enrolled Nurses over the years. They were the mainstay of many wards and departments and were treated very badly. But this is typical of the NMC I’m afraid. A knee-jerk reaction that most of us knew was the wrong thing and now they are having to reverse it. But under another guise to save face.

You would be an ideal candidate to do the MSc in Nursing if you didn't have to work full time :-(

It is a graduate entry fast track programme. It is intense though so although it is possible to work alongside it, you couldn't work full time.

@willowstar I've heard of that, but I thought it was a post grad for qualified nurses?