NHS team up with Mumsnet to recruit nurses

[RedToothBrush]

www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-48438139
NHS turns to Mumsnet to fill nurse vacancies

I have a good friend who would like to progress her career from being a maternity care assistant to a nurse.

However she financially can not afford to. Especially since they cut bursaries. She has two kids.

Linking up with Mumsnet suggests that the government a) think it should be primarily women who go into nursing b) they aren't motivated to go into nursing c) have magic free child care which allows them to work shifts

I must admit to finding the idea eyebrow raising on many levels, spectacularly missing the point and dripping in sexism.

And I'm not sure I'm too impressed at the idea of MN supporting it, unless they make the point plainly and explicitly that training needs to be properly supported financially and child care needs need to be taken a LOT more seriously if the NHS are going to change anything on this front.

totally agree with you.
my eyebrows are raised to a level higher than a midsummer sun at noon.

You should also check out the q&A sticky thread which they haven't yet returned to. Think it's already backfired slightly.

I skim read it earlier. Isn't it that they want the encourage ex-nurses to come back? They don't particularly want to have to train a lot of new nurses, they'd rather try to convince those who've left to come back. It's much cheaper & faster... We'll just ignore all the reasons they might have for leaving in the first place...!

Just because they've teamed up with MN doesn't mean it's the only recruitment partner they have.

Loving how under this thread I got an ad about medical negligence claims

I raised eyebrows as well, however it's to get people back into nursing who have left and that feels quite reasonable tbh

I would imagine they have stats that say that lots of people leave the profession when they have young children, so now they are trying to lure them back. I would not call that sexist. Mumsnet partners with loads of employers. I remember when it was news that MI5 was looking to Mumsnet to recruit the next generation of spies. It's a huge board where people spend large amounts of time.

I know this isn't really the point of the thread, but nurses and midwives are criminally underpaid. There's no way such a highly skilled profession would be rewarded so appallingly if it were male dominated.

I know a newly qualified midwife who is a single mother. Her earnings are a bit erratic because they depend on how many of her shifts in a month are night shifts.

On a lower paid month she is below the universal credit earnings limit. But she can't claim UC because the next month she will be slightly over the limit.

I find it abhorrent that women who are well qualified, to degree level, performing a vital public service, are in such a financially precarious situation.

NHS England are getting crap on Twitter from the TRA's about this because of all the "transphobic hate" on mumsnet

I don't see problem with it personally...

twitter.com/sophiecooktalks/status/1135534404539957248?s=19

Agree totally with @TheCuriousMonkey I am so shocked by how people in care roles are paid and the shifts they juggle.
I understand why there are a shortage in nurses.

I find it abhorrent that women who are well qualified, to degree level, performing a vital public service, are in such a financially precarious situation

This. And if they're having a problem recruiting nurses the obvious solution would be to offer higher pay. I bet if they doubled salaries they'd have no problem filling vacancies. I thought that was how capitalism was supposed to work (it being a 'market' etc). Funny how that only applies sometimes.

Redtoothbrush Has your friend looked into the new nursing associate workbased route?

www.healthcareers.nhs.uk/explore-roles/nursing/roles-nursing/nursing-associate

They're not available everywhere in England yet. Worth findxing out what is happening locally.

Totally agree with you OP (and it’s not often I venture into the feminism section!). I’ve commented on the Q&A chat too which as a PP said, has gone predictably badly .

Sort out the awful conditions and lack of respect towards nurses and they might have more luck.