In September many nursing students will complete their course of study and be ready to enter the world of employment. What we are increasingly hearing from students, universities and many NHS trusts is that a job within the NHS is not guaranteed.
The reasons for this are multi-faceted, but this situation presents opportunities for universities, the NHS and social care providers to present a different narrative around graduate destinations and employability options for newly registered nurses.
“The opportunity to present social care differently is one that should be harnessed to guarantee the future of the workforce”
We know from the most recent Skills for Care State of the Workforce report that there is a 9% vacancy rate for registered nurses in adult social care.
We also know that 64% of recruitment into posts comes from within adult social care itself and that 70% of the registered nurses working in this sector have over 10 years experience.
This tells us that social care is currently not a destination of choice for those new to care or newly registered.
The opportunity to present social care differently is one that should be harnessed to guarantee the future of the workforce.
In July, Skills for Care, in partnership with the Council of Deans of Health, will launch a strategy which seeks to transform the historic approach to the student nurse placement circuit. The aim of this strategy is for every student nurse to experience social care within their practice learning.
We want this to be embraced by those providing nursing programmes and for the importance of social care to be seen within curriculums and placement planning.
We also want social care to have equal footing when students come to explore jobs and opportunities upon course completion. Universities can play a vital role in bringing new graduates and social care employers together.
For this to be successful we need a sector ready to embrace students, both in terms of providing a practice learning environment where students thrive and realise their social care nursing potential but are recognisable as a place of employment that has long-term career potential.
We don’t just want to recruit social care nurses, we want to retain them. Preceptorship is a crucial element in retaining those who are new to role and new to social care and we’ve seen pockets of good practice with excellent preceptorship programmes being developed by some care providers.
Our vision is a sector that as a whole grasps the value and importance of preceptorship. We hope to aid in developing shared understanding through sharing of resources and support.
In the coming months, we want to play a part in re-shaping the narrative, in engaging with universities and colleges and making sure that social care is woven into the fabric of the nursing curriculum. But we also understand that our care providers need to play a part in making this happen.
We want them to be ready for this challenge and for them to unlock their own potential, showcasing to student nurses and new graduates that social care isn’t just a placement, but a destination for a rewarding and successful career.
If you are interested in attending the placement strategy launch please book here.
Claire Leenhouwers, national professional lead for nursing, Skills for Care
