Nursing apprentices are programme’s first cohort to qualify
Posted 04 January 2024 - 13:02
Two-year programme was set up by independent healthcare provider to boost nurse numbers, reflecting nurse workforce expansion aims of NHS long-term plan
The first nurses to complete a new apprenticeship programme have graduated from the University of Sunderland.
Eight nurses graduated from the programme in December, with 146 apprentices enrolled on it. The students learned remotely through the university as well as completing placements across clinical settings including wards, outpatients, the emergency department and theatre.
Nursing apprenticeships are likely to play an increasingly important role in pre-registration education, with the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan’s stated aim of expanding the proportion of nurses qualifying in this way.
Laura Turner qualified as an adult nurse through the programme after completing a nursing associate apprenticeship at Birmingham Children’s Hospital.
‘I’ll soon be starting a new position at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham on a surgical thoracic ward. Eventually the dream is to work in the intensive care unit,’ she said.
Earn-as-you-learn nurse education
The degree apprenticeship programme was established two years ago by private healthcare provider Spire Healthcare in partnership with the university as a way to boost nursing numbers by offering students a way to earn while learning. It is a work-based qualification, with a starting salary of £21,000. Each nurse degree apprenticeship completed the programme with a BSc degree.
Head of nursing and health sciences at the University of Sunderland Sue Brent said the programme delivers greater flexibility than a traditional degree.
Planned expansion of nursing apprenticeships
The government’s NHS Long Term Workforce Plan in England promises the biggest ever expansion of NHS apprenticeships – particularly in nursing – to help cover workforce shortfalls. The stated aim is to have 20% of registered nurses – or about 8,800 – qualifying through apprenticeships by 2028-29, compared to 9% at present.
This is broken down to represent 20% of adult nurses, 33% of learning disability nurses and 28% of mental health nurses. There is no planned increase for children’s nursing places.
Further modelling in the plan indicates that by 2031-32, two in five learning disability nurses and almost one in three adult and mental health nurses could train via a degree-level apprenticeship route.
The boost in apprenticeship numbers is intended to help meet ambitious plans for recruit up to 190,000 more nurses by 2037.
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