September 2019
The Guardian reports that a quarter of students quit nursing degrees before the end of the course. Of 16,544 UK nursing students at 55 universities, 4,027 left their courses early or suspended their studies. The Royal College of Nursing warned that students were being put off by bad experiences on clinical placements, as well as by financial difficulties and academic pressures. The NHS faced a shortage of tens of thousands of nurses. Compared to the 2006 figure, the attrition rate remains the same.