Student nurses (and their teachers) have come in for some criticism lately, as I’ve observed on this blog before. I won’t say anything about nursing academics in this briefest of posts, but I will say something about students. Which is this: the vast majority of them are really rather good. In my view this simple truth is not stated sufficiently often. Again and again I come across hard-working, inquisitive, students who are (and here’s the thing) motivated to care. They put the shifts in, come home, and read about how to do it better. They arrive in class ready and willing to learn, share their experiences and improve. They don’t get paid much, and as their careers progress they probably never will. So, students, take the applause: you deserve it.

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