One of the things I’ve been doing recently is meeting up with final year students about to complete their degrees and register with the Nursing and Midwifery Council. These are hard-working, committed, people who have chosen to prepare for careers in mental health nursing. They’re now looking for jobs, and from what I’m hearing opportunities locally and nationally are few and far between.
Here, then, is the sharp end of NHS underfunding. There’s no question that new mental health nurses are required. In fact, we should expect demand to increase at a time of hardship. The problem is that vacancies are being frozen and services are generally retracting. As economic collapse fuels distress and increases need austerity bleeds public services of the capacity to respond.
So, good luck to everyone preparing to qualify. I hope you get the jobs you want and deserve, because you’re needed.
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