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Added: Friday, 13 November, 2009, 10:58 GMT 10:58 UK

i thought there were different levels of nurses, where Nurse Practioners need degrees etc

This either means they want to create a type of orderly to replace nurses and there fore cheaper or make it so hard to get uk nurses that thay have an excuse to import nurses from abroad.

IF GB so badly need shigh qualified nurses with degrees, then as an investment instead of subsidising aid to india, russia and china with tax payer money, use it to pay for qualifications and accomodations in uk.

Wessvoice, bournemouth

Added: Friday, 13 November, 2009, 10:56 GMT 10:56 UK

The wards are becoming full of people who believe that changing a catheter is 'beneath' them because they are graduates.
Anne F, Slough

They're called medical students. Not to belittle the great service done by our doctors, but it's easy for doctors and hospital managment to patronise nurses and the work they do. Nurses don't need the public getting at them too. Nurses are there with a patient long after the doctor has gone. They are over worked and under paid, and often go unthanked for it.

laura gregory, wrexham, United Kingdom

Added: Friday, 13 November, 2009, 10:53 GMT 10:53 UK

How does this fit in with the fact that a large number of nurses have been recruited from overseas, particularly the Phillipines? Will they have to have degrees and how will we know that their degrees are equivalent to ours?
In addition, even at the moment, old people can starve in hospital because no one makes sure that they have help with eating if they need it. How will having even more highly qualified nurses help this problem?

Newsman Face, Stockport, United Kingdom

Added: Friday, 13 November, 2009, 10:49 GMT 10:49 UK

Yes, if they want to it's entirely up to them There was a time when doctors, architects, etc didn't study for a degree. Nurses have just come to it in their own good time and we should support them.

I've spent a lot of time in hospitals and can see the need for nurses to study to the highest level, so good luck to them and I hope it helps them keep up their good work.

John, Morpeth

Added: Friday, 13 November, 2009, 10:48 GMT 10:48 UK

Nurses have been training to degree level for a number of years now. Although it has not been compulsory, many student nurses have either taken degree courses from the start, or 'topped up' their diploma courses with an extra year's study as soon as they have qualified. One of th reasons that more nurses have not taken a degree route is simply cost - diploma student nurses get paid (a pittance) during their training. Degree student nurses do not, because they are classed as 'undergraduates'!

Sue

Added: Friday, 13 November, 2009, 10:45 GMT 10:45 UK

The skills of a good nurse will take more than 3 years to acheive.The question for me,as a low paid working classed individual,is ,as always;who pays for this training?I am a graduate.I obtained a part-grant before Thatcher.I would not be able to do a degree today because I can't afford too.Do the trainnee nurses get their living expenses and course fees paid for or will it be midde and upper classes into this profession as well?Better training for the Brits is welcome,equals fewer immigrants.

paul miller

Added: Friday, 13 November, 2009, 10:39 GMT 10:39 UK

I think that nurses shoud be more qualified, because health is the most important thing we have and most people will enter nursing for the status and vocation.
I only that these new rules will not lead more people to compete for nursing just for the money because higher qualifications will imply better remuneration.

Paula, Guarda - Portugal

Added: Friday, 13 November, 2009, 10:37 GMT 10:37 UK

Nursing is primarily a caring, practical hands-on job. From my experience in many different working environments, the more qualified a person becomes the less hands-on work they want to do. Preferring to do more administrative roles, this is the last thing the NHS needs.

Mark Dermody, Wakefield

Added: Friday, 13 November, 2009, 10:36 GMT 10:36 UK

The problem ..is ..If nurses need degrees, they will want more money ..hospitals will commence to employ more auxilleries, who are largely completely untrained!
This has not been thought out, has it?
B. Nicholson, Crumpsall

You've hit the point. It's a way of saving money, lowering NHS costs. 1 or 2 qualified nurses on a ward and the rest, lower paid, unqualified staff doing the bulk of the nursing. HCA's are now trained to do more complex tasks and the number of 'assistants' has risen.

Woodlander UK

Added: Friday, 13 November, 2009, 10:32 GMT 10:32 UK

If British nurses have to be trained to degree standard, what criteria will the NHS apply to foreign nurses it employs from abroad, as we are often told the NHS could not function without them; will they have to have a degree too?

Paul Walsh, Oxford, United Kingdom

Added: Friday, 13 November, 2009, 10:30 GMT 10:30 UK

I think nurses should get proper training, if it is a degree or not! I know from the continent nurses go on an apprenticeship for three years. I do not know how one becomes a nurse in the UK.

Annette Strauch

Added: Friday, 13 November, 2009, 10:26 GMT 10:26 UK

I happily applaud measures to ensure nursing and medical care in the UK is kept to the highest standards. In spite of the many difficulties faced by our medical profession I am immensely proud of our nurses and doctors. The introduction of a nursing degree saddens me however. Really excellent nursing care doesn't come from a text book but from the heart, it cannot be learnt. I really hope this doesn't deter those with a true aptitude for nursing.

Clare, Cardiff

Added: Friday, 13 November, 2009, 10:24 GMT 10:24 UK

I agree with the comment that nursing comes from the heart. Florence Nighingale did not take a degree course! I believe that nurses are born not created. I have been in hospital many times in my life and the best ones have always been those that do the job because it is in their blood/heart. You can educate someone to the nth degree but you cannot teach them care or common sense - this is something that is quite often lacking in graduates until they have had some experience of life!

sam, bedfordshire

Added: Friday, 13 November, 2009, 10:15 GMT 10:15 UK

I am currently doing my Access to nursing course at college, next year I'll start my Degree at university for 3 years. I am entering nursing at 32 because I care and I want to look after others who are sick having cared for my mum since my teens, she passed away this year. I don't care about the fact I am gaining a degree out of it. I am going into the profession for a career and to offer what I feel is my personality and vocation to others who need in times of stress and sickness.

Alison, Bolton

Added: Friday, 13 November, 2009, 10:06 GMT 10:06 UK

I am not sure what a "Nurse" is any more. There seems to be a wide range from Super Nurses" who seem to operate (literally) on a par with Drs to ancillaries whose function is to do those things that nurses used to do. Make up beds, brings cups of tea etc. The former group ought to be highly qualified and specialist. But the other group require compassion, common sense and empathy skills. I'm not sure that you can learn those things simply by gaining a degree.

[p1kef1sh], Salisbury, United Kingdom