02 September 2009
21 pre-registration student nurses began their 4 year study programme today.
This is the third time the programme, which is offered by Health and Social Services (HSS) with the Open University, has been delivered locally.
The student nurses are Health and Social Services Department staff from other areas and, following a partnership with Education, Sport and Culture (ESC), school leavers who now have the opportunity to enter the profession without leaving the Island.
Director of Nursing Rose Naylor said: "This is an innovative approach to helping people reach their full potential for the long-term benefit of Health and Social Services and Islanders who require care."
The programme benefits the Island in 5 significant ways:
-
it helps Jersey ‘grow its own’ nursing workforce rather than rely on importing skills from the UK, Europe and other countries
-
it creates real options for Islanders wishing to develop a career outside traditional areas of the economy
-
it gives career options to young people who do not wish to leave the Island to study / enter low-skilled employment / face the prospect of unemployment
-
it gives Islanders who wish to change career, but cannot leave the Island because of financial and personal commitments, the ability to start a career in health
-
it stimulates the local economy by enabling the local workforce to develop new skills and knowledge through this Open University and HSS partnership
Rose Naylor said: "It is fantastic to be able to develop a cohort of 21 student nurses here on the Island. Our recent partnership work with ESC means for the first time we have been able to extend the programme to school leavers. This is positive for the nursing profession in Jersey and the Island as a whole.
"While the reality is that we will always need to recruit a percentage of registered or specialist nurses from outside Jersey, we are very proud to provide local options, such as this, that will support the Island to maintain vital core services."
The September 2009 cohort includes 10 adult branch students and 10 mental health branch students. The students are in class this week, getting to know each other and more about the infrastructure of health and social care on the Island.
They were greeted on their first morning by Health Minister Anne Pryke and Director of Nursing Rose Naylor.
gov.je