Student nurses choose to work in East Lancs hospitals

This year has seen an increase in the number of nurses choosing to stay and work with East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust following graduation, meaning fewer agency nurses are needed.

Of the 46 student nurses qualifying at the end of August, 38 now have jobs in the Trust’s five hospitals.

ELHT chief nurse Chris Pearson said: “We congratulate all our graduate student nurses in their achievement and wish them well in their careers here. As more and more student nurses choose to stay and build their careers with ELHT, the Trust can reduce the number of nurses we need to employ through agencies.”

The ELHT Practice Education Facilitator Team has worked hard to reduce the number of student nurses leaving the Trust during their studies.

Since the introduction of degree-level nurse training, the Trust has lost up to 25% of student nurses over the three-year course. This year, every first year student nurse chose to continue their work and studies with the Burnley and Blackburn Trust.

Gillian Cairns, who is the Trust’s Education and Workforce lead, said: “We are working to ensure our student nurses stay on the course and then continue working at ELHT after they qualify.”