Guernsey Institute is to focus on full-time course
THE Guernsey Institute is still meeting the island’s needs for a qualified workforce, its bosses have said as it looks to focus its efforts on its full-time course.
It currently runs a BSC (Hons) Nursing three-year degree offering students a £19,000 bursary and free tuition costs to take on the course, on which 50% of time is spent in practice and allows them to be registered on the Nursing Midwifery Council register.
Upon completion, students are required to work for at least three years in Guernsey, which executive principal Dr Tracey McClean says is often exceeded.
‘At least 75% stay on past the three years,’ she said.
‘I see them around and they stick like glue, some of them have got quite senior posts now.
‘It helps to provide a steady pipeline of people coming through to become nurses, they know the context of the island and really understand it. You’ve got people who are committed and going to stay to make a career out of it.’
TGI had previously run a top-up degree program for unqualified nurses to enable them to get a BA (Hons) in health and social care practice with 241 going through the scheme over the last 15 years.
‘Degrees are very important nowadays, the complexity of healthcare means you need those higher level critical thinking skills to be able to solve complex problems. Patients are living longer with many comorbidities, it is a very different world we’re living in,’ said Dr McClean.
The pool of nurses without a degree has now dried up, leading to that specific program closing down.
There are currently 40 student nurses undertaking the three-year degree programme, which is delivered in partnership with Middlesex University and sees the students continually assessed theoretically and practically.
They are able to do up to 600 hours of simulated practice using equipment such as breathing dummies, and are also supported through a wellbeing programme that runs throughout the three years.
‘Nursing is a very fulfilling but quite challenging career so it’s about helping them develop some resilience and some strategies to help them cope,’ said Dr McClean.
The course has been at degree level since 2012.
