Thousands of student nurses join the fight against COVID 19

Health Education England (HEE) have  today announced that 5453 year 3 student nurses from across the country have opted to join NHS frontline staff in its response to the COVID 19 pandemic.

Mark Radford, Chief Nurse, Health Education England said:

I am delighted that so many students have chosen to support the profession. This tells you a lot of about the fantastic attitude and dedication of our future registered nurses. My heartfelt thanks to everyone who is helping with this effort."

The figure relates to the number who have volunteered as of 3 April from 35 universities and progress is being monitored on a daily basis.

Health Education England has been in touch with universities to ask for regular information on the status of their third-year undergraduate nursing students.  These students were the first to be contacted by their university and asked about their interest and whether they would like to opt-in to a paid placement. 

This has now been extended to include all nursing cohorts eligible for the extended paid-placements as part of the revised education programmes permitted by the COVID-19 legislation. 

All second and third year undergraduate nursing students, second and third year midwifery students, and postgraduate nursing and midwifery students will soon be contacted by their university to discuss their options.