Issues in nurse education : the learner as worker

Nurses training for a statutory qualification in the UK (other than those on degree programmes) are employees of the National Health Service. Unlike their counterparts in Canada, as described by Professor Kergin in the May/June 1980 issue of Medical Teacher, they undergo an 'apprenticeship type' education. This might appear to be an ideal situation for learners, allowing good correlation of theory with practice, and for nurse tutors-who are also NHS employees-since it should give them easy access to learning situations. Unfortunately, this is not always so: ward teaching by qualified ward staff is frequently the latter's last priority, learners see their service commitment and the well-being of the patient as their prime concern, and nurse tutors may lack clinical expertise and credibility. The learner as worker is not an ideal situation, and the combined management responsibility for service and education may produce more problems than it solves.