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Just keep immigration and education low, and this'll be sure to fix itself, because market forces! No amount of freedom and patriotism will create nurses if yo

Just keep immigration and education low, and this'll be sure to fix itself, because market forces! No amount of freedom and patriotism will create nurses if you're neither training nor importing them. Over here in the UK we have a perennial nursing shortage - so we'll be kicking a load out of the country come April, because the scurrilous auslanders are stealing British jobs! That no British person will fill! But hey! Patriotism! It's the principle of the thing, right?! But, worry not - when you and I are elderly and in need of nursing care - there will be no way of meeting capacity, unless half the population is in elder care, or old folks are looked after by Robots, or just euthanised as they're no longer productive to the state that owns them.

dazc 11y ago
> That no British person will fill! Do you have some evidence to back up this statement?
- madaxe_again 11y ago
  The stats are out there - and in short the pay is considered too low by most who would want to nurse to actually pursue a career - starts at 21k, tops out at 35k - and bursuries and grants for educational and training costs are unavailable for most - the means test requires you and your family to earn less than a living income to actually get funding. Apocryphally, my other half wanted to be a nurse, but couldn't get any assistance to fund her studies. She went to work as a carer instead, which requires less in the way of qualifications, but if you're earning minimum wage and having to spend most of your income on fuel to reach your patients, it doesn't make sense to pursue. No - nursing roles tend to be most readily fulfilled by those who have trained overseas, have a favourable purchasing parity power in their country of origin compared to the UK, and have a modest cost of living, what with that being prepared to work your nuts off to achieve your aspirations thing that has largely been washed out of the West. A growing number of folks seem to be waiting for lightning to strike, as everybody eventually wins the lottery or becomes a pop star.
  - dazc 11y ago
    My understanding of the situation is that health trusts have been cutting back on training in favour of hiring already qualified nurses from overseas for reasons of financial expediency. I don't think it's just a case of people in the UK waiting to win the lottery instead.
  - DanBC 11y ago
    > She went to work as a carer instead A minor point but if she's paid she's not a carer, she's a care worker or care assistant or personal assistant or personal care worker or etc. Carer is a term reserved in English law for someone who provides care but who s not paid to do so. (Usually a spouse, or parent, or child.) This sounds like a minor quibble, but we know it takes a long time (average 2 years for adult carers, average 5 years for under 18 carers) to identify people who are carers. We also know that often people don't self-identify as carers because "I don't get paid to do this". (But I agree with the rest of your post).
tamana 11y ago
You ignore the option of paying themna decent wage.

dazc 11y ago

> That no British person will fill! Do you have some evidence to back up this statement?

madaxe_again 11y ago
The stats are out there - and in short the pay is considered too low by most who would want to nurse to actually pursue a career - starts at 21k, tops out at 35k - and bursuries and grants for educational and training costs are unavailable for most - the means test requires you and your family to earn less than a living income to actually get funding. Apocryphally, my other half wanted to be a nurse, but couldn't get any assistance to fund her studies. She went to work as a carer instead, which requires less in the way of qualifications, but if you're earning minimum wage and having to spend most of your income on fuel to reach your patients, it doesn't make sense to pursue. No - nursing roles tend to be most readily fulfilled by those who have trained overseas, have a favourable purchasing parity power in their country of origin compared to the UK, and have a modest cost of living, what with that being prepared to work your nuts off to achieve your aspirations thing that has largely been washed out of the West. A growing number of folks seem to be waiting for lightning to strike, as everybody eventually wins the lottery or becomes a pop star.
- dazc 11y ago
  My understanding of the situation is that health trusts have been cutting back on training in favour of hiring already qualified nurses from overseas for reasons of financial expediency. I don't think it's just a case of people in the UK waiting to win the lottery instead.
- DanBC 11y ago
  > She went to work as a carer instead A minor point but if she's paid she's not a carer, she's a care worker or care assistant or personal assistant or personal care worker or etc. Carer is a term reserved in English law for someone who provides care but who s not paid to do so. (Usually a spouse, or parent, or child.) This sounds like a minor quibble, but we know it takes a long time (average 2 years for adult carers, average 5 years for under 18 carers) to identify people who are carers. We also know that often people don't self-identify as carers because "I don't get paid to do this". (But I agree with the rest of your post).

tamana 11y ago

You ignore the option of paying themna decent wage.