Nurture the nurses

DR MAX PeMBeRtoN says the NHS is facing a shortfall of 40,000 nurses and highlights the fact that 25 per cent of students drop out during training (Mail).

I have experienced nursing training in an apprenticeship scheme, Project 2000 diploma courses and a university degree. traditionally, it was a vocation caring for the sick but has become a profession where health

promotion and record-keeping are paramount. A nurse with a degree told me it was not her job to assist my sick wife to go to the toilet.

I am convinced a three-year educational programme of 50 per cent theory and 50 per cent practice is the way forward for nurse training.

Students would be paid for clinical work and receive a grant for the time spent in the classroom. Care would be the foundation stone, with the patient being central.

JOHN ORR, Bangor, Co Down. DR SCURR is spot on about bringing back the doctor’s white coat (Good Health).

Hospital doctors need easy access to a paraphernalia of medical instruments, drug formularies, reference books, phones and tablet computers. The more than ample pockets of a traditional white coat provided a practical means for this.

When I was a hospital doctor, I avoided many a medical error by checking my pocket reference book. Dr JAMES SHERIFI, Colchester, Essex.