One in three nurses are skipping meals to fund vital training, research shows
According to new, devasting research, almost a third of UK nurses and care workers are having to miss meals in order to fund their training.
This week, FuturU, a free healthcare training company, published their research which highlighted that 42% of nurses and care workers in the UK are having to fund their training courses from their own pocket. In addition, 32% are having to skip meals to make this possible.
The report, which is titled Prescription for Change – why nursing and social care training needs an injection of innovation, polled more than 500 nurses and care workers on their current learning and development opportunities and whether their needs are being met.
Experts discovered that the average self-funder spends around 18% of their annual salary on training courses. This is equivalent to around £5,660. In addition, nurses have a higher volume of courses to undertake, which means they are likely to spend a higher average percentage of their wages on training (19%) as opposed to care workers (16%).
In addition, researchers highlighted that among those paying for their training, 31% are taking out loans to cover the cost, with 17% falling into debt.
Commenting on the findings, Michael Manuccia, CEO at FuturU said: ‘Nurses and care workers have dedicated their lives to helping others, but we’re asking them to take on the economic burden of a health and social care education and often finance it with debt. It’s no wonder that so many people are leaving the sector. This is no longer just a workforce challenge, but a societal issue that’s playing our all across the world.’
On top of financial pressures, those working in the health industry have also reported significant declines in their mental health. 48% of the nurses and care workers polled claimed they are ‘very confident’ they have the right skills to do their jobs and that the problems lie within the limitations of current training methods. This has contributed to 50% of workers experiencing stress and poor mental health. The skills gap is also forcing 39% of staff to work overtime with 30% experiencing burnout.
In the summer of 2023, the government unveiled their new NHS workforce plan which outlined that authorities intended to retain current talent by expanding domestic education, training, and recruitment. Although, as we can see from the figures obtained by FuturU, this is yet to be experienced.
However, nurses and care workers have made it clear through this research that they believe technology will ease some of the pressures the NHS are currently facing. 52% of nurses and care workers have said they could use digital devices and applications to complete training courses. In addition, a further 34% admitted that while they would be open to using technology for learning, they would require support.
Manuccia added: ‘Smarter use of technology will help drive down the cost and increase the personalisation of training, in a way that’s much more scalable. We need to stop treating training as a tick-box exercise and start seeing it as a crucial tool for empowering healthcare workers to fulfil their potential. This means creating training courses that are free, engaging, and accessible via the devices they use on a day-to-day basis. That’s what we’re building at FuturU.’
Image: Vladimir Fedotov
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