Carry-on
Sir: Your leading article (`Carry on Nurse', 4 June) contains so many inaccuracies it is difficult in a short letter to correct them all but I will attempt to put the record straight.
The slur on the motives of the Royal College of Nursing is misplaced. The prop- osals for the reform of nursing education were made by this Council which is the regulatory body and which has a responsi- bility for standards of care. I can assure the writer that it was exactly because we are concerned about standards of care that we have put forward proposals to government about the way in which nurses are prepared for their important task. The demographic crisis facing the profession makes it essen- tial that nurses are properly trained and retained in professional practise. Future students of nursing will continue to spend a substantial time with patients and will not be classroom based. The proposals are designed to prevent students being placed in positions of responsibility too early for their stage of training. This will be for the benefit of patients and nursing students alike.
To suggest that nursing does not require a trained intellect is to fail to recognise the needs of patients, the skill and care they require and the cOntribution of nurses. The nursing profession in the United Kingdom has fine traditions that we should cherish. But this is not enough. To attract able, caring recruits to the profession, to reduce wastage and to meet the health needs of modern society urgent changes are needed.
Do let us argue if we must over some of the events within the professions chroni- cled in the article but let us not allow ill conceived judgments and inaccurate in- formation prevent more balanced judg- ments being made about the desirability and intention of these changes. With more careful thought and research a more ba- lanced and less farcical piece may have been published.
Colin Ralph
Registrar and Chief Executive, United Kingdom Central Council for Nursing, Midwifery and Health Visiting, 23 Portland Place, London WI
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