In my own nursing education journey, I have found the Continuing Professional Development (CPD) days to have been extremely valuable in not only enriching my clinical knowledge but also providing me with essential respite during an exhaustively demanding schedule. Yet recently, the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) decided to remove these valuable CPD days from the curriculum, which in mine and my collages opinions is increasing the workload of student nurses like myself who are already exhausted and being used as “an extra pair of hands” when the focus should be on our learning. The decision has brought us to an unfair situation where student nurses and midwives are now expected to work an average of 40 hours a week (which could be four long days a week unpaid or 3.5 shifts most weeks). Yet we still need to study in order to keep up with our knowledge of anatomy, physiology, medications, co-morbidities and illnesses. Furthermore, CPD is so important for improving patient care and safety as this is our time to consolidate, read policies and protocols. Removing our CPD day doesn’t mean we are going to stop this critical educational learning time. It just means our workloads have increased with having to work more than a full time nurse some weeks and that is on top of this studying. If we want to be the best nurses and midwives we can be our education needs to be the priority and these days allow us that critical time to consolidate what we have seen in practice, look things up we don’t understand and most importantly they allow us time to research and be curious!

With my next placement accumulating to 400 hours in just 10 weeks, the concern of managing work-life balance grows imminent, and I am just one case amongst countless peers facing the same predicament. Many student nurses are parents who are doing their utmost to juggle commitments at home with the demanding requirements of their nursing education. These now increasingly difficult schedules are going to wreak havoc on our mental and physical health, impeding our ability to give our best on each shift and most importantly to our profession and career. 

According to a research study named "Overworked But Undervalued: UK Student Nurse's Experience of Stressful Incidents & Their Impact on Mental Well-Being", published in the Nursing Outlook journal (2019), it revealed that stressful college environments directly affect the mental health of the student nurses. The elimination of CPD days only further exacerbates this issue.

This is why I am asking the NMC to reconsider this decision and reinstate these important CPD days back into the curriculum. We don’t mind evidencing the work we complete from our 8 hour (per week) CPD days, in fact I think this is a great idea as then you can see how much we love to learn! But a balance between studying, working, and personal lives is so important in order to foster well-rounded, effectively trained professionals, who are able to contribute positively and compassionately to the field of nursing and midwifery without being exhausted and overworked. Respect our dedication and commitment to this noble profession by providing us with the educational resources and balanced schedule that we deserve. We implore you to re-evaluate this decision, for the welfare of existing and future student nurses. Please sign this petition to restore CPD days and promote a healthier, more beneficial learning environment for student nurses and midwives.