Student nurses give health board ‘absolutely incredible’ feedback

Kathleen Carolan is the director of nursing and acute services for NHS Shetland.

Student nurses have given a ringing endorsement of their learning experiences in Shetland – with 100 per cent satisfaction ratings.

NHS Shetland’s board meeting heard today (Tuesday) how 120 student nurses had undertaken training in the isles over the past year.

Director of nursing and acute services Kathleen Carolan said the training programme was a “really important part of what we do”.

“As you can see from the feedback from students, the placements they have had have been really highly rated in all the setting they have accessed.

“That’s something for staff to be really proud of as an organisation and it’s something few boards have been able to maintain.”

Board members welcomed the news.

Non-executive member Kathy Hubbard said the report was a “joy to read” – particularly as “recruitment is one of our number one priorities”.

“If you enjoyed your placement you tell other people about it you tell other students about it and you may want to come back and work here, so it’s great to see that we continue to get good student feedback – congratulations to everybody involved.”

Jane Haswell, another non-executive member added the feedback was “absolutely incredible”.

HR director Lorraine Hall said the report showed students found their time in Shetland “absolutely excellent” for their professional development.

“That’s something to celebrate,” she said.

Board chairman Gary Robinson added his thanks to all those involved in the training programme.

“I don’t think we can really underestimate how powerful it is in terms of recruitment that people have a good experience in Shetland and hopefully want to come back and work here,” he added.

Mrs Carolan’s report to the board said the learning experience was “really important” for the students developing their role – but also in considering health or social care as a future employer.