A newly-qualified nurse is leading a campaign to demand that the government makes it easier for graduate nursing professionals to find a job in the NHS.
Vicky Adams, who finished her adult nursing degree at De Montfort University, Leicester, earlier this year, is among the huge number of nurses who, despite their best efforts, are unable to find a place to practice.
“We were told there are jobs there for us… It’s lies”
Vicky Adams
Ms Adams has launched a UK Parliament petition, which at the time of writing had almost 80,000 signatures, demanding a review into the “barriers” preventing trusts from hiring newly-qualified nurses.
If they reach 100,000 signatures, petitions created on the UK Parliament website are then considered for debate by MPs in the House of Commons.
There are well-known difficulties in nurse understaffing across the health service. However, in recent years newly-registered nurses have been finding it increasingly tough to get hired.
Ms Adams told Nursing Times that, since she received her PIN in March of this year, she has not seen a single nurse post advertised that is appropriate for a newly-registered nurse.
All of the posts she has seen, she claimed, were for nurses with paid experience as a registered nurse, something unattainable as a new registrant, or were recruiting internally only.
Ms Adams said she had applied for the roles anyway, out of desperation. She said she has submitted 76 applications, but has not received any job offers.
She said she has had just one formal job interview since she started applying for jobs more than three months ago.
“I haven’t come across [any jobs] for a newly qualified nurse,” she said. “I actually went into three NHS trusts and handed out 40 CVs and 40 cover letters… I had more responses by doing that than I have off the actual job sites.
“I got three responses where they asked me to go in and have an informal chat with them. Not an interview, just an informal chat,” she noted.
Many NHS trusts in recent years have been struggling financially, which has had a negative impact on their ability to recruit, in spite of widespread nursing vacancies.
Nursing Times has previously reported on claims that some trusts have been subject to recruitment freezes and students in previous cohorts have struggled similarly to Ms Adams to get hired after they qualify.
Ms Adams, who chose to train as a nurse after being inspired by her time as a frequent patient, said she felt students have been mis-sold about opportunities by universities, the government and the health service.
“We were told [NHS organisations] need nurses. They’re short staffed. [We were told] there are jobs there for [us],” she said.
“It’s lies. It’s not the case at all. It’s not just here, in this university, it’s clearly all over the UK,” she told Nursing Times.
Explaining why she started the petition, Ms Adams said: “I want fairer recruitment practices, including reviewing internal only roles and experience requirements.
“I want our experience of 2,300 hours to be acknowledged as experience. Yes, it’s not been paid, but it’s experience… I just want us to be given that fair chance to contribute to the NHS that we’ve trained so hard [for].”
Ms Adams warned that she, alongside other newly-registered nurses, was considering giving up on becoming a nurse, and seeking employment elsewhere.
“I [know] nurses who qualified three or four years ago, and they still haven’t been able to find a job in nursing,” she said.
“They’re now stacking shelves. Not that that’s a bad thing, but they’re paying off their student loan doing a completely different job,” she added.
Jody Bates, who qualified as a mental health nurse in October 2024, said she was in a similar position to Ms Adams.
Ms Bates said that she has applied for “any available [nurse] job within 25 miles”, but without success so far.
“I have email alerts on for various job sites, but there are rarely any that appear, and most require a band 5 nurse with a year’s post-registration experience, internal applications only or are for more senior roles,” she said.
Ms Bates has, since qualifying, taken jobs in warehouses, retail and in other temporary capacities in order to earn some money.
“It’s hard to find stable work [elsewhere], as [employers] see that I have completed a nursing degree and assume I’m going to leave them for a nursing role.”
She added: “I had to sacrifice on holidays, birthday celebrations and some important family events.
“At the end of the degree, I feel I have been drained of money, motivation, job opportunities and the feeling of success in registering as a nurse.
“I feel like I’ve done nothing, as if my degree and registration have disappeared into a void and are of no use to anyone.
“I am so disappointed, I really wanted to get into mental health to help others but I can’t, and nor can many others who have qualified.”
