Hundreds of Glasgow student nurses join fight against Covid-19

Hundreds of student nurses from Glasgow Caledonian University (GCU) have joined the fight against coronavirus.

More than 500 third-year students from GCU have begun their inductions with health boards across Scotland.

It follows a call from the Scottish Government for student nurses to lend their support to the NHS early.

The students, who are in their final year, are working at hospitals including NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, Golden Jubilee National Hospital, NHS Dumfries and Galloway and NHS Ayrshire and Arran.

In an open letter last week to final-year allied health professional students, Carolyn McDonald, chief allied health professions officer, called on students to “agree to become part of your local health and social care workforce”.

She wrote: “You will be paid for the work and will have the same terms and conditions as any employee. At the same time, you will continue to be a student of your university, and they will provide you with academic support to enable you to graduate on time, as much as is possible.”

Professor Jacqueline McCallum, head of GCU’s department of nursing and community health, said: “We are incredibly proud of all our 500-plus third-year students who have started their paid placements with the NHS at this critical time.”

She added that the clinical skills the students have been developing are “highly relevant” to the Covid-19 pandemic.

“Since our recent move to online learning, students, with the support from the nursing lecturers, have been able to continue their studies with the use of a range online scenarios,” she said.

The students will continue to be offered support by tutors at the university.