As some of us break up for the festive holidays, I wanted to wish readers of this blog a happy time. I do appreciate that some of you will be working though. In our university we have a December graduation and it is always with pride and pleasure that I sit on the stage with my colleagues as we watch our students cross the same stage and be awarded their degree. The three or four years that the students have been on our courses seems to fly by for us - not sure if it is always the same for the students - and we can see the changes in them over that time. We have 'graduation stories' here, and it's interesting to hear about the challenges that some of the students deal with as they work their way through the course. I am amazed and humbled by their ability to juggle the challenges of the course with the personal circumstances that must take so much time in their lives. My PhD showed that some students manage these challenges and successfully complete (first year), while others find that they need to make the decision to leave. Amongst my conclusions was that (rather obviously) those who were highly motivated towards the profession were much more likely to stay than those who were ambivalent about nursing as a career. This issue is of real interest to me as I work with colleagues on a NES-funded project on selection processes for student nurses and midwives. Back to the graduation, and it is always a high point to end the year for those who have graduated and us as their lecturers.
Happy Christmas all!