Project 2000 Information

Project 2000 was a higher education scheme in the United Kingdom for nursing qualifications, introduced in 1990.

Methods and procedures in nursing were becoming more knowledge-led. Instead of the former apprenticeship system, whereby nurses were trained at hospitals, the Project 2000 scheme was to contract the training of nurses out to British universities.

State Enrolled Nurses (SENs) previously had two years of training.

State Registered Nurses (SRNs) were fully qualified nurses before 1990.

When the scheme was introduced in 1990, the government was spending around £770m on nurse training. Only around £71m was spent in 1991-92 on its implementation, when 14 Colleges of Nursing were added to the scheme. When the scheme began, universities did not charge any tuition fees.

The scheme was implemented by the United Kingdom Central Council for Nursing, Midwifery and Health Visiting (UKCC), itself created in 1983, which became the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) in 2002.

State Registered Nurses became Registered General Nurses (RGNs).

State Enrolled Nurses were replaced with healthcare assistants, who had no official training and were neither registered.

SRNs were expected to have at least 1,000 hours of rostered duty as part of their three year training. There was to be an 18-month common foundation programme, followed by 18 months in a nursing discipline.

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