Students in employment: learning and working.

The last two decades have witnessed the emergence of research findings in the field of education which clearly demonstrate the powerful influence of 'workload' on both what and how students learn. In nurse education, this notion of workload has focused on assessment demands and the dual role of the student nurse as learner and employee. Indeed it has only been with the implementation of the Project 2000 programmes of pre-registration nurse education that this latter aspect has been dealt a death blow. Or, has it? This paper presents a picture of current student nurses who should have greater educational freedom due to their supernumerary status. However, whilst not employees (as part of course participation), many students are participating in other employment. This phenomenon should be of interest to nurse educators because for many it presents the first opportunity for dealing with students in this situation.