FURTHER to the article entitled "seven nurses in three years" (LET, June 14), I felt I had to write about my own family's situation.

A member of my family is due to qualify as a State Registered Nurse in September 2006 and there is not one single post to apply for.

This is an absolute disgrace as they and many others like them, have studied at university and been on placements, including shift work, for the last three years, paid peanuts by way of a bursary and all for what nothing.

My family member has always wanted to be a nurse and is totally dedicated to the job, but morale is at an all-time low and staff on wards have even had to reapply for their own jobs.

What are they going to do when they all qualify? They could apply for jobs in other trusts, but in the past they have been penalised for this, meaning if a vacancy comes up in their own trust, ie East Lancs NHS Trust, they are not allowed to apply for it.

Also the majority of posts require 12 months' experience. How are they going to get this if they can't get a job in the first place?

According to a recent article it costs £100,000 to train one student nurse and I think it is a scandal that such dedicated and highly trained people will be without jobs.

When they decided to do their training three years ago, there was a shortage of people being attracted into nursing as a chosen career.

Now the ones who choose to nurse are being left high and dry. It is a crying shame and I feel the general public should know about it because the majority of people are completely unaware of this sad situation.

Name and address supplied.