‘Nursing associate’ role to work between care assistants and qualified nurses
A new “nursing associate” role is to be created to “bridge the gap” between health care assistants and fully qualified nurses, the Government has announced.
Under the new plans, which are subject to consultation, nursing associates would focus on patient care and could work their way up to becoming registered nurses.
The Department of Health said staff trained through this route will “learn on the job” through an apprenticeship leading to a foundation degree.
Ministers will look at whether associates can progress to become a registered nurse through either a degree level nurse apprenticeship or a shortened nursing degree at university.
Depending on the outcome of the consultation, up to 1,000 nursing associates could be trained from 2016.
The Department of Health said it would maintain nurse training places as the scheme goes forward. It said 23,000 more nurses should be available by the end of this parliament.
Health minister Ben Gummer said: “This new role, and the opportunity it offers for those who want to progress to a registered nurse, will open up a career in nursing for thousands of people from all backgrounds.
“Hard-working NHS staff are the lifeblood of the NHS and with an ageing population and changing patient needs, it is vital that we look at new ways to help staff deliver high quality, safe care across the week.”
Jane Cummings, chief nursing officer for England, said: “Health and care assistants are a really important part of the team and should be given the opportunity to develop, which is why we continue to work with Health Education England and the Nursing and Midwifery Council on the development of a tangible career path.
“This new role will provide a valuable addition to this work by creating a bridge between senior health and care assistants and registered nurses. It will also benefit registered nurses by providing additional support in meeting the needs of our patients.”
The Nursing and Midwifery Council’s chief executive, Jackie Smith, said: “The starting point for any new role in healthcare has to be its contribution to improving patient safety and quality and as such there will be some important considerations, including whether nursing associates should be regulated.
“It is for the Government to determine the policy position in discussion with others, but while we are supportive of widening access into the nursing profession, it will be important that any new routes into the profession have the same robust approach that the existing university degree route provides.”
Janet Davies, chief executive of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN), said: “This is a welcome recognition of the value of healthcare assistants, and an initiative which will allow them to develop their skills.
“We have campaigned for some time for this group to access recognised training and development to enable them to fulfil their roles safely and competently.
“Some of these roles will be new but part of this initiative is about enabling people in unregulated positions, supporting registered nurses, to access training via a clear structure, and this is very welcome.
“These nursing associate roles should release time for our nurses to care and to utilise their clinical skills appropriately.”
She said the “fundamental role of the registered nurse” would not change.
Unison said the new roles must not be a “cheap” way of replacing fully-trained nurses.
Its head of health Christina McAnea said: “We know it can be a struggle for healthcare assistants to gain access to any training so many will see this as an opportunity. But not all HCAs want to go on to become nurses, so it’s important that new roles do not undermine those who wish to stay in their current job.
“Evidence shows that the number of registered nurses to patients the better patient care outcomes are. And we need to ensure these new roles are not used as a cheap way to replace registered nurses.”
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