New nursing associate role created by NHS

The government has announced the creation of a new nursing support role to offer an additional route into the nursing profession.

Provisionally called nursing associates, the new support staff will work alongside healthcare support workers and fully-qualified nurses to provide patient care, while potentially working their way towards becoming registered nurses themselves.

Staff trained through this route will learn on the job via an apprenticeship leading to a foundation degree, using their specialist training to focus on clinical duties and take a lead in decisions about patient care.

It is anticipated that up to 1,000 nursing associates could be trained from 2016. A consultation on the specifics of the scope of this role, including the title, will be held in the new year.

Jane Cummings, chief nursing officer for England, said: "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."

This comes as part of the government's ambition to ensure 23,000 more nurses are available within the NHS by the end of this parliament.