The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC), Health Education England (HEE) and the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) are celebrating one year of nursing associates making a difference in care for people across England.
Twelve months on, it’s clear the nursing associate role is helping to bridge the gap between health and care assistants and registered nurses, as well as offering new career development opportunities to thousands of aspiring professionals.
Nursing associates are now making a difference to people’s care in a wide variety of settings, whether in care homes, in the community or hospitals. The role has already proved to be popular with people wanting to further their career, with more than 1560 nursing associates now on the NMC register.
Su Hickman, a nursing associate trainee at Oxford University Hospital, initially started nursing training in 2013 but had to withdraw after her diagnosis with ovarian cancer. After her recovery, she started work at the hospital in an administrative role, but felt that something was missing from her career. Su’s manager supported her to pursue the nursing associate role shortly after it became available.
Su said: “At first I was worried it would be really basic, where we wouldn’t learn that much or have any opportunities to do interesting things. But it has been the complete opposite!
“It’s been absolutely fascinating, very hands-on and I’ve really enjoyed the academic learning. Every day we learn something new and the support from nurses, doctors and especially my managers has made a huge difference; it’s opened so many opportunities for my future that I’d never imagined.”
The NMC is also celebrating the first nursing associates joining the register from overseas. Kylie Weir originally studied nursing in her home country of New Zealand. When she and her partner decided to relocate to the UK in 2019, she discovered the nursing associate role, which was equivalent to her degree.
Kylie said: “I would definitely recommend it to anyone, it’s such a great way to bridge the gap between health care assistant and nurses. It’s also the perfect opportunity to get into healthcare and see if you like it.
“I think it’s great that we’re registered with NMC, it helps keep us accountable not only to ourselves, but to all those we care for as well.”
Andrea Sutcliffe CBE, Chief Executive and Registrar for the NMC, recently joined nursing associates, nurses and