The role was introduced in response to the Shape of Caring Review (2015), to help build the capacity of the nursing workforce and the delivery of high-quality care. It will be a vital part of the wider health and care team and aims to:
- support the career progression of healthcare assistants
- enable nurses to focus on more complex clinical work
- increase the supply of nurses by providing a progression route into graduate-level nursing. To find out more go to the Skills for Health website here or view the Nursing Associate to Registered Nurse FAQs in the drop down at the bottom of the page.
If you are interested in becoming a nursing associate, please contact Karen Hardy, Programme Manager for WKEN and Lead for the Nursing Associate Programme in West Kent – contact: [email protected]
Benefits for employers
Employers that have invested in the nursing associate role as part of wider workforce planning and skills mix transformation have seen a number of benefits, including:
- improved service delivery and patient care
- improved staff retention through career progression
- the ability to ‘grow your own’ nursing workforce – To find out more go to the Skills for Health website here
- investing in a tried and tested training programme, accredited by the NMC.
