Nursing associates celebrate revalidating for first time
Posted 13 April 2022 - 10:00
The first nursing associates, hailed by the Nursing and Midwifery Council as champions and shapers of the new role, have shone throughout the pandemic
The first nursing associates to join the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) will revalidate for the first time this year.
The appeal of the nursing associates role was evident from the beginning – some 8,000 healthcare assistants (HCAs) applied for the first 2,000 training places made available in January 2017.
The first trainee nursing associates graduated and became registered nursing associates with the NMC in January 2019. Now they will be celebrating revalidating for the first time.
NMC assistant director Sam Donohue said: ‘These trainees were the ambassadors, the champions and also the shapers of the role. The growth of the role in the health and social care workforce was dependent on services and settings realising its worth, but the acceptance of the role was fundamentally on the shoulders of those who were forging its path.’
The last three years have seen nursing associate numbers grow to 6,800, and Ms Donohue said many have moved on to becoming registered nurses.
Role was designed to support registered nurses at work
The role sits between unregulated healthcare assistants (HCAs) and registered nurses and was designed to support registered nurses at work, including through monitoring patients, administering basic medications and assisting with paperwork.
Once the first nursing associates finished their training, the focus shifted to where they would be deployed and how they could improve patient experiences.
‘Their knowledge and experience across all four nursing fields was going to strengthen the person-centred care our patients needed,’ Ms Donohue said.
‘Throughout the pandemic they shone. Without any doubt this new profession stood shoulder to shoulder with our registered nurses and our teams to deliver care to our patients and their families.’
Clear pathways from nursing associate role to registered nurse
But the addition to the profession was not always welcomed. The RCN and workforce experts initially worried that the role was ill-defined and could dilute expertise on the front line.
The core elements of the role were eventually established as:
1. The role should work alongside nurses across all services and settings and be regulated by the NMC.
2. It is a unique professional nursing role that draws knowledge, skills and competence from all four of the nursing fields of practice.
3. There should be clear progression pathways both into the nursing associate role and from nursing associate to registered nurse.
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