Nursing to become all graduate entry by 2013

All new nurses will be educated to degree level from 2013, health minister Ann Keen has announced.
The minimum level for pre-registration courses for nurses will be raised from diploma to degree level and these courses will meet new standards developed by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC), the professional regulator for nursing.

The timetable for implementation puts in place the NMC recommendation to make all courses for new nurses degree level.

This recommendation came after the four UK Health Departments asked the NMC to carry out a consultation and review of pre-registration nurse education and is supported by all the key nursing bodies.

Health minister Ann Keen says:
“Nurses are the largest single profession within the health service, and are critical to the delivery of high quality health care.

“By bringing in degree level registration we can ensure new nurses have the best possible start to meet the challenges of tomorrow.

“Degree level education will provide new nurses with the decision-making skills they need to make high-level judgements in the transformed NHS.

“This is the right direction of travel if we are to fulfil our ambition to provide higher quality care for all.”

England isn’t the first to make this announcement, Wales introduced degree level training for nurses in 2004.

Chief nursing officer Christine Beasley says:
“More young people than ever are studying for a degree and this will make nursing more attractive to them.

“Degree-level nurse education will be supported by a national framework for preceptorship which will ensure that new nurses have the support they need to make the transition to confident practitioner.
This demonstrates our commitment to the NHS Constitution pledge to provide staff with rewarding job training and development opportunities to provide high quality, safe and effective care.

“More young people than ever are studying for a degree and this will make nursing more attractive to them.”

The Nursing and Midwifery Council is developing new standards and competences for pre-registration nurse education. They will consult widely early in 2010 and announce the new standard and competencies in Autumn 2010. It is expected that programmes at degree level using the new standards will start from September 2011.