Overview

The Nursing Associate (NA) role is now an established and regulated part of the nursing workforce in England, introduced to bridge the gap between health care support workers and registered nurses.  Many NAs are employed in the NHS, but increasing numbers now work in primary care, social care, community services, hospices and the independent sector, including GP practices. For further information regarding nursing associates, please visit the following links:

The role 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.

Benefits to the GP Practice

Practices can invest in current or new staff as part of wider workforce planning and skill mix transformation. With continued professional development, Nursing Associates will provide additional capacity within the nursing team. This might be in areas such as contributing to cervical cytology screening, meeting quality and outcomes framework targets and management of long-term conditions. Having additional capacity to meet patient need will be a welcome addition to the team. Supporting development of a Nursing Associate provides an opportunity to shape and mould an individual to fit into a developing team.

Why employ a nursing associate.pdf (hee.nhs.uk)

Career Pathway 

The creation of the Nursing Associate Apprenticeship (NA) training and role is a landmark innovation for the nursing and care profession (Health Education England) The course will enable you to develop the knowledge and skills set to meet the national requirements to bridge the gap between the health care support worker and registered nurse to deliver hands-on care across a variety of setting.

The nursing associate role is regulated by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC).

To become a registered nursing associate, individuals must pass a foundation degree awarded by an NMC-approved provider, typically taken over two years. The programme includes both academic and work-based learning and prepares trainees to work with people of all ages and in a variety of settings in health and social care.

  • Applicants must be employed within a health or care setting for a minimum of 30 hours a week (some providers ask for 37.5hrs) evidence of care experience, and /or The Care Certificate is advised.
  • Applicants must possess Level 2 / GCSE at grade C+ /4 in an English-based subject and Maths or equivalent. Local courses are available if you need to get this first  – eg. Telford College

Useful Links

To find out more about the Nursing Associate role, please click here

This document will help you find out more about the role, including job descriptions, case studies and more: Nursing Associates

What to expect from your nursing associate – The Nursing and Midwifery Council (nmc.org.uk)

Training Hub Offers

Helen Hutton, Practice Nurse Facilitator can help you with the following:

  • accessing available funding.
  • linking with the apprentice course provider.
  • providing general pastoral support for the candidate through the academic interview preparation and throughout the course.
  • providing contacts to arrange all external placements.
  • supporting your practice team and up-skill existing members of the team to become Practice Assessors and Practice Supervisors.
  • providing access to legacy nurse support to assist in clinical skill acquisition and clinical supervision.

Feel free to contact Helen at stw.traininghub@nhs.net