Become a Nursing Associate
Advice on beginning your nursing associate career
The new nursing associate (NA) role was introduced in England to bridge the gap between health care assistants and registered nurses.
A pilot programme consisting of around 2,000 trainee nursing associates (TNAs) was launched in early 2017. Up to 5,000 TNAs were trained in 2018 and 7,500 will begin their training this year.
At the end of January, qualified nursing associates joined the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) register and were eligible to join the workforce in England.
Many newly qualified nursing associates will be working in the NHS, with a small number working in social care, hospices and GP practices.
Increasing numbers of nursing associates will enter the workforce in England throughout 2019 and beyond.
The ÃÛÌÒÖ±²¥ has welcomed the role, designed to bridge the gap between unregulated health care assistants and registered nurses. Guidance and resources aimed at nursing associates and registered nurses, to help support their integration into the workplace and career development, will be available soon.
You will find resources on this page to support the introduction of nursing associates into the workforce in England.
This includes:
- nursing association job description guidance for employers. This has been developed in partnership with multiple organisations
- best practice guidance on preceptorship for nursing associates, by Health Education England.
Nursing support workers
Further resources
Health Education England. . This page includes information on the national curriculum framework, regulation, test sites and further resources.
Health Education England. .
NHS Employers. . This guide has been put together to provide an overview of the new nursing associate role and compiles all information needed for employers to successfully embed the role into their organisation.
NHS Improvement. . A NHSI resource to help providers of NHS-commissioned services, boards and executive directors to support their secondary care professionals to deploy nursing associates as part of their clinical team.
Nursing and Midwifery Council. . These standards set out the minimum standards required to join the new nursing associate part of the NMC register.
Nursing and Midwifery Council. . This page covers: what is a nursing associate; regulating the nursing associate profession, standards for nursing associates; information for employers and educators and case studies.
Nursing and Midwifery Council. . This page links to NMC supplementary information on delegation and accountability and references Nursing Associates.
