Posted 02 March 2023 - 14:36
Posted 02 March 2023 - 14:36
News
‘Nurse’ title a step closer to being protected by law
Nursing regulator hails ‘exciting’ draft law as a template for future professional registration of nurses, midwives and nursing associates
Nursing regulator hails ‘exciting’ draft law as a template for future professional registration of nurses, midwives and nursing associates
The title ‘nurse’ could be a step closer to being protected in law amid major reforms to the way the profession is regulated.
This is one of the hoped-for outcomes from work to update legislation governing the role and powers of the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC).
Following a consultation, the government has set out how it intends to proceed with updated laws designed to improve the regulation of healthcare professionals, including nurses, doctors, dentists and pharmacists, and boost public protection.
Government will start working with the NMC to develop revised legislation
It has published draft legislation for the regulation of anaesthesia and physician associates, which will be a template for regulating other professions. Under the draft law it would be a criminal offence for someone to describe themselves as an anaesthesia or physician associate if they are not registered with the General Medical Council.
The government said it would start working with the NMC to develop revised legislation during the next couple of years.
The NMC said the draft legislation will act as a template for the future professional registration of nurses, midwives and nursing associates.
Benefits of new legislation
The NMC says more modern, flexible legislation would allow it to:
- Make sure people using the title ‘nurse’ are on its register
- Have a register of professionals that is clearer and easier for people to understand
- Strengthen its quality assurance of nursing education
- Act more rapidly to protect the public if a registrant does something seriously wrong, while encouraging learning from genuine mistakes
Currently the only protected titles in nursing are ‘registered nurse’, ‘specialist community public health nurse’, ‘nursing associate’ and ‘midwife’.
However, nurses say the current system is confusing and open to abuse by people who claim to be nurses but have no qualifications or have been struck off the register.
Previous attempts to protect the title of ‘nurse’ in have failed. In 2021, MPs voted against an amendment to health and care legislation that would have ensured only those registered with the NMC could call themselves nurses.
Professor of healthcare and workforce modelling at London South Bank University Alison Leary welcomed the steps towards protecting the title nurse. ‘The NMC have been supportive of the campaign and listened and responded to the concerns of both registered nurses and the public on its misappropriation,’ she told Nursing Standard.
Current legislation has not kept pace with changes in society or nursing profession, says NMC
NMC chief executive Andrea Sutcliffe said the legislation that guides the NMC’s work was now more than 20 years old and had not kept pace with changes in society or the nursing profession.
She said: ‘We’re excited about the opportunities these reforms present, including being able to protect the title “nurse” by making sure people using the title are on our register.’
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