Posted 11 February 2025 - 16:30
Posted 11 February 2025 - 16:30
News
'Nurse' title clears first official step towards becoming law
A new bill to protect the ‘nurse’ job title by law has passed its first stage in Parliament. Labour MP for Brent East Dawn Butler proposed the legislation to ensure only registered nurses can use the title, enhancing patient safety and respecting nursing qualifications. The bill aims to stop unregistered staff from using ‘nurse’ in job titles, addressing concerns about misleading titles and exploitation.
MP Dawn Butler proposed legislation to ensure only registered nurses can use the job title 'nurse', enhancing patient safety and respecting nursing qualifications
A push to protect the ‘nurse’ job title in law has cleared its first hurdle in Parliament.
Labour MP for Brent East Dawn Butler made the case for new legislation in a speech to the House of Commons on 11 February under the ten-minute rule, saying the bill would better respect the training, qualifications, experiences and the profession of registered nurses, as well as protecting patient safety.
It's about time we show just how much we value the nursing community, says MP
‘People trust the title of nurse, and I think it's about time that we show the nursing community just how much we value and appreciate their qualifications, because we know how important nurses are in society,’ Ms Butler said.
‘We clapped for them during COVID. They were on the front line, they saved many people's lives. So I think this change is well overdue.’
Although the term ‘registered nurse’ is protected in the UK under the Nurses, Midwives and Health Visitors Act 1997, there have long been calls to extend the protection to the term ‘nurse’. London South Bank University professor of healthcare and workforce modelling Alison Leary has been leading a long-running #ProtectNurse campaign.
Proposed bill would make it an offence for someone to call themselves ‘nurse’ unless NMC-registered
If the new bill becomes law, it would make it an offence for someone to call themselves a nurse unless registered with the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC).
Ms Butler told the House of Commons it was ‘worrying’ that an RCNi investigation from summer 2024 discovered 93% of employed unregistered support staff were in jobs with titles containing the word ‘nurse’ – accounting for more than 8,000 roles.
‘It is just incredible when you think about the figures and the numbers. The solution is quite clear. The simplest way to rectify this is to amend the professional qualifications act, adding "nurse" to "registered nurse", which is already regulated by the NMC and so would not need to be part of regulatory reform,’ she said.
Existing and protected titles such as ‘dental nurse’ not affected under proposed bill
She also highlighted the dangers of anyone being able to call themselves a nurse, including those who have been struck off the UK register for serious misconduct, giving examples of individuals who had exploited the ‘nurse’ title.
Existing and protected titles, such as ‘veterinary nurse’ and ‘dental nurse’, would not be affected under the proposed bill, which is set to have a second reading on 28 March. A second reading is the first opportunity for MPs to debate the main principles of a new bill.
This is the furthest this legislation has been taken in parliament. In 2021, Ms Butler put forward an amendment to the then-Conservative government’s health and care bill to protect the ‘nurse’ title, which received 240 MPs’ support. However, the previous government used its majority to vote down the amendment at the time.
In 2022, the RCN passed a resolution in favour of protecting the ‘nurse’ title at its annual congress.
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