New education standards for nursing launched
Date:16/09/2010
The Nursing and Midwifery Council has today launched the new education standards that future nursing students will need to meet in order to gain entry to the NMC register.
The new Standards for pre-registration nursing education represent the biggest overhaul in nursing education programmes since Project 2000.
Over 5,000 individuals and organisations across the UK contributed to the development of the new standards, which will provide the foundation for new pre-registration nursing programmes. The new programmes will start to be available from September 2011 and by 2013 all pre-registration nursing education programmes will reflect the new standards.
They reflect the need for all nurses to have a broad range of skills that address the essential and sometimes complex needs of people wherever they are cared for, including children, adults, older people, people with mental health problems and people with learning disabilities.
Speaking at the launch at Queen's University in Belfast, NMC Chief Executive and Registrar, Professor Dickon Weir-Hughes said:
"The new standards continue to emphasise the importance of treating all people with care and compassion while responding to major developments in health and social care.
"The standards were developed in collaboration with key groups like Alzheimer's Society, Mencap, and government health departments across the UK to ensure that patients and the public continue to receive safe and effective care across an increasingly diverse and modernised range of settings."
Chief Nursing Officer for Northern Ireland, Professor Martin Bradley:
"These standards demonstrate how the Nursing and Midwifery Council is responding to changing needs and expectations in health and social care, both here in Northern Ireland and across the United Kingdom.
"In particular I welcome the combination of skills, knowledge and attitudes, values and technical abilities that underpin these standards. The public can be assured that newly qualified nurses will continue to deliver high quality care, and maintain and improve standards."
Policy Manager Alzheimer's Society, Louise Lakey:
"It is great news that it will now be mandatory for all nurses to be educated in how to care for people with a cognitive impairment, such as dementia.
"Currently only 12 percent of those working on a general ward have enough pre-registration training in dementia, yet nurses tell us that they want to be equipped with the right tools and support to do the job well. It is now up to programme providers to ensure dementia is given the attention it deserves."
Chief Nursing Officer for England, Dame Christine Beasley:
"I am delighted the NMC have issued new and comprehensive standards of education following a period of review and wide consultation. I am particularly pleased that the standards reflect the complexity of nursing now and in the future.
"They are based on the need for explicit professional values and the emphasis on flexible learning, practical skills and delivering care intelligently and with compassion is also welcome."
Deputy Dean, Faculty of Health Life and Social Sciences Edinburgh Napier University, Ian McIntosh in his capacity as Chair of the project advisory group:
"The NMC have worked closely with a wide range of partners to produce a set of clear and comprehensive standards for education. The standards provide a flexible professional framework within which education and healthcare providers can continue to work together to design and deliver innovative and high quality programmes.
"Such programmes will equip tomorrow's nurses with the skills, values and knowledge they need to provide skilful, intelligent and compassionate healthcare."
Chief Nursing Officer for Scotland, Ros Moore:
"These standards have been developed with and by the professional community and in conjunction with their stakeholders.
"They provide a very clear and explicit framework for developing the caring, compassionate, capable and confident practitioners and professionals that we will need to provide high quality health care in Scotland."
Chief Executive Mencap, Mark Goldring:
"Mencap are delighted that all nurses joining the profession will now be learning about how to make reasonable adjustments when working with patients with a learning disability.
"Mencap has heard from families and carers of people with a learning disability where appropriate adjustments have not been made, ending with tragic consequences, but there are also great examples of best practice in the profession.
"The NMC must now ensure these standards continue both in ongoing training and in practice, in order to ensure equal access to healthcare for patients with a learning disability."
Chief Nursing Officer for Wales, Rosemary Kennedy:
"Individuals accessing health services should receive skilled, effective and compassionate nursing care from a well educated nursing workforce.
"We welcome the launch of the new pre-registration nursing standards which will support the future development of nurses capable of providing high quality care, from basic care needs through to more complex care, in the dynamic and often challenging health service environment."