TV campaign to recruit thousands of nurses

NHS England and the Department of Health and Social Care have launched an £8 million TV advertising campaign to recruit thousands of nurses.

With a public survey emphasising how little the public know about the wide range of careers available working as a nurse, the campaign, which begins in the week of the NHS’s 70 birthday on 5 July, will highlight the vast range of opportunities available in the NHS for potential new recruits and will initially put the spotlight on the nursing, prioritising key areas including mental health, learning disability and community and general practice nurses and will help deliver the long term plan for the NHS.

Primarily targeting school children aged 14-18, the campaign will feature TV and radio advertising, posters and social media. It aims to increase the total number of applications into the NHS by 22,000 as well as double the numbers of nurses returning to practice and improve retention of staff in all sectors.

In the Autumn, the Department of Health and Social Care will run a national adult social care recruitment campaign to raise the profile of the sector and attract people to consider it as a career.

Professor Jane Cummings, Chief Nursing Officer for England, said: “The NHS is our country’s most loved institution and that is down to the expert skill, dedication and compassion of its brilliant staff. There are over 350 careers available within the NHS giving young people an astonishing range of options. Nursing and midwifery make up the largest part of the workforce and as I know from personal experience, provides a unique opportunity to make a real difference to peoples’ lives in a way that simply cannot be matched.

“Nurses and midwives provide expert skilled care and compassion, and they are highly talented leaders in the NHS. This campaign is all about inspiring young people and others who want a change of career to come and work for the NHS and have a rewarding and fulfilling career that makes a real difference.”

Janet Davies, chief executive of the Royal College of Nursing, said: “Future nurses who are inspired this summer will help the NHS to reach its first century and beyond. This powerful campaign marks a turning point but the focus on the next generation needs to continue long after the birthday candles have gone out. Nursing is a job like no other and the difference you make to people’s lives is very visible and highly rewarding. Patients get the majority of their care from nurses and the next generation will be at the forefront of innovation.”