Nurse First programme launched to attract more nurses

Professor Jane Cummings, chief nursing officer for England, has announced a new fast track ‘Nurse First’ programme to attract high achieving graduates into a career in nursing.

The move is part of the NHS Five Year Forward View Next Steps plan to recruit and train the workforce needed to meet the challenges ahead.

The Nurse First programme will create a new postgraduate programme that will fast track high achievers to registered graduate nursing positions, inspired by the Teach First programme. It is hoped the scheme will help address workforce capacity and support the development of future nurse leaders in key areas, targeting mental health and learning disabilities in the first instance.

According to a statement from NHS England, successful applicants will attend an educational course as well as receive hands on experience and training within the NHS. Ambitious and committed individuals will then be given the opportunity to enter a development scheme to rapidly progress their careers to leadership posts within 5-7 years.

Cummings, commented: “More people are training to join the NHS every year and we remain on target in terms of overall recruitment although there are still gaps in our nursing workforce. As front-line staff and services continue to face pressures from rising demand and more complex care, we know our workforce must continue to grow and adapt if it is to delivering diverse, high quality care to more patients than ever before.

“As a profession, nursing has always greatly benefited from the varied backgrounds and life experience of its staff. It’s vital we continue to attract the best and brightest graduates, offering additional entry routes and career opportunities, so that we can continue to deliver specialist, high quality care to all.”

Janet Davies, chief executive and general secretary of the Royal College of Nursing, said: “There is a critical shortage of nurses in the NHS and unsafe staffing levels put high quality patient care at risk. Measures to increase the number of registered nurses are very welcome and the ‘Nurse First’ initiative is a positive way to attract talented graduates. Nursing is a hugely rewarding, complex and responsible profession.

“It is crucial to focus on retaining nurses who are deciding to leave and offer flexible employment to encourage people to return to nursing in the NHS.

“Advanced Clinical Practice nurses play a vital role and the RCN has begun rolling out a credentialing programme to ensure that clinicians have the right education and skills to deliver advanced care to the public. We look forward to supporting the new ACP framework with our work.“