Nursing Associates (NAs) are registered healthcare professionals, in Primary Care, they assist in expanding the capacity of nursing teams. This increases the amount of complex patient care being transferred into primary care settings. 

NAs are well placed to assist with some of the routine and fundamental work of GPNs. Student and qualified NAs support, not substitute, Registered Nurses. They contribute to ongoing patient care and can recognise when it is necessary to refer to others for urgent reassessment.

There may be opportunities for further development in this role or it may also be a stepping stone to becoming a registered nurse if you decide to follow this route.

This document from HEE explains the role and function of Nursing Associates in General Practice to view Click here

The role was introduced by the UK Government who created the Nursing Associate (NA) role in response to findings identified in the Shape of Caring Review (2015), to help build the capacity of the nursing workforce and the delivery of high-quality care. It will be a vital part of the wider health and care team and aims to:

• support the career progression of healthcare assistants
• enable nurses to focus on more complex clinical work
• increase the supply of nurses by providing a progression route into graduate-level nursing.

The Health Education England trainee nursing associate programme

In January 2017, Health Education England (HEE) launched a trainee nursing associate programme, with the first two waves of trainees based at 35 partnerships that delivered a programme of education and training in academic and work-based settings.

2017 TEST SITE PARTNERSHIPS

Each partnership was aligned with a Sustainability and Transformation Partnership (STP) footprint and composed of at least one employer and one education provider (Higher Education Institution). Employers included care homes, acute, community and mental health trusts and hospices, and primary care (GPs), representing the variety of settings in which nursing associates will provide care for patients. Two thousand trainee nursing associates joined the programme within waves 1 and 2.

NURSING ASSOCIATE ROLLOUT 2018 ONWARDS

Expansion of the role has continued into 2018 (wave 3) and 2019 (wave 4). In 2018 around 5,000 Trainee Nursing Associates were enrolled onto programmes. HEE is committed to a further 7,500 starting the programme by March 2020.

EVALUATION

Health Education England (HEE) commissioned an independent evaluation of the first two years of the programme to June 2019, which was published in October 2019. Read the evaluation here.

Traverse has been commissioned by HEE to continue evaluation of the introduction of nursing associates in 2019-20. This has included a ‘deep dive’ into how organisations involved in the programme have deployed nursing associates in different sectors and the benefits and challenges associated with investing in the new role.

For the most up-to-date information,  please see the most current flyer by clicking on the link.  Click Here

Trainee Nursing Associate’s (TNA) will undertake academic learning and work-based learning (different models used by different Universities). TNA’s are employed in a specific healthcare setting such as an acute, community or mental health hospital and GP practices but also gain experience in other healthcare settings.

TNA’s will develop an understanding of all elements of the nursing process and of caring for individuals with particular conditions such as dementia, mental ill health and learning disabilities/difficulties.

Once qualified an NA will continue to develop their skills and knowledge through CPD. For more information on CPD within LSCTH please click on the link. Click Here

The nursing associate role is employed across all health and Social care services. This is a fantastic role supporting service demand, with opportunities to undertake additional role training. Once qualified, there are lots of other career development opportunities that are endless, for Nursing Associates in primary care, further extending their skill sets and enhancing primary care services. 

They can become NA Ambassadors, raising awareness of the role to future applicants. They can also supervise and support pre-registration students and HCAs in practice and become clinical educators working across PCNs.

Qualified nursing associates can also go on to train as a registered nurse by putting their training towards a shortened nursing degree or completing a degree-level nurse apprenticeship i.e. RNDA

The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) have published the following Standards for Student Nursing Associates:

• Standards of proficiency for registered nursing associates set out the knowledge and skills that a nursing associate needs to meet
• Standards framework for nursing and midwifery education Part 1 of Realising professionalism: Standards for education and training
• Standards for student supervision and assessment Part 2 of Realising professionalism: Standards for education and training
• Standards for pre-registration nursing associate programmes Part 3 of Realising professionalism: Standards for education and training
• Standards relating to return to practice

The part of the nursing register for nursing associates opened in January 2019, this has allowed the NMC to begin accepting people onto the register to enable them to practice as a nursing associate in England. It also allows the NMC to investigate concerns about a registered nursing associate’s conduct or practice, where this is considered impaired and take action to improve care and keep the public safe if needed.

To do this, the NMC sets the following standards:

• The Code
• Standards of proficiency for nursing associates
• Standards for pre-registration nursing associate programmes

Nursing associates are broadly regulated in the same way that nurses are, which includes registration, revalidation and fitness to practice.

Additional information regarding the nurse associate framework can be found here: https://www.nmc.org.uk/globalassets/sitedocuments/standards-of-proficiency/nursing-associates/nursing-associates-proficiency-standards.pdf

The nursing associate apprenticeship standard is available to employers and the apprenticeship levy can be used for training fees.

Employing Nursing Associate Apprentices

Employers that have invested in the nursing associate role as part of wider workforce planning and skills mix transformation have seen a number of benefits, including:

• improved service delivery and patient care
• improved staff retention through career progression
• the ability to ‘grow your own’ nursing workforce
• investing in a tried and tested training programme, accredited by the NMC.

The Nursing Associate role in Primary Care, supports the delivery of safe, compassionate
and effective care and offers numerous benefits:

• Enhanced patient care and communication – all
apprentice and qualified nursing associates
complete NMC approved pre-registration nursing
associate programmes and possess a greater range
of clinical skills and experience.

• Improved patient-centred care and greater awareness
of the holistic needs of patients.

• Nursing Associates are better equipped to identify and
escalate patients with deteriorating health.
• Improved service delivery.

Practices and Primary Care Networks Benefits

• Increased workforce retention – this route offers
comprehensive nursing career progression for existing
clinicians or people new to healthcare.

• Offers the opportunity for PCNs and practices “Grow
Their Own,” shaping individuals to fit into developing
nursing teams, to address specific practice needs.

• Provides additional nursing team capacity in areas
such as cervical cytology screening, immunisations,
and support management of chronic disease, aiding
achievement of QOF targets.

• Improved quality and standardisation of patient care,
the patient case load can be spread more widely
amongst the nursing team. This will ease workforce
pressures, making the team feel more valued and
patients more satisfied, as they have more time to
spend on patient care.

• Strengthened workforce resilience, nursing team and
wider organisation able to offer more dynamic and
varied clinics to meet evolving patient needs.

Nursing Associate Role – Wider Benefits

As Student NAs have moved across different placement
settings, they have been able to apply and exchange skills,
knowledge and good practice, which is improving the quality
of services. This enables the benefits of the role to be realised
immediately in Primary Care settings.

Employers particularly value the skills being exchanged between mental and physical health domains because mental health plays a key role in patient wellbeing

To find out more, please view:

• Why employ a nursing associate?
• Employers guide to nursing associates (NHS Employers)
• View and download Nursing associates Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) for employers
• View and download Nursing Associate Job Description Guidance

A preceptorship is a period of support and guidance for new registrants. HEE developed best practice guidance on preceptorship for nursing associates in 2018.

The wave 2 evaluation of the HEE nursing associate programme found that preceptorship programmes can have several benefits for recently qualified nursing associates. See Introduction of nursing associates – year 2 evaluation report, Traverse, October 2019.

Skills for Health – Healthcare Apprenticeships

Implementation Toolkit 

Pathways

Please see information contained within the link

Expressions of interests for apprenticeships are now encouraged to be made at any time. Due to varying stages of practices and/or candidates, we feel this will be a more helpful approach.

Anyone who is interested in an apprenticeship (for themselves, current member of staff or to recruit for an apprenticeship position) please complete our Expression of Interest form.

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