Nursing associates – or nurse associates – bridge the gap between healthcare support workers and registered nurses, working as part of a multidisciplinary team to deliver hands-on care in a wide variety of healthcare settings. The role was created to free up more time for registered nurses to coordinate more complex care needs. But what does a nursing associate do and why should you consider it as a career?
Nursing associate vs nurse
While there are some similarities between the role of a nursing associate and the role of a nurse, there are also some key differences. Both provide care for their patients, but while nursing associates monitor this care, a registered nurse will also assess, plan, and evaluate it. To put it simply, the role of a registered nurse is more about the leading and management of care, whereas an associate would only be responsible for the delivery of it.
What does a nursing associate do?
The nursing associate role was introduced to increase the capacity of England’s nursing workforce to ensure the continuous delivery of high-quality care and offer support to the wider nursing team. Nursing associates work in a variety of different settings such as hospitals, hospices, GP surgeries, clinics, or in the community, and care for patients of all ages and backgrounds. The responsibilities of a nurse associate include:
- Offering support to patients and their families
- Undertaking and recording clinical observations like blood pressure, heart rate, and body temperature
- Taking blood samples
- Administering injections
- Safeguarding vulnerable adults and children
- Working closely with registered nurses, sharing information on a patient’s condition and their progress.
What skills does a nursing associate need?
Nursing is a challenging but incredibly rewarding career choice, and nursing associates will require qualities such as patience, empathy, resilience, and understanding, as well as having a natural desire to help people. Other essential skills you’ll need as a nursing associate include:
- Excellent communication and teamwork, as you’ll be collaborating with other healthcare professionals daily
- The ability to work well under pressure and accept constructive criticism
- A proactive nature
- High attention to detail
- Knowledge of both biological and psychological elements of healthcare.
What career development opportunities are there?
Nursing associates are part of a growing workforce, with the NHS aiming to increase training places by 40% by 2028/29. One of the great things about becoming a nurse associate is that you won’t be tied to a specific field of nursing, so you’ll be prepared to work across the whole range of areas – adult, children’s, mental health, and learning disability.
On completion of your nursing associate degree, you can either register with the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) and start searching for nursing associate jobs or undertake further training to become a fully qualified nurse.
What is the nursing associate salary?
The starting salary of a nursing associate usually sits within band 3 of the NHS, which currently starts at £24,071 per annum, increasing to £25,674 once you have two years of experience.
How to become a nursing associate
You’ll need a nursing associate foundation degree awarded by the NMC to go into the profession. Our two-year FdSc Registered Nursing Associate degree is a direct entry course which covers the six platforms of care outlined in the Nursing Associates Proficiency Standards. The course blends theory and clinical practice and you’ll have access to our state-of-the-art nursing facilities and Patient, Carer and Public Involvement Participants (PCPIs). Our trainee nursing associates also spend a large amount of time on placement with one of our partner Trusts to gain valuable nursing experience.
Every trainee will receive £1,000 in funding to put towards their course.
What are the nursing associate entry requirements?
The entry requirements for our nursing associate foundation degree are typically 76 UCAS Tariff points, as well as GCSE maths and English language at grade C/4 or above or level 2 functional skills in numeracy and literacy. You will also need to meet our fitness to practise procedures. You can find out more about our nursing associate entry requirements on the course page.
Browse our Nursing and Midwifery subject area or join us for an Open Day to find out more.
Published: 30 August 2024