Nursing Standard

09/11/2025

From band 2 to 7: my nursing career since moving to the UK

An overseas-educated nurse explains how his career has progressed since he moved to the NHS, and shares career advancement tips.

A senior nurse educated overseas describes how his career has progressed since took the decision to practise in the NHS. He discusses how immigrating to the UK was an opportunity to develop in his chosen nursing specialty and discusses how he had to start in the NHS in an unregistered role. He is no...

08/11/2025

Sick pay for nursing staff: what are you entitled to?

Find out how sick pay for NHS and non-NHS nursing staff may vary, the entitlements for those on Agenda for Change contracts, plus how statutory sick pay and injury allowance work.

Most nursing staff in the UK are entitled to sick pay, but the specifics will depend on their contract. Find out how sick pay for NHS and non-NHS staff may vary, and what the entitlements are for those on Agenda for Change (AfC) contracts. Plus how statutory sick pay works, when injury allowance app...

07/11/2025

Nursing and other healthcare staff on Agenda for Change contracts in Northern Ireland will get full pay parity for their 2025-26 pay award, the country's health minister has confirmed.

Staff should expect to receive the uplift in their February 2026 pay packets, along with backdated pay, he said.

Nursing staff on Agenda for Change contracts have made it clear to their unions that their pay award for 2025-26 is not enough. We look at what union consultation results mean and what other factors could affect nurses’ pay, with options including an appeal for direct negotiations with the governm...

07/11/2025

News of a nurse who was suspended after secretly working two full-time jobs for seven months comes under the spotlight in this week’s episode of the Nursing Standard podcast.

🎧 Listen here

This week’s episode of the Nursing Standard podcast discusses a nurse who was suspended after secretly working two full-time jobs. The Nursing and Midwifery Council’s proposed registration fee rise, and the government’s recommendation that NHS staff on Agenda for Change contracts should get a ...

06/11/2025

Have you ever had to use your nursing skills at a road traffic accident?

Did you feel confident?

Nurses share their experiences of responding to an accident while off duty, and we discuss how simulation can help students hone their skills.

Nursing students may feel ill-equipped to deal with a major incident such as a road traffic collision outside of the training or workplace setting. Experienced nurses explain how they responded when faced with these situations when off duty, and offer advice on dealing with the realities of caring f...

06/11/2025

A hospital trust is cutting free tea and coffee for staff in a bid to save money.

Nursing and other staff working at the NHS trust will no longer get free hot drinks or milk – unless they work in theatre – with the move expected to save the trust £50,000 a year.

Nursing and other staff at University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust will no longer have their workplace tea and coffee bought for them by their employer. The trust, which is also sharply reducing the size of its workforce to cut spending, explains why it is cutting refreshments for most....

06/11/2025

What is an action plan and why should every nursing student have one?

Learn how students’ progress can be supported with action plans that can help identify weaknesses and improve clinical skills.

https://rcni.com/nursing-standard/students/action-plans-for-nursing-students-why-do-i-need-one-209141

05/11/2025

‘What is questionable – or as registrants say, outrageous – is the timing of the announcement of a fee rise, given the recent publication of damming official reviews of the NMC itself’

Click here to read this editorial piece by Nursing Standard editor, Flavia Munn, on the proposed NMC fee rise >

The Nursing and Midwifery Council wants to increase its £120 registration renewal fee for the first time in a decade. The nursing regulator’s chief executive said that the imperative to close the gap between its income and expenditure is simple economics. It will use any increase in revenue on tr...

05/11/2025

A teenager has been arrested after three nurses were reportedly attacked at a hospital in the east of England.

Police were called to Basildon University Hospital in Essex on 29 October following reports of assault on nursing staff. A 17-year-old male was arrested in connection with the incident, in which three police officers were also allegedly attacked.

A 17-year-old male was arrested after allegedly assaulting three nurses and three police officers at Basildon University Hospital, Essex, on 29 October. The teenager was also detained on suspicion of a racially aggravated public order offence and later bailed. Police and hospital officials condemned...

04/11/2025

Can you use AI in a nursing job application?

AI tools can cut down the work involved in applying for and securing a new nursing job, but what are the potential pitfalls?

Recruiters and career experts offer their advice >

AI tools can help nursing professionals cut down the work involved in applying for and securing a new job, but what are the potential pitfalls? Recruiters and careers experts offer their advice on the dos and don’ts of using AI for nursing job applications, the potential downsides, what makes a go...

04/11/2025

The annual registration fee for nursing and midwifery staff could rise by almost 20%, going from £120 a year to £143, the NMC has announced.

It has launched a 12-week public consultation on the proposed increase, and said if it had raised the fee in line with inflation, it would now stand at £166.

Nursing regulator plans to raise annual fee for nursing and midwifery staff by almost 20%, from £120 to £143. The NMC has launched a 12-week public consultation on the proposals, and said if it had raised the registration fee in line with inflation, it would now stand at £166. The consultation is...

03/11/2025

A nursing team is credited with cutting the length of hospital stay for people with frailty by 86% in just six months.

The five specialist nurses helped cut average duration of stay from 17.9 to 2.4 days. They were involved in creating an eight-bed acute frailty unit at their hospital.

Specialist nurses have reduced hospital stays for frail patients by 86% – from around 18 days to two-and-a-half days – in just six months. Working in a new eight-bed acute frailty unit, the nurses manage admissions, rapid holistic assessments and discharges independently, even at the weekend. Th...