To ask if you knew that in the UK anyone can call themselves a nurse?

[BoreOfWhabylon]

Anyone can use the title to offer professional advice and services even if they have no professional qualification, experience or have been struck off a professional register.
To protect the public, the title should be restricted to those who are registered with professional regulators such as Registered Nurses and Dental Nurses. This would be the same as titles such as paramedic, physiotherapist and hearing aid dispenser which are limited to those on the professional registers.

If you think, as I do, that this is wrong, please pop over to the Petitions Board, where @Arbella2 has a thread with more information and links to the petition.
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/petitions_noticeboard/a4368136-protect-the-title-nurse-in-uk-law-petition-the-title-nurse-can-be-used-by-anyone-in-the-uk-petition-created-by-professor-alison-leary-rn?msgid=111544580#111544580

[quote Arbella2]https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/587939[/quote]
Petition

[quote Arbella2]https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/587939[/quote]
Petition

[quote Arbella2]https://www.rcn.org.uk/news-and-events/press-releases/nursing-workforce-crisis-leads-to-risky-recruitment-practice[/quote]
RCN

[quote Arbella2]https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/587939[/quote]
Petition

Now 31,411 signatures. Anyone can sign as long as they are a British citizen or UK resident.

[quote Arbella2]https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/587939[/quote]
Petition

Signed the petition.

Laughing at the poster who thinks nurses don't need degrees.
More educated nurses lead to safer care better patient outcomes.
The role really isn't what it used to be in the past. The critical thinking and research skills (hopefully) acquired at uni are really invaluable.

@Canii

There are different types of nurses, not just medical ones. Vet nurse, nursery nurse, dental nurse, auxiliary nurse.

Yep. I don’t think this would work because we use this for lots of job titles. Maternity nurse is another one, which is obviously different to a nurse who works on the maternity ward (gotta love the English language!).

Yes - I knew that anyone can call themselves a nurse, just as you can call yourself a psychologist, doctor, engineer, professor etc.

My father was treated in hospital under the brilliant Professor Green (there was no Dr. Dre on staff though).

There is also a problem in this country that the professional bodies are unregulated and their first instinct is to protect themselves. You can be suspended from your professional body - and lose your job - for things like criticising their policies, procedures or management.

[quote Arbella2]https://www.rcn.org.uk/news-and-events/press-releases/nursing-workforce-crisis-leads-to-risky-recruitment-practice[/quote]
The Royal College of Nursing
"The RCN is committed to multidisciplinary working in health and social care and recognises the knowledge, skill and expertise of the many professions involved. Many inquiries and reviews however, including the Francis report into the catastrophic events at Mid Staffordshire, have highlighted the risk of not having the right nursing care available for patients and stressed the importance of nursing leadership. The common theme has been that patient safety and need must drive the shape of the workforce".

[quote Arbella2]https://www.rcn.org.uk/news-and-events/press-releases/nursing-workforce-crisis-leads-to-risky-recruitment-practice[/quote]
Risky Recruitment Practice
"The Royal College of Nursing is calling for an end to the growing practice of employing those without registered nurse qualifications into registered nursing roles, warning that this leaves patients without professional nursing care and compromises safety. "
"The RCN has found instances where employers have formally opened registered nurse vacancies to people without registered nurse qualifications or from different professional backgrounds"
RCN press release 09/06/21

[quote Arbella2]British Journal of Medicine (BMJ) article
The Healthcare Quality and Safety Conference October 2021
"A bedside care workforce with a greater proportion of professional nurses is associated with better outcomes for patients and nurses. Reducing skill mix by adding nursing associates and other categories of assistive personnel without professional nurse qualifications may contribute to preventable deaths, erode quality and safety of hospital care and contribute to hospital nurse shortages"
https://qualitysafety.bmj.com/content/26/7/559[/quote]
Risk at the Bedside
Who,exactly, is looking after your loved ones ?

Ruth May Chief Nursing Officer for England
"I am supportive of protecting the nurse title"
Nursing Times 15/10/21

Nurses should have their job title protected in law, ministers told by nursing leaders
The Independent 12/10/21

Protected titles are protected by law.
Examples Physiotherapist, Paramedic, Occupational therapist, Orthoptist, Hearing aid dispenser, Art therapist

*Registered Nurse is a protected title

Nurse is not a protected title

Does it matter ? Yes. It matters for patient safety.
Evidence shows it matters greatly. *

The NHS Retirement Fellowship supports the campaign to protect the 'nurse' title in law.
Nursing Times 24/09/21

Registered Nurses are the critical caregivers in modern healthcare.
Registered nurses are university educated science professionals who save lives and improve outcomes by monitoring patients, rescuing them when they deteriorate, providing high-tech treatments, advocating for patients and teaching them how to live with their conditions.

'Saving Lives' by Sandy Summers and Harry Jacobs Summers 2014

Now 31,418 signatures.

76.7% of 1.3 million NHS staff are women.
NHS England 08/03/21

Women are the keepers of family health and the linchpin of the NHS

Anyone can sign the petition as long as they are a British citizen or UK resident.

@Arbella2

Please consider signing this petition. Patient safety at risk.

Petition

Now 31,420 signatures

Charlotte McArdle Chief Nursing Officer for Northern Ireland
"Time and again nursing is recognised as the most trusted profession with nurse synonymous with patient safety. It's therefore important for society and for nurses themselves that the title of 'nurse' is protected"
Nursing Times 15/10/21

Now 31,432 signatures.