A new set of principles for trainee nurses has been developed by the Nursing and Midwifery Council’s governing body.
Following a three-month consultation, the group endorsed proposals for all nursing students to be educated to degree level. This move was recommended by Health minister Lord Darzi in his recent ten-year vision for the NHS.
It was supported by the Royal College of Nursing, the Council of Deans of Health and NHS Employers, but opposed by the NHS union Unison, reports Nursing Standard.
Seven other principles have also been agreed, which will form the basis of the future of pre-registration education from 2010. Training will include a 50/50 split between theory and practice, and the retention of the four existing branches of nursing.
As recommended by Lord Darzi, newly qualified nurses will undergo a "preceptorship" year after their three years of training. This salaried foundation year will be necessary for nurses to validate their registration with the NMC.
There were mixed views among council members on the question of mandatory preceptorship, but it was endorsed by a majority.
These new principles came about following a review of pre- and post-registration training which began in September 2006 when England’s chief nursing officer, Chris Beasley, published the UK-wide government policy document, Modernising Nursing Careers.
The NMC say that the next phase of the review will "use these principles to develop new standards of proficiency for pre-registration nursing education, and new standards for preceptorship, aimed to be in place for academic year 2010/11".
Further consultations with nurses are due to take place, they add.
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