According to a recent report, the government plans to mandate nursing in England a degree-only profession.
The Department of Health has made a decision following the Nursing and Midwifery Council ratification of proposals to make the profession an all-graduate profession in September 2008.

The decision is a “small but important step” says chief nursing officer for England Dame, Christine Bailey, speaking earlier on the BBC Radio 4 Today programme. She said that it will provide nurses with the “real ability to make decisions” when care became more complex, adding “It’s not about moving nurses away from direct care,”

Gail Adams, head of Unison, said during the same feature that the decision for degree only entry into the profession might cause the diversity of backgrounds from which nurses come from to become narrow and less accurately reflect the people that the industry is caring for.

Peter Charter, chief exec for the Royal College of Nursing, said that this is an important and historic development that the RCN has supported for many years”, welcoming the move.

“Nurses are the largest single profession within the health service, and are critical to the delivery of high quality health care.” says Health Minister, Anne Keen. She added that degree-level education will provide nurses with better decision-making abilities in order to make senior-level decisions in the developing NHS.

She added that this is the right direction forward if the objective of providing a higher quality of care for society is to be achieved.

Matt Shetty knows the importance of working for a well known and ethically approved pharmaceutical clinical trials company, also known as a clinical research organisation, and recommends that care is taken when looking for work in the nursing sector.

Author’s comments: Whether this is a good step forward or not is arguable. Degree-level entry could mean a better quality of nursing professionals joining the industry, providing the necessary skills to make high-level decisions and good judgment in an ever-changing industry. However, this may limit the amount of promising candidates who are not able to follow the degree route for varied reasons such limited funding. This could in turn create a high demand for degree-qualified nurses in turn putting more pressure on the industry to deliver quality healthcare.

Clinical Research Tip: If you are looking for work in the clinical pharmacology sector, take a look at the latest Nurse Jobs UK availabilities.

* Consult your doctor before taking any medical advice!