As from 2013 all nurses in England will have to be educated to degree level due to the increase in responsibility they are being given. Only a quarter of England’s 315,000 nurses actually have a degree and it seems this will no longer be acceptable.
Training is currently a mix between theory and practical work but the new standards, which are open to consultation, will involve giving students the opportunity to do community health work experience. This new move within the health service is said to help nurses meet the increasingly complex needs of patients and to do so in a more safely and effective way.