The role of the Nursing Associate (NA) was introduced in 2017 to bridge the gap between Health Care Assistant (HCA)/ Health Care Support Worker (HCSW) and Registered Nurse (RN) and help meet the changing health and care needs of patients and the public. NA is a stand-alone role as well as also providing a route to RN.
What value do Nursing Associates bring to General Practice?
- They increase the capacity of General Practice Nursing Teams.
- Nursing Associates are regulated and registered by the NMC.
- Nursing Associate training offers a career development opportunity for HCAs.
- With Continuing Professional Development (CPD), NAs will provide additional capacity within the Nursing Team
- Nursing Associates bring a breadth and depth of knowledge and skills to General Practice.
- A provider that invests in training is an attractive employer
- Student Nursing Associates bring valuable insight across whole systems
If you are a Practice Manager or Primary Care Network (PCN) looking to grow and develop a team member or employ an additional member of staff; or are an HCA in Primary Care interested in furthering your career, then please access the links and webpages for more information.
For further discussion or support please contact Jo Sutton, Programme Manager (Nursing) – jsutton4@nhs.net
Key Information
Standards of Proficiency
The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) standards of proficiency set out the knowledge and skills that a Nursing Associate needs to meet. They set out the minimum standard of what Nursing Associates need to know and can do when they join the register.
Scope of Practice
Primary Care & General Practice Nursing Career & Core Capabilities Framework
The framework is made up of two components:
Career framework:
This provides a summary of 6 career levels for nursing within primary care/general practice.
The six levels are:
– Support Work Level Practice (HCA or HCSW)
– Nursing Associate Level/Assistant Practitioner Level Practice
– Registered Nurse Level Practice
– Registered Nurse: Enhanced Level Practice
– Registered Nurse: Advanced Level Practice
– Registered Nurse: Consultant Level Practice
Core capabilities framework:
This details the knowledge, skills and behaviours at different levels practice, presented in 4 Domains:
Domain A. Personalised collaborative working and health promotion
Domain B. Assessment, investigations, and diagnosis
Domain C. Condition management and treatment
Domain D. Leadership and management, education, and research
Within the domains are a total of 14 capabilities. The capabilities are numbered for ease of reference. This does not indicate a prescribed pathway, process, or hierarchy.
The capabilities (i.e., skills, knowledge, and behaviours) described in the framework are defined at 3 tiers:
The framework is incremental building from Tier 1 to Tier 3 (e.g., Tier 3 assumes that people possess the capabilities at preceding tiers (to minimise unnecessary repetition). Each tier articulates the minimum and core capability to be expected as opposed to the maximum.
Nursing Associates work at minimum and core capability at Tier 1: Capabilities that require a general understanding and that support provision of primary care/general practice nursing. This tier is relevant to all those who work in primary care and these capabilities should be viewed as the foundations of practice. This tier articulates the capabilities a member of the public should expect from anyone with whom they interface.
Primary Care and General Practice Nursing Career and Core Capabilities Framework 2021
Delegation and Accountability
Delegation is defined as the transfer to a competent individual, of the authority to perform a specific task in a specified situation.
Accountability is the principle that individuals and organisations are responsible for their actions and may be required to explain them to others.
Delegation of tasks from one individual to another occurs commonly in all health and care settings.
Delegation of an activity may be from:
- one registered professional to another.
- a registered professional to an unregulated member of staff.
- a registered or unregistered person to a carer or family member.
As registered professionals, nurses, midwives and nursing associates are accountable for all aspects of their practice, including accountability for what they choose to delegate, and agreement, or not, to undertake activities which are delegated to them.
Key Roles and Responsibilities
Nursing Associate
- Enables Registered Nurses to provide care
- Supports and supervises student Nursing Associates (sNAs)
- Performs and records clinical observations
- Supports wound care management
- Promotes health and wellbeing to patients
- Advises and signposts patients
- Maintains health records
Student Nursing Associate
- Delivers care while under supervision of a Nursing Associate or Registered Nurse
- Develops own clinical competence
- Develops scope of practice in line with HEE’s Primary Care and General Practice Nursing Career and Core Capability Framework
- Performs and records clinical observations