Can Someone Who Is Not A Registered Nurse Call Themselves A Nurse

The fact that anyone can phone call themselves a nurse every bit the job title does not have legal protection – unlike occupational therapists, for example – sometimes comes equally a surprise to people.

To practise as a nurse, you have to be on the annals held by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC), merely anyone can use the title, even those struck off or with no qualifications.

Members of the profession accept tried to modify this situation earlier but without success for various reasons, mostly related to a lack of necessary political and regulatory support. But are things set to change in the well-nigh time to come?

A entrada is nether way to make 'nurse' a protected title by law and so it tin just be used by registered nurses. In this month'south issue, we speak to leading nursing workforce expert Professor Alison Leary, who is a major driving force behind the #ProtectNurse campaign.

"Significant barriers remain to achieving the aim"

Without protection, she warns there is an upshot with other professionals calling themselves nurses and employers appointing people into nursing roles without nursing qualifications and registration. If the title were to be given legal protection, it would reduce the dilution of nursing roles and boost patient safety as a result, she says.

Significant barriers remain to achieving the aim, but Professor Leary and her boyfriend campaigners have a powerful ally in the grade of the nursing regulator itself. The head of the NMC, Andrea Sutcliffe, has told usa she wants to pursue title protection as part of regulatory reforms and some other key player, the Department of Health and Social Care, has confirmed it is exploring the event of protected nurse titles in collaboration with the NMC and the chief nursing officeholder for England. As such, a rare opportunity appears to be emerging.

September also marks the centenary of some other long-fought campaign to protect and strengthen the identity of nursing: it is 100 years since the first register of nurses opened afterwards nursing was made a regulated profession with set qualifications.

Today's supporters of protecting the championship of nurse can have strength from nurse campaigners such every bit Ethel Gordon Fenwick, who fought for over 30 years against powerful opponents for the regulation of nursing earlier finally achieving her aim. Giving legal protection to the job championship would marking some other major milestone for the profession.

Nursing Times strongly supports the #ProtectNurse campaign – protecting the championship means protecting nursing.