Voting members at RCN 2022 Congress have given their support for protecting the title ‘nurse’ in UK law.

Currently, the term 'nurse' can be used by anyone in the UK, even with no nursing qualifications. It can be used by those who have been removed from the NMC register or who have serious convictions.

Several RCN members referenced cases where the term 'nurse' had been misused, leading patients to believe they were being cared for by a qualified nurse when they were not.

Alongside patient safety, members also raised concerns about protecting the reputation of the profession and ensuring the workforce does not become diluted within workforce data.

The debate saw 452 members vote in favour and 60 vote against. There were 29 abstentions with an 89% turnout.

Sally Bassett, Chair of the Nurses in Management and Leadership Forum, said:

“The public trust us because we’re committed to keeping them safe and advocating for them when they’re at their most vulnerable.

“This issue unites us all. Without protection, it’s not possible to capture accurate workforce data, there is a risk of dilution of registered nurses, and there is a risk to how the government’s promised 50,000 nurses will be filled. This is a patient safety issue.”

Evan Keir, Nursing Support Worker member of Council voiced concerns that existing powers are not used enough He said:

“I don’t think it’s in dispute that we need to robustly defend our profession.

“But as a profession, we don’t use the protections that we already have. We don’t prosecute those that misrepresent themselves as nurses, those laws already exist."