Deployment of final year student nurses

The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) has confirmed new emergency standards to enable final year nursing students to support the response to COVID-19.

After hearing from key stakeholders including the UK’s Chief Nursing Officers, and the Council of Deans of Health, the NMC has agreed to reintroduce the following emergency education standards.

For nursing students in the final year of their programme – The emergency standards will enable all final year nursing students to undertake extended paid clinical placements for up to 100 per cent of their programme, if they wish. Paid placements will not be supernumerary.

For nursing and midwifery students in their first year – The NMC will allow nursing and midwifery students in their first year to focus on academic and online learning rather than participating in clinical placements while the system is under pressure due to the pandemic. This will be applied locally where education institutions feel it is necessary, allowing first year students who can continue their placements as normal to do so.

For all other undergraduate nursing and midwifery students and post-graduate diploma/masters students – Students will continue with their studies as planned and the emergency education standards allowing extended clinical placements will not apply to these programmes. These students will continue to have supernumerary status when on clinical placements.

Local flexibility and decision making – These emergency standards are available to use in each of the four countries but are not mandatory for any individual country, region, institution, or student. This is to allow for education institutions and employers to apply as they see fit within their local area.

Full guidance is available on the NMC website.