NMC chief urges employers to provide preceptorship for new nurses

Employers hiring newly registered nurses have been reminded by the nursing regulator to ensure preceptorship programmes are in place to help individuals integrate into their new team and place of work.

Paul Rees, Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) chief executive and registrar, has called for action from employers who hope to hire nurses as part of the government’s new plan to make it easier to recruit newly registered nurses and midwives in England.

The ‘Graduate Guarantee’, launched on Monday, aims to increase job-access by ‘removing barriers’ to NHS employment and by providing a ‘seamless transition’ from training to formal employment.

Responding to the announcement, Mr Rees said trained professionals should be able to move into jobs ‘quickly’ after they complete their studies.

‘We would particularly call on employers to ensure that as the Graduate Guarantee is rolled out, they use preceptorship programmes, where possible, to welcome and integrate newly registered professionals into their new team and place of work.’

All newly registered nurses, nursing associates and midwives should receive preceptorship in their first-year post-registration, with the NMC recommending a formal preceptorship period of about four months, which can vary based on individual need.

Under NMC guidance all registrants who have entered a new part of the register or returned to practice after joining the register, or are newly admitted to the register from countries outside of the UK, should also receive a period preceptorship.

Previous studies have found significant variability in the quality of preceptorship that nurses and midwives can access, with some programmes being too short, unstructured and lacking sufficient contact hours.

Writing exclusively for Nursing in Practice this week, the health and social care secretary, Wes Streeting, said newly qualified nurses and midwives should be guaranteed a job once they have completed their training.

‘I won’t accept a situation where despite that dedication, some nurses and midwives don’t know if they’ll have a job when they graduate,’ Mr Streeting said.

In July, Skills for Care launched a new nursing preceptorship programme to support the recruitment and retention of newly registered nurses and nursing associates working in adult social care across England. 

And last September, the Institute of Health Visiting (iHV) launched a  UK-wide preceptorship framework for health visitors with the goal of ensuring a ‘consistent, personalised’ approach for the workforce.