Countdown to Change: Why We’re Fighting for Nursing Associates

justasharpscratch
Jun 13, 2025
2 min read

In April 2025, just days after the birth of my daughter, I sat up at 2:00 a.m., heart racing from equal parts exhaustion and determination. That night, I launched a petition titled Countdown to Change — not for me, but for the thousands of Nursing Associates across the NHS who feel unheard, unseen, and unsupported.

Since then, the petition has grown into a national campaign — one built on lived experience, community strength, and the unshakable belief that Nursing Associates deserve more than a tick-box on a workforce chart. They deserve real recognition, real progression, and real respect.

What’s Going Wrong?

The Nursing Associate role was introduced to bridge the gap between Healthcare Assistants and Registered Nurses. But despite its potential, the role is facing an identity crisis in practice. Every week I hear the same stories:

Newly qualified NAs unable to find roles in their trust
Others being used as HCAs, with no development support
Still others being discouraged from advancing, side-lined, or even told the role was "a mistake"

Misconceptions from colleagues, vague job descriptions, and patchy implementation across the country have left many questioning their place in the system they trained to serve.

What the Petition Demands

We’re calling on NHS leaders, government ministers, and policymakers to:

Clearly define and protect the Nursing Associate role across all NHS trusts
Create guaranteed post-qualification job opportunities for Student NAs
Establish consistent pathways for professional progression
Recognise and celebrate the role as a profession in its own right

Over 2,500 people have signed already, and we’re just getting started.

Turning Up the Volume

The campaign has gained real traction thanks to the voices of real people. From TikTok videos that highlight daily frustrations to heartfelt podcast interviews and newspaper features, we’ve taken this beyond bureaucracy. It’s personal now — and that’s why it’s powerful.

Support has come in from media outlets like Nursing Times, Nursing Standard, and respected voices like Roy Lilley. We’ve also had MP Ashley Fox backing our call, with plans to take our concerns all the way to Parliament through a Westminster Hall debate.

But we need you to keep this momentum going.

We Won’t Back Down

Even with online trolling, professional resistance, and institutional silence in some quarters, this campaign is growing — because the truth resonates.

We’re continuing to collect stories, meet with decision-makers, and explore change through every possible channel — podcast episodes, social media, visual campaigns, and in-person events.

This isn’t just about fixing policy — it’s about protecting people.