First-aid training to help student nurses in a crisis

While nurses are already expected to know the principles of first aid, there has been concern over falling skill levels.

Now, after talks with the British Red Cross and St John Ambulance, new standards have been drawn up for student nurses. The need for first aid has been given more prominence. Garth Long, project lead for the review of pre-registration requirements at the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC), said the public expected nurses to be able to cope in a crisis.

He said the new requirements “emphasised” the need for first aid more than previously but it would be down to universities to decide how it is taught.

“Incident management is also now included, which is how you would organise yourself if there was an incident like a car accident,” he added.

He said the NMC was not calling for nurses to be sent out to incidents, more for nurses to be prepared in an emergency.