Nursing is a wonderful career - one of endless opportunities and a lifetime of fulfilment. Importantly, it is a graduate degree which demonstrates the knowledge and professionalism that we need to have to be able to make the safety critical, evidence-based decisions about those we care for.

But I know that for many of our recent nursing graduates and newly registered members, particularly in England, there has been uncertainty about finding your first permanent nursing role. 

When this issue was first raised with us in the RCN earlier this year, we took immediate action alongside our student members and raised this issue strongly and repeatedly with health service leaders at the highest levels. With dedicated action through the summer, we saw change - I was so proud of the power of our student membership when the Health Secretary announced the graduate guarantee in August.

However, I know for some, your worries about finding employment have not diminished. And that for some of our newly registered nurse members, you are still facing uncertainty about your future career path. You are not alone. The RCN is behind you and working for you, to demand that NHS England fulfil the obligations of the graduate guarantee at a local level and make sure that every recent graduate can find a permanent job in nursing. 

We continue to gather your stories to strengthen our influencing with NHS England and to demonstrate where the issues in finding permanent nursing roles are. I urge you, if you are still having difficulties, please tell us now.  

We’re also running webinars with regional NHS England Chief Nurses and our RCN Regional Directors to talk about the opportunities and challenges that you are currently facing- find out how to join us on our website. You'll also find resources to help you improve your CV, prepare for interview and more resources to support you. 

No student nurse should find themselves without a permanent nursing role at the end of their degree, especially when we know that in many settings, there are not enough registered nursing staff to provide safe patient care. We are behind you and will continue to raise these issues with those responsible for nursing jobs so you can find your first permanent registered nurse role and benefit from the positive and rewarding career in nursing that you deserve.