Employing children's nurses?

In 1994, the UKCC directed employers 'only to appoint persons into posts for which they have been appropriately by their programme of education and training leading to registration'. As part of a larger study into the expectations that NHS organisations have of newly qualified children's nurses, data were collected on the nursing registrations employers stipulated when wishing to appoint D grade staff to their children's wards. The survey was initially undertaken in 1998 and repeated in 2002. A letter requesting an application pack for 'a position as a D grade staff nurse on your children's ward/s' was sent to English NHS trusts identified as having a children's service. In 1998, 28 out of 47 (56 per cent) of the trusts appeared willing to employ nurses without a children's nursing qualification, indicating that a registered general nurse (RGN) or enrolled nurse qualification (EN) would be acceptable. In 2002, 12 of the trusts had changed their registration requirements for the D grade post since 1998 but four (out of 19 that provided data) were still apparently willing to employ non-children's nurses on children's wards. The size of the sample makes it inappropriate to generalize the results across all acute NHS trusts but there are indications that in spite of government policy and recommendations, some trusts appear willing to consider employing nurses without a children's qualification on children's wards.