Embargoed until 00:01, 12 May 2022
- 31% of people in the UK would consider being a nurse and 26% would consider being a midwife (1)
- Survey highlights deep respect for nurses and midwives, and with the COVID-19 pandemic placing nursing and midwifery in the spotlight as never before, now is the time to highlight the diverse, fulfilling, and lifelong careers these professions can offer
- Here for Life campaign launched today will showcase nurses’ and midwives’ skills, knowledge and professionalism and encouraging people to learn more about the professions.
12 May 2022: Nursing and midwifery are considered two of the most important professions in the UK and now research to mark the launch of a new campaign has revealed that more than a quarter of people would consider a career as a nurse or midwife themselves.
Here for Life, a collaboration between the Chief Nursing Officers (CNOs) of the UK and Ireland and the RCN Foundation, an independent charity, will showcase the professionalism, knowledge, competence and expertise of nurses and midwives and the diverse and rewarding opportunities these roles can offer as a career.
Launched to coincide with International Nurses Day (12th May) and following International Day of the Midwife (5th May), Here for Life will highlight the incredible, and often lifelong, commitment of nurses and midwives to their professions, as well as the huge amount of respect the public has for them.
Here for Life supports the release of Enabling Professionalism 2022 (2) – a resource that will help nurses and midwives confidently articulate who they are, what they do and what nursing and midwifery ‘is’ in 2022.
A survey of 2,000 adults from across the UK (1) shows that while the majority of people admire nurses and midwives, and many people would consider being one, fewer people understand the responsibilities these roles entail and the opportunities they offer. The campaign aims to support people to learn more about what nursing and midwifery means in today’s world.
Key results include:
- Nursing is considered one of the top three most important professions in the UK – with doctors and firefighters also featuring in the top three.
- Nine in ten (89%) of people in the UK admire nurses and 31% of people would consider becoming one. A quarter (26%) of people would think about being a midwife.
- Only 15% of people associate nurses with making decisions about diagnosis and treatment and just 5% know they are involved in researching new treatments and therapies.
- Only half (53%) know that some nurses can prescribe drugs and over a third (37%) are unaware that nurses lead other teams of professionals.
- 61% of people believe midwives play a support role to doctors when delivering babies, when often midwives play the leading role in delivery in almost half of all births (47.5%) (3).
- Three in ten (29%) people believe midwives only play a role during labour, although they provide care and advice to families before, during and after labour.
Professor Jane Cummings, CBE, RN, Chair of the RCN Foundation, said: “It is extremely heartening to see the huge amount of respect and admiration the UK public has for its nurses and midwives.
“Nursing and midwifery are highly skilled and diverse careers that require a combination of professionalism, commitment, knowledge, competence and compassion.
“This is why it’s very important that the public has a better awareness and understanding about the depth, breadth and diversity of the nursing and midwifery professions
“Nurses and midwives provide vital care in all settings across the UK. Here for Life will help highlight this, while also empowering nurses and midwives to tell their own stories and feel pride in the huge contribution they make.”
Here for Life will harness the power of social media, digital advertising and mainstream media, including TV and radio, to help the public gain a fuller understanding of the breadth and diversity of nursing and midwifery roles and the tremendous impact that these professions have on individual patients and on our society as a whole.
The campaign will use photography and a series of short videos to proudly tell the stories of seven nurses and midwives from around the UK and Ireland who are working in a variety of settings.
These stories will show nurses and midwifes as highly skilled and educated ‘calibrators of care’, leaders and decision-makers – treating the person they’re caring for as a whole rather than just looking at their symptoms or disease, and adapting treatment and care to individual need. It will highlight the role of nurses and midwives in innovating, leading teams, carrying out research and transforming the way healthcare is delivered in the UK and Ireland.
The campaign will encourage nurses and midwives to take to social media and share images that sum up who they are and what they do, using the hashtag #HereForLife to shine a light on the diverse roles and responsibilities of nursing and midwifery staff. The public will also be encouraged to take part, by posting photos and stories about the moment that the skills of a nurse or midwife made a significant difference to their own care or that of their loved ones.
Together, they will help #HereforLife reach its target of 830,000 posts this month, one for each nurse and midwife currently working in the UK and Ireland.
Professor Charlotte McArdle, Deputy CNO for England and a lead for the Enabling Professionalism project, said: “It is fantastic that so many people would consider a career as a nurse or midwife – this important campaign will help people understand more about who our nurses and midwives are in today’s world, and the expertise they bring to our health and social care services across the UK and Ireland.
“Nursing and midwifery are highly skilled careers with hugely varied and fulfilling opportunities and we want everyone to know that our nurses and midwives are both here for you, and here for life. If you are interested in joining us in one of these hugely rewarding roles, I’d encourage you to search online for more information.”
For further information contact:
jon@mearnsandpike.com and 07825 889 607
Notes to editors:
1. A representative sample of 2,000 UK (England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland) residents aged 16-plus were surveyed by OpinionMatters in March 2022.
2. Enabling Professionalism 2022. Available for download at https://nipec.hscni.net or Department of Health websites
3. NHS Maternity Statistics, England, 2020-21. Available at: https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/nhs-maternity-statistics/2020-21
About the RCN Foundation
The RCN Foundation is an independent charity whose purpose is to support and strengthen nursing to improve the health and wellbeing of the public. It is here for every current and former nurse, midwife and health care assistant, as well as students and nursing associates. It supports individual members of the nursing team by providing grants to those who are facing hardship, or who want to enhance their skills and develop their practice; it invests in the profession by funding nursing-led projects; and it champions nursing by supporting projects that raise the profile of the profession and highlight the contribution that nursing and midwifery makes to improving the nation’s health.
The MJA is publishing this press release as it is a pro-bono campaign by Mearns & Pike for the independent charity the RCN Foundation