Nursing Care Needs Standard
Nurses are at the heart of care across a wide range of services, with people and other professionals often reliant on their expertise. PRSB has worked with the NHS and social care to create a new nursing standard for use across different health and social care settings.
Current release
From 01 January 2026, this standard will be owned and managed by NHS England and is made available for reuse or amendment under the Open Government Licence v3.0 (OGL 3.0). A review of the ongoing requirement for this standard will be undertaken by NHS England. Details on this and any update to the standard will be published on the NHS Standards Directory. If you have any questions or feedback relating to this standard, please email: england.standards.assurance@nhs.net.
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About this standard
The Nursing Care Needs Standard aims to improve the quality and safety of care in key nurse-led areas, including care planning. It reflects best practice and standardises documentation across different nursing settings, to free nurses and give them more time to care. For example, it standardises information that a nurse in a care home or community setting can access and share in the same way as a mental health or hospital nurse, with a focus on the person’s overall wellbeing.
People tell us that nursing care documentation is an important source of information about their health and care needs, their strengths, and the goals they want to achieve. It describes their quality of life and how this can be improved given their health and care circumstances and underlying conditions. This standard will enable more personalised care provision and enable better self-care.
A standard that allows the exchange of information between IT systems will also enable sharing of standardised information between nurses and other health and social care professionals in the persons’ circle of care for continuity and more timely care delivery. 
Examples
Oliver’s story
About Oliver and his condition | Oliver Parker, a 10-year-old boy has been admitted to acute care following a football injury resulting in a fractured ankle. |
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Pre-admission history | Oliver presented to A&E where his ankle was X-rayed, confirming a fracture which was then set in a plaster cast by the team. |
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He continued to complain of severe pain and was very distressed, so he was admitted to the paediatric unit for observation. (An appointment was also made for him to attend the fracture clinic in six weeks.) |
Admission journey
Admission journey | Upon arrival at the ward, Nurse Rita introduces herself and explains to him and his mum, Sue, about the ward and admission process. |
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She explains that she will be Oliver’s named nurse during his admission and James Shaddock his nursing care assistant. They will be the people coordinating his care with the help of the rest of the team on the ward. |
Rita conducts Oliver’s inpatient admission nursing care assessment with Sue present, who is his legal guardian. |
Endorsement
- Royal College of General Practitioners