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
Version: V1.0 | |||
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Release date | February 2024 | ||
Release notes | V1.0 | ||
Next release date | February 2027 | ||
Next release type | Scheduled release |
The standard | |
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Full standard – PRSB viewer | Open the viewer |
Full standard – Excel | Download file (xlsx) |
Full standard – Json |
Supporting documentation | Description/purpose |
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Implementation guidance | This document includes general implementation guidance for all PRSB standards. Detailed guidance for the Nursing Care Needs Standard can be found in the standard documents (above). |
Business rules | Rules for implementation of the standard. |
Final report | Describes the purpose, methodolgy and stakeholder engagement for developing the standard, along with the findings and recommendations for further work. |
Survey report | Appendices of the final report. |
Safety case | Summarises the hazards which could result from implementing the standard. |
Hazard log | Details the potential hazards from implementing the standard with their risk rating and mitigation. |
Provenance data | Defines the information on who made a record entry and who carried out the activity, where and when. |

Need implementation support?
- Online support form
- Support@theprsb.org
- 020 4551 5225 (9-5 Mon-Fri, excl. bank holidays)
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 personās 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 personsā circle of care for continuity and more timely care delivery.āÆ
Scope
The standard is focused on eating and drinking, mobility, elimination (toileting and continence), personal hygiene and dressing, skin, and medication self-management.
The care settings in scope are:
- Hospital
- Community
- Nursing home
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Out of scope
- Mandating which specific risk assessment tool should be used for an assessment.
- Nurse treatment plans used by Clinical Nurse Specialists (CNS) and Advanced Nurse Practitioners (ANP) and in non-inpatient care settings.
- The following clinical specialities and their patientsā needs have not been considered when developing this standard:
- Midwifery
- Neonatal care
- Mental health nursing
(However, mental health settings may also need to assess functional needs ā therefore, this standard should be used where relevant).
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 Oliverās 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 Oliverās inpatient admission nursing care assessment with Sue present, who is his legal guardian. |
Further resources
- Standards explained
PRSBās guide to standards which sets out the purpose and benefits of using standards and how to support frontline professionals to adopt them.
- IHRIM record correction guidance
Despite vigilance when filing information in records, mistakes can occur. The Institute of Health Records and Information Management has guidance to support professionals in making corrections following errors.
Endorsement
- Royal College of NursingĀ
- Royal College of General Practitioners