Trainee Nursing Associates (TNA)

An apprenticeship to develop primary care employees including Health Care Support Workers to become Registered Nursing Associates.

The nursing associate is a new professional role that bridges the gap between healthcare support workers and registered nurses to deliver hands-on, person-centred care as part of the nursing team. Nursing associates work with people of all ages in a variety of settings in health and social care. The role was introduced in response to the Shape of Caring Review (2015), to help build the capacity of the nursing workforce and the delivery of high-quality care. It will be a vital part of the wider health and care team and aims to:

  • Support the career progression of healthcare support workers
  • Enable nurses to focus on more complex clinical work
  • Increase the supply of nurses by providing a progression route into graduate-level nursing
  • The Greater Manchester Training Hub supports Primary and Social Care organisations and their staff to access the Trainee Nursing Associate (TNA) Apprenticeship.

Candidates must be employed in a Primary or Social Care setting. 

Workplace must be an accredited Learning Environment, click for more information. 

Maths and English qualifications at Level 2/GCSE Grade C and above/GCSE Level 4-6. If a candidate does not meet the academic requirements, we are able to support them to achieve this using our Functional Skills provider, Rochdale Training. 

The candidate must work a minimum of 30 hours a week. 

2 year fully funded programme of study.

The apprentice will attend university 1 day a week for academic study (7.5 hours)

The apprentice will work 3 days a week clinically under the guidance of a Practice Supervisor (22.5 hours)

20% off the job learning each week.

Everything done towards the apprenticeship must be in paid working hours.

Exposure to 3 settings, ‘at home’, ‘close to home’ and the ‘acute hospital’.

Exposure to the 4 fields of nursing, Mental Health, Learning Disabilities, Adult, Children and Young People.

See our TNA hand booklet 

TNA programme 

  • Support the career progression of healthcare support workers 
  • Enable nurses to focus on more complex clinical work 
  • Increase the supply of nurses by providing a progression route into graduate-level nursing 
  • The Greater Manchester Training Hub supports Primary and Social Care organisations and their staff to access the Trainee Nursing Associate (TNA) Apprenticeship. 

On successful completion of the TNA Foundation Degree the Nursing Associate will register with the NMC (Nursing and Midwifery Council)

Nursing Associates work in many different health and care settings, including general practice, hospitals, care homes, learning disabilities and in the community.

The job decription of the role can be found here: Job Description

There are opportunities to develop in this role and it also provides a steppingstone to becoming a Registered Nurse.

If you or a member of your team would like to become a TNA please email  [email protected] with a completed Expression of Interest Form. Following this, if all the entry requirements are met an interview will be arranged with your chosen University. Within Greater Manchester there are two Universities to undertake your studies, The University of Bolton and The University of Salford. 
Find more about the recruitment process here: Recruitment Process 

If you have any questions please email Laura O’Brien [email protected] or Carla Slater [email protected] or  [email protected], we are happy to discuss any questions or queries you may have to support you on the next step of your journey.