All change

For the past five years I have been studying the evolving role of nursery nurses within the context of national and local early years and childcare developments.

The study looks at some of the 'then and now' elements of nursery nurse training, work opportunities, career prospects, and how nursery nurses are valued within the wider early years and childcare workforce. There are some very similar patterns of development and some interesting differences.

Nursery nurses have been providing care and education for children in their early years since 1945, when the first nationally recognised standard qualification was introduced by the National Nursery Examination Board.

The early years and childcare sector has since changed shape, but some general characteristics prevail.

In the past

Day nurseries, private homes, nursery schools and residential care were largely the workplace settings in which nursery nurses were employed between the 1940s and 1980s.

During the war years, huge numbers of women were employed, often working long shifts in munitions factories, to replace men who had enlisted in active service. Women were 'left holding their babies' with outside work responsibilities. Accessible, affordable childcare was in demand, just as today. Solutions to the shortfall were, however, a little different.

In the 1940s the majority of people lived 'within pram-pushing distance' of their extended family, who would often provide informal, loving and homelike surroundings to care for their youngest relatives. Sometimes mutually reciprocal arrangements would be made with family members or friends for the communal care of their children.

Many nursery nurses were employed in state nurseries at this time, and their role was deemed of such significant value to the war effort that it was a reserved occupation.

Changing times

Since the implementation of the National Childcare Strategy in 1998, the Labour Government has contributed to the expansion and improvement of childcare and early years provision. Systematic national and local changes to range, quality and capacity of provision and workforce development has been the impetus for this strategy, which supports a national agenda to increase the numbers of women in the nation's workforce while maintaining national education and care standards.

Now the role of a nursery nurse stretches across all types of provision - health, education and family support services. They work in schools, private homes, children's centres, nursery schools, holiday playschemes and day nurseries.

Employment opportunities have grown in diversity and practitioners are now able to take qualifications that do not originate from the traditional nursery nursing certificate or diploma, for example NVQs.

The role of supporting children in their health, care and education, traditionally called nursery nursing, continues to exist, but a wider range of differently qualified or unqualified people are able to work in this vocation without traditional nursery nursing training.

Balancing act

It can be argued that, over the years, the role and title of nursery nurse have become blurred. The traditional nursery nursing diploma balances practical and theoretical knowledge, understanding and experience of children's care, learning and development in all setting types. From September 2000 it has carried a possible 360 UCAS tariff points (for a double A student). The academic pathway is there for those wishing to directly enter degree courses at higher education level, but in another field.

Nursery nurses in the study preferred to identify their qualification as distinct from others and saw themselves as focused early years and childcare practitioners with a commitment to continuous professional development. They had no desire to become teachers, social workers or health staff in order to 'progress' professionally.

The only wholly transferable qualification to all setting types is the Diploma in Childcare and Education awared by CACHE - it includes a core 'baby' module.

Many nursery nurses have become confused as to why others who have completed qualifications other than an NNEB or CACHE Diploma are called nursery nurses, and in some settings qualified nursery nurses are not referred to as such. For example, qualified nursery nurses working in many school settings are called teaching assistants despite sometimes having a slightly different role.

A survey, 'Education Support Staff and Volunteers in Nursery and Primary Schools' (2000), indicated that the majority of support staff in mainstream, independent and special education settings held a CACHE/NNEB accredited nursery nursing qualification.

The title of nursery nurse was removed from the CACHE Diploma in 2000, but it is still quite distinct in terms of structure and experience from NVQs and in part BTECs. The role of caring for the health, safety, well-being, learning and development of children from nought to seven years has been core to the practice of nursery nurses since the qualification was introduced. People want to work at the highest level of professionalism and practice within this chosen field of work and do not necessarily desire to 'progress' to another role or profession.

However, other practitioners without a nursery nurse originating diploma are sometimes able to earn higher sums of money, are given the same work tasks and are called nursery nurses. An NNEB-qualified nursery nurse in the study was working in a school where a Learning Support Worker with no formal qualifications earned more money than she did. Another nursery nurse had worked in a primary school for three years before the head teacher discovered she was NNEB-qualified, so had made no distinction for her qualified status.

Some recent local authority job evaluations have not recognised the distinct and full extent of the job responsibilities that nursery nurses are expected to perform on a regular basis. Many with considerable planning responsibilities have not been differentiated from those who have none.

The national qualifications framework has gone some way to clarifying levels of training, but it does not clarify distinct and progressive areas of work that the specified training qualifies for.

Sadly, the national daycare standards only recommend minimum levels of workforce qualification and do not specify the experience and training necessary regarding standard, content and context.

Staff can be qualified with a level 3 NVQ, caring for children under one year of age, but have no formal training in the care and education of children from birth to one. Hence issues arise of less than proper care for the very youngest children.

Possible solutions

The role of providing quality play and learning opportunities for young children within the context of care is a special one. Appropriately trained and qualified practitioners are vital to maintain the balance of healthy learning, development and growth of young children.

* Professional recognition is necessary for the distinctness of the care and education roles. This means looking at the differentiation of responsibility and paying accordingly, or else well-trained, qualified and resourceful practitioners will leave the profession.

* Employers should be well informed of the extent and quality of training on a local and national scale and be mindful of this when recruiting staff.

* There should be parity in selection criteria, training content and contexts in both theoretical and practical core compulsory modules of study in all aspects of the care, education and health of children from birth to eight years. This should be the bottom line for any kind of work with children and would be a starting point for clearing the confusion of what practitioners are qualified to do.

* Selection criteria for initial training must be appropriately maintained at a high level and a further graduate level to the qualification created.

* Children in care and education provision deserve practitioners who have holistic knowledge and understanding of their physical, cognitive, social and emotional needs.

* Nursery nurses do have a part to play in childcare and education today and increasingly they are taking senior positions in integrated services. A graduate level of the diploma qualification could integrate management practices, create a specialist pedagogue role and build on practitioner's expertise. A change of title could clarify the position.

High-quality and experienced nursery nurses should be in a very strong position to become specialist professionals who have the best foundation for working across integrated services. NW