Unqualified Nurses in the UK

I have read this elswhere, where unqualified nurses (N/A, HCW, A/P) are calling themsleves a "nurse". What is the situation here in the UK? Can they call themselves a "nurse"? Legally i thought they cannot but not sure. What does NMC says?

It's all to do with the title and whether it's legally protected or not. Registered Nurse/Midwife/Mental Health Nurse etc are protected titles and, therefore all those practising under the title are legally obliged to do so via their registration with the NMC.

The title 'nurse' is not protected and anyone can use it at their leisure i.e. dental nurse, vetinary nurse.

Cheers

OG

It's something the NMC is working on but in the sense they are feeding into an International Committee on the subject - the aim of this committee is to standardise the definition of "nurse" - that should take a good few years!