Nursing is widely recognised as one of the toughest jobs in the UK and the BBC's We Are England documentary that aired in August 2022, The Night Shift: Night Nurses - Birmingham, helped to showcase just what goes into the highly skilled and dedicated work.
The programme followed three inspirational night nurses at Birmingham Heartlands hospital who were fighting to keep patients alive as they offered round-the-clock care in one of the busiest intensive care units in the region.
But despite the long hours, intense pressure and exhausting work highlighted in the documentary, nurses pay is still in contention - as shown by the Royal College of Nursing's overwhelming majority voting to strike in December 2022.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, the NHS was put under more pressure than ever before and now a winter of strike action is approaching as nurses voted in their thousands to protest a below-inflation pay offer.
RCN General Secretary Pat Cullen called it a “once in a generation chance to improve your pay and combat staff shortages”. But just how much do nurses earn?
Here's everything you need to know about their pay and how the NHS nursing bands work.
How much are nurses paid in the UK?
A qualified nurse in the UK can earn anywhere between £27,055 and £109,475, depending on their skills, experience and how many years they've been in the job for.
The salary bands for qualified nurses range from Band 5 up to Band 9 and only a small number of nurses are able to earn the highest salaries.
The current starting salary for a Band 5 Nurse is £27,055 and within two to four years this will go up to £29,180. The highest salary that a Band 5 nurse can earn is £32,934.
Band 6 roles start at £33,706, and can rise up to £40,588 for nurses with more than 5 years of experience.
Band 7 roles start at £41,659 and can rise to £47,672 for nurses with more than 5 years of experience.
Band 8a roles start at £48,526, but the Band 8d salary can rise to as much as £91,787 a year.
Meanwhile, Band 9 roles start at £95,135 and the highest possible Band 9 salary is £109,475, which nurses can get after five years or more experience in the Band.
How do the nursing bands work?
The NHS nursing bands offer different levels of pay according to skills and experience.
All newly qualified, NMC registered nurses start out at Band 5 and only the most qualified and experienced consultants and specialists are able to climb up the ladder to Band 9.
While Band 5 nurses are newly qualified, Band 6 nurses typically include Senior Nurses, Deputy Ward Managers, Health Visitors and various specialist Nurses.
To climb to Band 7, nurses must land a Ward Manager, Emergency Nurse Practitioner or clinical specialist role.
At this level it's likely that you would need highly specialised knowledge to qualify for the position, and it comes with a great deal of responsibility.
Bands 8 and 9 are are the very top of the NHS banding system and there are very few roles that qualify for these.
The Bands normally apply to Modern Matrons, Chief Nurses and Consultants who are experts in their field.
READ NEXT:
