jobfacts

Registered specialist nurses

SOC 2020 2233

Registered specialist nurses provide specialised nursing care and plan ongoing treatment for the sick, injured and others in need of care, take responsibility for patients within their sphere of practice and assist medical doctors with their tasks, work with other healthcare professionals and within teams of healthcare workers. They advise on and teach nursing practices.

Also calledSpecialist nurseTheatre nurseClinical nurse specialist in palliative careTheatre managerScrub nurseNurse specialistand 19 more titles
Typical full-time pay£45,1002025 Provisional
People in the job82,000across the UK
Demand for workersNot high
New adverts a month1,000↓ 25%on last year · 192nd of 412

Pay

ONS · ASHE 2025

Half of full-time registered specialist nurses earn between £39,300 and £52,600 a year.

What full-time registered specialist nurses earn, 2025
£45,100 typical£31,800lowest 10%£39,30025%£53,100top 20%n/ptop 10%
Middle half (£39,300–£52,600)n/p: top 10% not published by ONS
Show as table
Lowest 10% earn less than£31,800
Lowest 20% earn less than£37,700
25%£39,300
Median£45,100
75%£52,600
Top 20% earn more than£53,100
Top 10% earn more thanNot published
Typical pay by regionUK median £45,100
London£53,200
North East!£52,200
Yorkshire and The Humber!£49,200
North West£48,600
West Midlands!£46,200
Wales!£43,800
South East£42,300
East Midlands!£41,200
South West!£41,000
Scotland£39,700
East of EnglandNot published by ONS–
!Small sample: treat with caution
Show as table
UK median, £45,100
London£53,200
North East£52,200 (small sample)
Yorkshire and The Humber£49,200 (small sample)
North West£48,600
West Midlands£46,200 (small sample)
Wales£43,800 (small sample)
South East£42,300
East Midlands£41,200 (small sample)
South West£41,000 (small sample)
Scotland£39,700
East of EnglandNot published by ONS
Typical pay over 3 years
  • 2023 £42,100
  • 2024 £45,900
  • 2025 Provisional£45,100
↑ 7.2% since 2023Provisional figures are revised when ONS publishes the next year’s survey.

Jobs and demand

ONS · Textkernel adverts · DfE

About 1,000 jobs for registered specialist nurses are advertised each month. The Department for Education rates demand for workers as not high.

New job adverts a month, Jan 2017 to Aug 2026
New advertsMonth not published by ONS (2 in all)
Show as table
Aug 2026897
Jul 2026880
Jun 2026Not published
May 20261,028
Apr 2026999
Mar 2026Not published
Feb 2026994
Jan 20261,074
Dec 2025644
Nov 20251,153
Oct 20251,280
Sept 20251,065
Aug 20251,011
Jul 20251,425
Jun 20251,217
May 20251,383
Apr 20251,265
Mar 20251,430
Feb 20251,309
Jan 20251,586
Dec 20241,051
Nov 20241,330
Oct 20241,483
Sept 20241,422
Aug 20241,562
Jul 20241,746
Jun 20241,575
May 20241,867
Apr 20241,892
Mar 20241,541
Feb 20241,694
Jan 20241,874
Dec 20231,763
Nov 20231,739
Oct 20231,816
Sept 20231,533
Aug 20231,805
Jul 20232,030
Jun 20232,152
May 20232,110
Apr 20231,924
Mar 20232,318
Feb 20232,345
Jan 20232,460
Dec 20222,216
Nov 20222,570
Oct 20222,500
Sept 20222,212
Aug 20222,441
Jul 20222,658
Jun 20222,409
May 20222,479
Apr 20222,180
Mar 20222,464
Feb 20222,186
Jan 20222,142
Dec 20211,950
Nov 20212,318
Oct 20212,196
Sept 20211,887
Aug 20211,793
Jul 20212,178
Jun 20211,813
May 20211,967
Apr 20211,622
Mar 20212,162
Feb 20211,815
Jan 20211,854
Dec 20201,814
Nov 20201,689
Oct 20202,144
Sept 20201,834
Aug 20201,565
Jul 20201,632
Jun 20201,676
May 20201,481
Apr 20201,351
Mar 20201,644
Feb 20201,703
Jan 20201,722
Dec 20191,301
Nov 20191,717
Oct 20191,712
Sept 20191,534
Aug 20191,630
Jul 20191,766
Jun 20191,834
May 20191,905
Apr 20191,336
Mar 20191,764
Feb 20191,528
Jan 20191,720
Dec 20181,138
Nov 20181,782
Oct 20181,621
Sept 20181,459
Aug 20181,280
Jul 20181,394
Jun 20181,690
May 20181,450
Apr 20181,575
Mar 20181,643
Feb 20181,655
Jan 20181,856
Dec 20171,542
Nov 20171,747
Oct 20171,805
Sept 20171,528
Aug 20171,649
Jul 20171,726
Jun 20171,984
May 20172,215
Apr 20171,905
Mar 20171,986
Feb 20171,579
Jan 20171,729
Is there a shortage of registered specialist nurses?
Not high

The Department for Education rates demand as not high, elevated or critical, using five indicators. This is its 2025 assessment; in 2024 it was elevated.

  • Visas grantedAbove usual
  • Online job advertsUsual
  • Wage growthUsual
  • Pay against similar jobsUsual
  • Hours workedUsual
Vacancies hard to fill because of skills
25%against 27% for all jobs
Broader groupFigure for nursing professionals, which includes registered specialist nurses. DfE Employer Skills Survey 2024.
Where the most jobs are advertisedadverts a quarter
London586
Birmingham128
Manchester69
South Gloucestershire66
Leeds59
Bristol, City of51
Liverpool51
Glasgow City48
Bedford47
Nottingham43
London is published as one area. Averages leave out quarters ONS withheld.
Where registered specialist nurses are most concentratedShare of local job adverts, compared with the UK.

Recruitment from abroad. 63 sponsored work visas were granted for this job from July 2025 to June 2026, most to people from Nigeria, Philippines, India, ranking it 120th of 313. Home Office

Who does it

ONS · Annual Population Survey · April 2025 to March 2026
Age of registered specialist nurses
2.6%!
20%!
23%
25%
27%
2.4%!
!Small sample: treat with caution
Show as table
16–242.6% (small sample)
25–3420% (small sample)
35–4423%
45–5425%
55–6427%
65+2.4% (small sample)
Highest qualification
Degree or equivalent74%
Higher education below degree21%
A levels or equivalent!2.6%
Other qualifications!1.7%
No qualifications–
Not published
!Small sample: treat with caution
Show as table
Degree or equivalent74%
Higher education below degree21%
A levels or equivalent2.6% (small sample)
Other qualifications1.7% (small sample)
No qualificationsNot published

Main employers: hospital activities (65%), other human health activities (13%), regulation of the activities of providing health care, education, cultural services and other social services, excluding social security (11%), residential care activities for learning disabilities, mental health and substance abuse (2.1%).

How to get in

Hold a degree
74%
as their highest qualification
Apprenticeships
None
none leads directly into this work

The work

ONS · ESCO · O*NET

Typical tasks

  • provides specialist care in their area of expertise, assesses patients, determines treatments and conducts a variety of medical procedures
  • consults with and provides guidance to other nurses and healthcare professionals within their specialism
  • gives consultations with patients and their families to explain a patient's condition and possible treatments
  • plans duty rotas and organises and directs the work and training of ward and theatre nursing staff
  • advises on nursing care, disease prevention, nutrition, etc. and liaises with hospital board/management on issues concerning nursing policy
  • plans, manages, provides and evaluates nursing care services for patients, supervises the implementation of nursing care plans
  • delivers lectures, and other forms of formal training relating to nursing practice

Skills

  • accept own accountability
  • adapt leadership styles in healthcare
  • address problems critically
  • adhere to organisational guidelines
  • advise on healthcare users' informed consent
  • advise on healthy lifestyles
  • analyse the care quality
  • apply context specific clinical competences
  • apply health sciences
  • apply nursing care in long-term care
  • apply person-centred care
  • apply sustainability principles in health care
  • carry out nurse-led discharge
  • comply with legislation related to health care

Knowledge

  • impact of social contexts on health

Suits people who like

  • Helping and caring for people
  • Working with ideas and solving problems

Outlook

DfE · Skills Imperative 2035
Broader groupThese projections are for health professionals, a group of 24 jobs that includes registered specialist nurses.
Change in jobs, 2020 to 2035↑ 19%about 310,000 more jobs
Workers needed by 20351.3 millionincluding people replacing those who retire or leave

Sources

Pay
ONS, Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, 2025 provisional
People in the job, who does it
ONS, Annual Population Survey, April 2025 to March 2026
Job adverts
ONS, online job adverts (Textkernel), to Aug 2026
Demand, skill shortages
Department for Education and Skills England, Occupations in demand and the Employer Skills Survey
Outlook
The Skills Imperative 2035 (2024), NFER/Nuffield/DfE/IER/CE
Routes in
National Careers Service job profiles
Apprenticeships, qualifications
Skills England occupational maps
Skills, interests
ESCO classification of the European Commission; O*NET data, U.S. Department of Labor (CC BY 4.0, modified)
Visas
Home Office, immigration system statistics

Figures as of 10 October 2026.

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: Office for National Statistics licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Occupations in demand and the Employer Skills Survey: Department for Education and Skills England. Immigration system statistics: Home Office. Contains public sector information from the National Careers Service licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

© Skills England 2025. This information is licensed under the Open Government Licence https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/

Source: The Skills Imperative 2035 (2024), NFER/Nuffield/DfE/IER/CE.

This service uses the ESCO classification of the European Commission.

This service includes information from the O*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. This service has modified all or some of this information. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications. CC BY 4.0 licence.

jobfacts is independent. It is not part of, affiliated with or endorsed by the Office for National Statistics, the Department for Education, Skills England, the National Careers Service, the Home Office, the European Commission or the U.S. Department of Labor.