Despite the government's latest decision to allow pay to increase, staff nurse Emma Cowen is hesitant over the committment, and warns you to give the proposal a second – and third – read. 

Being assigned a student to mentor gives Emma Cowen cause to reflect on how much she has learnt in her first year as a qualified nurse – and how much more there is to know

Government statements about the state of the NHS are misleading: operations are being cancelled and people are dying waiting for ambulances.

Ten months into her first qualified role, staff nurse Emma Cowen reflects on feelings and thrills of the job, and thinking like a swan.

Four years ago, the government published the Francis report, but as winter looms the lessons that should have been learned are falling short writes Emma Cowen.

Rising from a 32-hour week to a 34-hour week seems insignificant, but for a newly qualified nurse those two hours can really tip the scales in finding a work-life balance, as Emma Cowen finds out. 

Putting into practice the theory behind resilience in the workplace.

With one in nine nursing posts in England currently unfilled, nurse recruitment retention is at an all time low and hospitals need to look at secondments in a bid to keep staff, writes Emma Cowen.

For the first time ever nurses are considering the drastic, but arguably vital, step of taking industrial action.

Newly qualified nurses can feel a sense of pride that they have joined the profession.