A University's plan to train their nursing pupils to degree standard has been approved by the Nursing and Midwifery Council, according to the Nursing Times.

The University of Southampton obtained the approval after the council decided the planned nursing degree schedule met satisfactory criteria. The plan will be put in place from September.

The knowledge that nurses are degree-trained could help those in nurse manager jobs feel safe that their nurses are delivering the highest-quality care possible.

Professor Jessica Corner, the Dean of the Health Sciences faculty, responded to the announcement: "This is historic for nursing - we have been pressing for this for a very long time. From September, we will be preparing a new generation of nurses for the NHS."

"Nurses now require a high level of technical competence, clinical knowledge and decision-making skills in addition to their more traditional caring role. By qualifying to degree level, our graduate nurses will have the range of skills they need to deal with the challenges of modern nursing."

This news means that Southampton University are two years ahead of a government proposal that noted anyone hoping to become a nurse would have to complete a degree, introduced in a bid to boost patient care standards by 2013.