A&E Nurse Jobs: Now Hiring Across England & Wales

Looking for A&E nurse jobs? Novello is a dedicated A&E nursing agency with emergency department shifts available now across England and Wales — from major trauma centres in London, Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds to busy district EDs in every region. Your confirmed rate is shown in the app before you accept a shift, so there are no surprises. If you are an experienced A&E or ED nurse, we would love to hear from you today. And if you are weighing up agency emergency work, everything you need is below: where the jobs are, what the work involves, what the requirements are and how pay works.

Where we have A&E nurse jobs right now

England has 27 designated major trauma centres (MTCs) sitting at the top of regional trauma networks, and beyond those, every acute trust runs a Type 1 consultant-led, 24-hour A&E with full resus. That is a lot of busy departments — and with just under 70,000 vacancies reported across the acute sector, demand for experienced ED nurses is steady everywhere. Novello books A&E shifts in every region of England and Wales, and right now we are particularly busy in these areas:

• London & the South East — home to several adult MTCs including the Royal London, King’s College Hospital, St George’s and St Mary’s, plus the Royal Sussex County in Brighton, Southampton General and Oxford’s John Radcliffe. We cover London, Hampshire, Oxfordshire, East Sussex and Cambridgeshire (Addenbrooke’s).
• The Midlands — major trauma EDs at Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham, University Hospital Coventry, Royal Stoke and the Queen’s Medical Centre in Nottingham. We cover the West Midlands, Warwickshire, Staffordshire and Nottinghamshire.
• The North West — Greater Manchester runs two adult MTCs at Manchester Royal Infirmary and Salford Royal, with Aintree on Merseyside and the Royal Preston nearby. We cover Greater Manchester, Merseyside and Lancashire.
• Yorkshire & the North East — trauma EDs at Leeds General Infirmary, Sheffield’s Northern General, Hull Royal Infirmary, James Cook in Middlesbrough and the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle. We cover West Yorkshire, South Yorkshire, East Yorkshire, North Yorkshire and Tyne and Wear.
• The South West & Wales — Southmead in Bristol and Derriford in Plymouth serve the region, and University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff is the adult MTC for the South Wales trauma network. We cover Bristol, Devon and all of Wales.

Working somewhere else in England or Wales? Register anyway — we add new hospitals every week, and A&E work comes on all the time. Sign up in under 60 seconds or call 0333 307 8897 and tell us where you are.

What A&E agency work actually involves

An emergency department is really several departments in one, and as an agency A&E nurse you could be booked into any part of it. You are usually the first point of contact — carrying out initial assessment, taking vital signs and keeping patients stable and comfortable pending treatment or discharge, across the full range of physical and mental-health presentations. Most departments split into four broad areas:

• Triage — rapid clinical assessment on arrival to prioritise by urgency, usually done by an experienced nurse, then directing patients to majors, minors or resus.
• Resus — the highest-acuity area for life-threatening presentations such as cardiac arrest, major trauma, severe breathing difficulty, DKA and status epilepticus, staffed by senior clinicians.
• Majors — seriously unwell but stable patients (suspected stroke, hip fracture, severe abdominal pain), the bulk of medical and surgical ED patients.
• Minors — sprains, small fractures, wounds and minor ailments, often seen by Emergency Nurse Practitioners (ENPs) who can assess, treat and discharge without a doctor.

Which areas you work depends on your experience and the shift. Nurses with triage or ENP skills are especially sought after, but strong all-round majors and resus experience is the backbone of what departments are booking.

Who you would actually work for

As an agency A&E nurse you slot into an existing ED team on a shift basis — working alongside the substantive nurses, emergency medicine doctors, ENPs, healthcare assistants and the wider trust. In England your placements are with NHS acute trusts; in Wales, with local health boards. Novello is a dedicated A&E nursing agency covering England and Wales, so whether you want to stick to one local trust or pick up variety across a region, you book the shifts that suit you through the app.

What you need to work in A&E

• NMC registration — current registration with the Nursing and Midwifery Council is the universal baseline for any UK RN post.
• A valid DBS check — part of your compliance file, alongside standard mandatory training and fitness-to-practise checks.
• Recent A&E/ED experience — most placements typically want at least around 6 months recent experience across majors, minors, resus and triage; some ask for 12 months or more, and many prefer recent NHS experience. Thresholds vary by trust, so it is a typical placement requirement rather than a single fixed rule.
• Band-appropriate skills — Band 5 is the entry band for a qualified ED staff nurse, with Band 6 and 7 for senior and practitioner roles such as ENPs.

Getting compliant is quick — we can get you cleared in as little as 24 hours once your documents are in. See how it works on our A&E nursing page.

What A&E nursing pays

Substantive ED nursing sits on the NHS Agenda for Change scale — Band 5 at entry, progressing to Band 6 and 7 with experience and qualifications. Agency day and hourly rates vary by region, role, band and shift, and premium rates apply to nights, weekends and bank holidays. Rather than publish a figure that is out of date by the time you read it, we keep it simple: with Novello, your confirmed rate is shown in the app before you accept a shift, so you always know exactly what a booking pays. For current rates in your area, call 0333 307 8897.

Already experienced in A&E? You are exactly who our teams are asking for. Register today and you could be browsing shifts this week.

Is agency A&E work right for you?

Emergency departments are under real pressure, and it is honest to say so. Admissions from major A&E departments rose around 34% between 2011/12 and 2024/25 while general and acute bed numbers barely moved, and 12-hour waits after a decision to admit climbed from under 1,000 in early 2015 to over 155,000 in the quarter ending March 2025. The four-hour standard has sat below its recovery targets, with 75.7% of attendances dealt with within four hours in May 2026. That pressure is exactly why departments rely on experienced agency nurses to keep patients safe.

Agency work gives you a way to meet that demand on your own terms — choosing where and when you work, and seeing your rate up front. It suits nurses who are confident in a fast-moving environment, comfortable making quick clinical decisions and happy to walk into a new team and get going. If that is you, A&E is one of the most consistently available specialisms we book.

What makes it worth doing

Ask A&E nurses what keeps them there and the answers are consistent: variety, pace and the sense that the work genuinely matters. No two shifts look the same, the caseload builds and keeps your skills sharp, and there are clear routes into triage, resus leadership and Emergency Nurse Practitioner roles. On the agency side you add flexibility on top — the ability to pick shifts around your life, work across different departments, and know your confirmed rate before you say yes.

Common questions

How much A&E experience do I need?

Most placements typically want at least around 6 months recent experience across majors, minors, resus and triage, and some ask for 12 months or more. Requirements vary by trust, and many prefer recent NHS experience. If you are unsure whether you qualify for a particular booking, register and we will tell you what is available to you.

Do you cover the whole UK?

Novello books A&E shifts across England and Wales — in every region, from major trauma centres to district general EDs. We add new hospitals every week, so if you do not see your area listed above, register anyway and tell us where you are.

Can I work triage or minors as an ENP?

Yes. Triage and Emergency Nurse Practitioner skills are in high demand — ENPs assess, treat and discharge minor injuries and ailments, and senior nurses run triage on arrival. If you hold those competencies, tell us when you register and we will match you to the right shifts.

How quickly can I start?

You can register in under 60 seconds and, once your documents are in, we can get you compliant in as little as 24 hours. After that you browse and book A&E shifts in the app with your confirmed rate shown before you accept.