The average nurse salary has not kept pace with inflation, or with wage increases from the private sector, for over a decade now. Before the settlement, typical salaries for nurses had fallen by 5.9% in real terms compared to 2010/11 levels – this compares to a 0.6% real-terms increase in private sector pay over the same period. Depending on how inflation changes over the remainder of the year, we predict that nurses’ real-terms pay this year will fall to around 10% below levels in 2010/11.