Nurses who speak out about care concerns too often find managers use the threat of referral to the Nursing and Midwifery Council against them. Such weaponisation of the fitness to practise process is pushing whistleblower nurses to quit the profession. The NMC’s case screening process needs to improve to weed out examples of whistleblower scapegoating and nurses say there is a lack of confidence among NHS Freedom to Speak Up guardians to support nurses who raise complaints.