Scotland's first super nurses have been appointed to a new grade which pays more to retain experienced and capable staff.

The first three consultant posts include one for a midwife. They have been created in Glasgow, which gets two, and the Forth Valley area which takes in Falkirk and Stirling.

Twelve posts will be created in the NHS in Scotland by the end of this year.

The new consultant nurses will be able to earn more than their other nursing colleagues and can run their own clinics and lists of patients.

Announcing the move, Health Minister Susan Deacon said: "The development of these groundbreaking new posts will help develop our health services and keep our best nursing staff where they are most effective - on the wards.

More new posts

"They will all be senior, experienced staff and will spend at least half their time involved in front-line patient care.

"I hope to be able to announce further posts later this year."

During her speech to the Royal College of Nursing in Scotland, Ms Deacon set out her vision of nurses' role.

"I want to see an NHS that cares as well as it cures and the very essence of nursing is precisely that philosophy.

"You know that the caring that you deliver is central to the patient's experience," she said.

"You know that your capacity to listen to, to talk with and to understand your patients, is every bit as important as the treatment that you and your colleagues give them."

The new super nurses in Scotland will be on a pay scale between £27,000 and £45,000.

Pay scales

About 300 nurses are likely to be promoted into the new top bracket across the UK.

Currently the average registered nurse is paid just over £19,000 a year.

Even taking into account the above inflation pay rise announced last year, the most a very senior nurse can earn from the NHS is just over £28,000.

The plan is to replace the complex current career grading system with a more flexible system, starting at "nurse cadet" and proceeding to "nurse consultant".

Extra responsibilities

Nurse consultants will take on senior roles while still devoting at least half their time to direct patient care.

The consultants will be the nursing equivalent of specialist doctors - highly experienced and long-serving nurses carrying out extra responsibilities across a whole hospital trust.

The Royal College of Nursing's deputy Scottish secretary, Margaret Pullin, said: "We've got too many senior nurses leaving the profession because they can go no further unless they leave the bedside nursing area."