The vast majority of nurses (95.1%) have voted for a full ballot on taking industrial action over this year's 2.5% staged pay offer.
The results from an indicative ballot carried out by the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) show large support for a formal ballot to take place.
The college, however, says it has to consult with members because of a revised pay offer made by the government after the first ballot began. Its ruling body, RCN Council, has launched a consultation with its NHS members in England.
Earlier this month, the Department of Health improved its pay deal offer, which included:
- offering nurses a 50% contribution towards the cost of their professional registration fees each year up until 2010 - worth £38 a year
- a one-off payment this year of £38 to low-paid staff on bands three and four who earn between £14,453 and £19,730
- talks to improve the Agenda for Change pay structure and its terms and conditions
- talks between unions, employers and governments prior to the next pay round to consider a possible multi-year deal.
When the offer was made, an indicative ballot was already underway for the RCN. The results showed that 95.1% of nurses who returned their ballot papers (34,348) said that they wanted the RCN to go ahead with a ballot on industrial action. Just 4.9% (1,670) said no.
The college said it was annoyed that despite saying that there was no further room for negotiation, the government then improved its offer for NHS staff in England.
The RCN is now asking its members to feed back their views on the improved offer and members will be encouraged to engage with their regional RCN representatives, while council members will be able to email their individual views via a dedicated website.
The consultation process will culminate in a special delegates' conference in September when the RCN Council will consider members' views, together with the results of the indicative ballot, before deciding whether to accept this year's pay offer.
RCN general secretary Dr Peter Carter, said: "The Government's original offer was unfair and unacceptable. For the first time in our history, the RCN responded by holding a national ballot about industrial action.
"After months of the Government saying they wouldn't improve the offer, they did. The revised offer is not all that we asked for, but it could well be the means to resolve the current dispute and allow us to make progress on a range of workplace and professional issues. It is clear, however, that this is a full and final offer from the Government."