Nurses will have to spend time as healthcare assistants doing basic tasks such as washing and dressing before completing their degree training, ministers are proposing.
The NHS will have a legal duty to be honest about mistakes as part of an overhaul of the system in the wake of the Stafford Hospital scandal.
The move is part of a package of measures to be unveiled in response to the Stafford hospital inquiry.
The move is part of a package of measures to put patients at the heart of the health service, ministers said.
Ministers will concede later a change of culture is needed across the system.
There will also be a new ratings system for hospitals and care homes, while changes to nurse training will be piloted.
It comes after the inquiry claimed the public had been betrayed over the way the scandal was handled.
It comes after the public inquiry claimed patients had been "betrayed".
Previous reports have documented harrowing neglect and abuse at the hospital between 2005 to 2008.
The harrowing neglect and abuse at the hospital between 2005 to 2008 which led to needless deaths has already been well documented.
Statistics at the time showed there were between 400 and 1,200 more deaths than would be expected.
Statistics at the time showed there were between 400 and 1,200 more deaths than would be expected.
The public inquiry, published at the start of February, accused the NHS of putting corporate self-interest ahead of patients, concluding the failings went from the top to the bottom of the system.
The £13m inquiry, published at the start of February, focused on why the problems were not picked up sooner.
In total the report made 290 recommendations.
It accused the NHS of putting corporate self-interest ahead of patients, concluding the failings went from the top to the bottom of the system.
Ministers are not expected to respond individually to each one.
'Fundamental change'
Instead, they will spell out a series of steps they are taking to answer the main themes that arose from the inquiry.
In total, the report made 290 recommendations.
Among these will be details about how compassion on the front line could be improved.
Ministers have not responded individually to each one.
'Hands-on'
But Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt said the response on Tuesday marked the start of a "fundamental change to the system".
Ministers believe placing student nurses on wards as healthcare assistants for up to a year will help them develop the caring skills required, before going on to do a degree.
"We cannot merely tinker around the edges - we need a radical overhaul with high quality care and compassion at its heart."
It is unclear whether this time would count towards their degree however as nurse students currently have to spend half of their three years in training working in placements in hospitals and the community.
He said he wanted to create a culture of "zero harm" through the changes.
New minimum training standards and a code of conduct for healthcare assistants is also likely to be unveiled, although this looks like it will fall short of the registration scheme recommended by the public inquiry.
Key to this will be the new post of chief inspector of hospitals - announced immediately after the publication of the public inquiry - and the statutory duty of the NHS to be honest about mistakes, known as a duty of candour.
Speaking ahead of his announcement to Parliament, Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt said encouraging compassionate care needed to be more of a priority.
The government has stopped short of the inquiry's recommendation for a registration system for health care assistants.
"Front-line, hands-on caring experience and values need to be equal with academic training," he said.
Instead, it confirmed it will push ahead with a code of conduct and minimum training standards.
"These measures are about recruiting all staff with the right values and giving them the training they need to do their job properly, so that patients are treated with compassion."
On training for nurses, ministers said there would be a pilot programme whereby nurses will have to work for up to a year as a healthcare assistant before getting NHS funding for their degree.
But Peter Walsh, of Action against Medical Accidents, said introducing a legal duty of candour, which was also demanded by the public inquiry, had the potential to have the biggest impact.
Such a duty would require the NHS to be honest when it makes a mistake.
Mr Walsh said: "For over 60 years the NHS has done no more than pay lip service to the fundamental principle that patients and their families should be told the truth when there has been an error which causes harm.
"Whilst frowning upon cover-ups, the system has effectively tolerated them.
"This culture of cover-up and denial is a cancer eating away at the NHS.
"The legally enforceable duty of candour will help change that culture and represents the biggest advance in patient safety and patients rights in the history of the NHS."
