BBC Radio 1 disc jockey Chris Goldfinger picked "Night Nurse" as one of his favourites in 1996, adding, "Gregory has a unique voice and singing style. I love the lyrics. Gregory is always my all-time favourite."[4]
"Night Nurse" was covered by Jamaican duo Sly and Robbie featuring English band Simply Red. It was released as a single in 1997 and appears on Sly and Robbie's album, Friends (1997), as well as Simply Red's sixth album, Blue (1998). The song reached No. 13 on the UK Singles Chart in September 1997, and remained on the chart for 8 weeks.[7] It is Sly and Robbie's second biggest hit in the United Kingdom, after 1987's "Boops (Here to Go)" at No. 12. It also became Simply Red's sixteenth non-consecutive top 20 hit in the UK.
Gene Armstrong from Arizona Daily Star described the cover as "a hip-hop interpration", "with heady strings striating the percolating reggaeriddims."[10]J.D. Considine from The Baltimore Sun felt it finds Hucknall "assuming the soulful reggae cadences" of "Night Nurse".[11]Larry Flick from Billboard wrote that he "presents a great rendition of Gregory Isaacs' gem [...], the first single from Sly & Robbie's latest set, Friends." He added, "Still steeped in Isaacs' vivid lyrical imagery (the track still plays like a classic love story that never made it to the screen), the song will be opened up to newer, younger audiences by Hucknall's pop influence. Dedicated Isaacs fans will also appreciate the authenticity Sly & Robbie impose on the track, as well as the various updated slants."[12] Pan-European magazine Music & Media commented, "Although the production is very much a state of the art high tech job, they have managed to retain the rootsy feel that made the original so great in the first place."[13]
