Crossword Genius

Sign of progress where nursing is concerned (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

onwards

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'sign of progress where nursing' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this definition defines the answer.

'concerned' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'concerned' could be 'on' (I've seen this in other clues) and 'on' is located in the answer.
The remaining letters 'wards' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't understand.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).

'is' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for onwards that I've seen before include "Moving forward (and upwards?)" , "(From now) into the future" , "Forwards" , "To a point ahead" , "In a forward direction" .)

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.
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