NURSES are working in ‘intolerable situations’ and feel ‘unsupported and undervalued’, with many thinking about leaving the profession, according to new RCN research published yesterday.
• 59% say that they are too busy to provide the level of care that they would like.
• 43% have seen an increase in the number of patients they are being asked to care for.
• 42% of those in the NHS reported recruitment freezes where they work.
• More than a third (34%) say that bullying and harassment is a problem in their workplace.
• 82% had worked when not feeling well enough to do so (15% had done so more than five times).
• Consequently, fewer than half (45%) would recommend nursing as a career.
• Almost a third of all respondents (31%) were seeking a new job, with almost a quarter looking to leave health care completely.
• Over half (53 per cent) have worked extra hours to earn money to pay for bills and other everyday living expenses.
• A third (32 per cent) have worked night or weekend shifts to help pay bills and everyday living expenses, leading to serious concerns about keeping experienced staff in the profession in the face of continuing pay restraint.
Commenting on the results of the survey, Josie Irwin, Head of Employment Relations at the RCN, said: ‘Nursing staff are being placed in intolerable situations, working themselves sick and still not feeling they have been able to deliver the care they would like.
‘Many nurses skip every break, work late after every shift, do their paperwork in their own time, and the pressure just increases. Many are coming in to work despite being unwell, often due to work related stress. This is no good for nurses, but we know it will have an effect on patients too.’
• Under new Tory proposals nurses and midwives will be forced to pay tuition fees for their university course. Presently nurses and midwives do not pay tuition fees and have access to student grants.
