Only a quarter of nursing shifts have the planned number of registered nurses on duty, according to a survey of more than 20,000 front-line employees.
According to the Royal College of Nursing (RCN), most nurses warn that staffing levels in their last shift were not enough to meet patients’ needs, and that some are now leaving their jobs.
RCN said the findings shed light on the impact of the shortage of nurses in the UK, warning that nurses have been “expelled” from their profession.
In his keynote address to the RCN’s annual congress in Glasgow, Secretary-General Pat Cullen is expected to warn of nurses’ growing concerns about patient safety.
Four out of five respondents said staff levels during their last shift were not sufficient to meet all the needs and dependencies of their patients. The findings also show that only a quarter of the shifts had the planned number of registered nurses on duty, a sharp drop of 42% in 2020 and 45% five years ago, RCN said.
“Our new report reveals the state of health services and care in the United Kingdom,” Cullen said. “This shows the shortage, which forces you to go even further than the extra mile, and that when the shortage is greatest, you are forced to leave patient care unused.
“Never think that it is normal not to have enough staff to meet the needs of patients. It’s not. Today, members allow the whole truth to be understood – breastfeeding says loud and clear, “Enough is enough.”
Cullen said now was the time to end the cycle. “It is your professional duty to worry about insecure staff and we protect you. Twenty-five thousand registered nurses left last year – a sharp increase from the previous year, at the moment we can not afford to lose a single person. The pressure is too great and the reward too small. “
The medical staff, she added, is driven by staff shortages and bad culture. “It is enough for those of the government who listen to my words. It is enough for the patients and those we care for. We are tired, fed up, demoralized and some of us are leaving the profession because we have lost hope. ”
Last spring, official figures showed that the NHS was facing a deepening staffing crisis, with the number of vacancies in health services in England rising to 110,192.
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