NHS ‘haemorrhaging’ senior emergency department nurses

Experienced emergency department nurses are “leaving in droves” because they feel unable to do their jobs properly under the current conditions, a doctor has warned.

Giving evidence to the Health and Social Care Select Committee yesterday, Dr Adrian Boyle, president of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine, raised concern about nurse retention and morale in emergency departments.

“We are haemorrhaging experienced emergency nurses because they are finding it very frustrating"

He said: “What I'm also seeing is that a lot of nurses, particularly the experienced nurses, they're almost like the [non-commissioned officers] of the health service, the sergeants who know how to get things done, are leaving in droves.”

Dr Boyle added: “We are haemorrhaging experienced emergency nurses because they are finding it very frustrating.

“The problem is not because there's too much work but they're unable to do the work that they're trained to do."

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Source: Nursing Times, 25 January 2023