Summary
This report from the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) reveals the full extent of the UK nursing workforce crisis. In March 2022, nursing and midwifery staff from across the UK were invited to tell the RCN about their experiences of the last time they were at work. The survey report provides valuable insight into the realities of staffing levels across the UK, and the impact on our members and the people they are caring for.
Content
Key UK level findings from the 2022 last shift survey data
- 25% of shifts had the full number of planned registered nurses on shift.
- Three-quarters of respondents reported a shortfall of at least one registered nurse on their shift (75%, compared to 58% in 2020). The majority were working with 50-74% of the planned number of registered nurses for that shift.
- Only 28% of respondents said that the nursing skill mix (the number and educational experience of nurses working in clinical settings) was appropriate to meet the needs and dependency of patients safely and effectively. 69% of respondents said it was not appropriate.
- Only around one in five (18%) respondents agreed they had enough time to provide the level of care they would like.
- Only around half of respondents said that students held supernumerary status (52%), 39% said they did not. Supernumerary status means that education standards require that they are not to be counted in workforce numbers while learning, due to the risk to student and patients of them being counted as clinical staff.
- 62% reported that patient care was compromised on their last shift (compared to 57% in 2020 and 53% in 2017).
- Four in five respondents (81%) felt that patient care being compromised was due to not having enough registered nurses on the shift.
- 43% of respondents said that due to lack of time they had to leave necessary care undone, up from 38% in 2020, and 36% in 2017.
- One in five (21%) said they felt unable to raise their concerns.
- Even on shifts where 100% of planned registered nurses were present, around one in three (31%) respondents reported necessary care being left undone due to a lack of time.
- Half of respondents (51%) felt “demoralised”. Only 16% felt “fulfilled”.
- Almost two thirds of respondents (61%) were unable to take the breaks that they were supposed to take.
- Almost two thirds of respondents worked additional time (63%). Of these, almost eight in 10 (77%) were unpaid for these additional hours.
- 87% of Black respondents who worked within the NHS reported working unpaid additional time compared with 77% respondents from a White British background.
Nursing under sustainable pressures: Staffing for safe and effective care in the UK (RCN, 6 June 2022)
https://www.rcn.org.uk/Professional-Development/publications/nursing-under-unsustainable-pressure-uk-pub-010-270
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