Northerner
Admin (Retired)
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
Gruelling 12-hour shifts, exhaustion and burnout are leading growing numbers of nurses to quit the NHS within three years of joining, new research reveals.
Stress, lack of access to food and drink while at work, and the relentless demands of caring for patients are also key factors in the exodus, the King’s Fund thinktank found.
The NHS must make it an urgent priority to tackle the worryingly poor working conditions nurses and midwives face in many hospitals or face worsening workforce shortages, it said.
“Staff stress, absenteeism and turnover in the professions have reached alarmingly high levels,” the thinktank said after investigating the working conditions faced by NHS nurses and midwives.
www.theguardian.com
I can remember when I was in hospital at diagnosis I was in a ward run by two nurses during the day on 12 hour shifts (night staff all appeared to be agency). One of the nurses in particular was absolutely amazing - for a couple of days her colleague was absent and no extra support was given to her, so she had to do everything 😱 I had never seen anyone work so hard (after decades of working in office environments, where people moan but rarely miss opportunities to 'take a break', shall we say) 😱 She was always smiling and encouraging to the patients, and when I was moved to another ward she popped in after her shift to make sure I was settled and OK. Truly a wonderful person, and I wrote to the hospital afterwards in praise of her and another nurse who was similarly dedicated 🙂 These people are worth a thousand of any member of the cabinet you might care to name.
I cannot imagine what things are like now, after a decade of government cuts to the NHS and nursing bursaries, and now, of course, coping with Covid-19 😱
Unfortunately, I can't see things turning around under the current government - let's face it, the '50,000 extra nurses' was shown to be a lie almost the moment it was uttered
Stress, lack of access to food and drink while at work, and the relentless demands of caring for patients are also key factors in the exodus, the King’s Fund thinktank found.
The NHS must make it an urgent priority to tackle the worryingly poor working conditions nurses and midwives face in many hospitals or face worsening workforce shortages, it said.
“Staff stress, absenteeism and turnover in the professions have reached alarmingly high levels,” the thinktank said after investigating the working conditions faced by NHS nurses and midwives.
Growing numbers of NHS nurses quit within three years, study finds
Stress and exhaustion from regular 12-hour shifts partly to blame for burnout, says King’s Fund thinktank
www.theguardian.com
I can remember when I was in hospital at diagnosis I was in a ward run by two nurses during the day on 12 hour shifts (night staff all appeared to be agency). One of the nurses in particular was absolutely amazing - for a couple of days her colleague was absent and no extra support was given to her, so she had to do everything 😱 I had never seen anyone work so hard (after decades of working in office environments, where people moan but rarely miss opportunities to 'take a break', shall we say) 😱 She was always smiling and encouraging to the patients, and when I was moved to another ward she popped in after her shift to make sure I was settled and OK. Truly a wonderful person, and I wrote to the hospital afterwards in praise of her and another nurse who was similarly dedicated 🙂 These people are worth a thousand of any member of the cabinet you might care to name.
I cannot imagine what things are like now, after a decade of government cuts to the NHS and nursing bursaries, and now, of course, coping with Covid-19 😱
Unfortunately, I can't see things turning around under the current government - let's face it, the '50,000 extra nurses' was shown to be a lie almost the moment it was uttered 