A new RCN report published today [13 February] highlights the crisis of skilled and experienced nurses leaving the profession.
In Scotland there was a 13% increase in the number of nurses who left the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) register in the 12 months to September 2022. 2,690 nurses left the profession in this time, 314 more than the previous 12 months. Scotland saw a significantly higher increase in nurses leaving in this period, followed by Wales with a 7% rise, England (4%) and Northern Ireland (3%).
The report also includes analysis of UK-wide data from the NMC, which shows that 19% of those leaving the register in the 12 months to September 2022 had been on the register for less than 10 years. A further 16% of leavers in the same period left after being on the register between 10 to 20 years.
Losing valued nursing staff means an increase in vacancy rates across all specialities and sectors, which has a significant impact on providing safe and effective care. There are currently over 4,600 vacant registered nurse posts in the NHS – that’s 10% of posts across Scotland and an increase of 12% (over 500 WTE more vacant posts) in the last year.
RCN Scotland is calling on the Scottish Government to urgently prioritise action to ensure nursing is seen as an attractive and rewarding career – key to this is fair pay and safe staffing levels. The College is also calling for the development of a Nursing Retention Strategy that sets out action to: ensure nursing staff can develop and progress in their careers; improve workplace culture; and improve working conditions, including the provision of adequate facilities, time for breaks and flexible working opportunities.
RCN Scotland Director, Colin Poolman, said:
“The increasing numbers of nurses leaving the profession speaks volumes about the dire state that ministers have allowed nursing to fall into through years of underfunding and neglect.
“Nurses are under constant pressure and stress, are regularly working extra, unpaid hours to cover staffing gaps and are then going home feeling like they’ve been unable to provide the quality of care that they want. The toll this takes on staff wellbeing cannot be overestimated.
“It takes three years to educate a newly registered nurse and, on top of this, for every nurse who leaves the profession valuable experience and expertise are lost. Many of those leaving will also have additional qualifications and experience of working in specialist roles.
“The Scottish government needs to deliver fair pay and safe staffing and develop a Nursing Retention Strategy that sets out a plan to tackle the exodus of nursing staff from our profession.”
Anonymous staff nurse working on an adult acute ward in Scotland:
“Staff are burnt out, exhausted and now no longer able to keep up with the constant demands for more. We are constantly being asked to give more time, more effort, cover more shifts, change our planned shifts – and that is not even taking into account Covid demands. This is all just down to the service being so short staffed and unable to recruit or retain staff. Most of us can’t give anymore. The workforce is exhausted.”
