A new report has revealed dire shortages in the nursing workforce – even before the pandemic. The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) report found longstanding issues with the recruitment and retention of nursing staff. There are currently around 40,000 unfilled registered nursing vacancies across the NHS in England alone.
With one in five nursing registrants 56 years of age or over, the current crisis is only expected to worsen as they retire in the coming years.
Going into the COVID-19 pandemic, in January 2020, 73% of nursing staff surveyed by the RCN said staffing levels on their last shift weren’t sufficient to safely and effectively meet patients’ needs.
Full story in Nursing Notes, 14 February 2022