RCN finds over half of nurses consider leaving their jobs

The Royal College of Nursing has published its findings from their employment survey which has found that six in ten nurses are considering or actively planning to leave their current role, equating to 60.2 percent of the respondents. The survey received nearly 10,000 responses consisting of nurses, HCAs, students, and nursing associates.

The survey also found that the main reasons for contemplating leaving were feeling undervalued and being under too much pressure in the workplace.

Only two thirds of nurses were able to take their full holiday entitlements over 2021 due to staff shortage and increased pressure throughout the pandemic. The findings also show that a large proportion of nurses are working over their contracted hours with nearly three quarters reporting that they had done so for at least one day in the working week, and 17.4% saying they worked additional hours every shift.

As well as high pressure and staff shortages, over half of the respondents reported that low pay levels were another one of the main reasons for thinking about leaving their job.

Full story in NHE, 26 January 2022