Responding to findings from Nuffield Trust which show early
career staff in the NHS have become more stressed and unhappy
over the past decade, RCN General Secretary and Chief
Executive Professor Nicola Ranger said:
“These findings are a ticking time bomb for the NHS. Young
nursing staff are the future of the workforce, but those at the
start of their careers are the most unhappy. A new nurse today is
likely to face extreme pressure in severely understaffed
services, with stagnant pay and little prospect of progression.
In these conditions, it is little wonder so many feel undervalued
and overworked.
“The number of people leaving within the first years of their
career has skyrocketed, while applications to study nursing are
in collapse. Ministers need to realise you cannot fix a broken
NHS without making nursing a more attractive career, starting
with a proper pay rise and new investment to grow the workforce.
That's how you support staff to deliver care the way they want to
and improve job satisfaction.”
Ends
Notes to editors
There are currently 31,774 nursing vacancies in the NHS in
England.
Data from the NMC register April-September
2024 found that the numbers of professionals leaving the register
within five years of joining has increased dramatically, up
48.6% in the six months to September, compared to the same period
last year. Early leavers in September 2020 stood at 811, but have
now risen to 1,799.
According to the latest UCAS figures for the January
equal consideration deadline in 2025, the number of students
applying to study nursing is at a record low since UCAS began
publishing data in its current format in 2019. Since 2021, the
number of applications has collapsed by 35% in England and by 34%
across the entire of the United Kingdom.
