'Deadly Mix' Puts Patients at Risk, RCN Congress Hears
The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) has raised concerns about a critical shortage of registered nurses amid increasing patient care complexities. At its annual congress, it was revealed that 64% of nurses reported staffing levels as insufficient for patient needs. The situation is exacerbated by a decline in international nurse recruitment and retention, raising alarms about patient safety.
- ▪79% of nurses indicated that clinical complexity has increased over the last two years.
- ▪64% reported that registered nurse staffing levels were 'below' or 'well below' what was needed.
- ▪76% felt emotionally exhausted on their last shift, especially when understaffed.
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A “deadly mix” of collapsing growth in the registered nurse workforce and increasingly complex patient needs is leaving staff “struggling to keep people safe”, the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) warned at its annual congress in Liverpool.Professor Nicola Ranger, RCN general secretary and chief executive, told the 3000-strong audience at the college’s annual conference in Liverpool that most respondents to its latest survey said that staffing levels were too low, with just one in 10 describing nurse numbers as at the right level for all patient needs to be met. Ranger said: “Widespread vacancies of registered nurses are always unsafe, but the risk is being compounded by the demands of delivering ever more complex care to an ageing, sicker population, with multiple conditions.
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