NHS Nurses Desperate for Help

This is a piece I wrote last winter regarding the harsh realties that NHS nurses are facing.

In 2018, the NHS turned 70 years old, and it is certainly showing its age.  

With our population growing at a rapid pace, the strain on our health service is worsening every year. And as the pressure intensifies, so does the nursing crisis. 

There are many factors contributing to the downfall of the NHS, but perhaps the most devastating is the distinct lack of staff – particularly in permanent roles.  

The government chose to remove the student nursing bursary in 2017. This decision was made with the view to create more training places for new nurses, but instead has resulted in even greater staffing shortfalls.  

Nurse Specialist Matthew Carrolan has been working in the NHS for five years and is worried about the future of nursing. 

Matthew said ‘I’ve noted that there are fewer nurses coming through university now. I found it hard during my training to make ends meet, even though I received the bursary’.  

This highlights the importance of financial help for trainee nurses as student life is costly even with the government funding.  

Government leaders are yet to reinstate the bursary, despite a huge public outcry from medical staff and the general public. However, it isn’t just the withdrawal of student funding that is draining the NHS of nursing staff. 

He described how there are ‘more and more management jobs and fewer staff on the ground’ highlighting an imbalance in job roles and a potential focus on management roles. A shocking 70% of nurses leave the NHS within 12 months of qualifying, meanwhile admin and management posts are flooded with internal applicants.   

‘I’ve noticed lower staffing, higher staff turnover, increased pressures’ he said.  

As university nursing degree applications fell by over 20% last year, pressure on existing staff continues to grow as new nursing intakes are sparse.  

Even with thousands of vacant nursing positions, the NHS fail to fill posts. Matthew provides an insight in to why nurses may not want to work in the NHS. 

He explained, ‘There are no incentives anymore as its all pressure and targets that must be met’. One of the greatest issues appears to be a lack of incentive for nurses to train and remain within the NHS. This is likely to be linked to the withdrawal of the bursary, as well as reports of poor working conditions for both students and established staff.  

Nurses like Matthew no longer see the appeal of nursing, even after devoting their lives to their career for many years. If given the chance to choose his career again, Matthew said that he ‘would more than likely go in to teaching of some description’.  

An anonymous individual wrote to The Independent newspaper with the harsh reality of life as a student nurse.  

Their only incentive to continue training is the thought of migrating for nursing work abroad. 

‘I’m only in my first year and feel like quitting already – however I keep the fact in mind that once I’m qualified I can move out the country and get paid properly.’ They told.  

Working conditions are a major issue as around half of all nurses are said to miss their lunch breaks due to pressures. Nurses are over-worked and exhausted during busy shifts and this student highlights how  

‘This is extremely dangerous and the risk to myself and people around me is high.’ They revealed to The Independent. 

With an ever-growing population, the pressure on our national health service is weighing heavily on hard working staff. Targets are set to maintain good practice, but these goals can sometimes be unobtainable for understaffed departments where there are very few nurses, already working under poor conditions. 

More than 30% of current nurses are considering leaving the NHS in 2018, forecasting a bleak future for nursing in our health service. Matthew offered an insight in to the flaws in the system, ‘There are high and unrealistic targets, less care is delivered, covered up incidents’’. 

From his professional standpoint, Matthew thinks that the government need to make vital changes to nursing in order to save the NHS.  

‘Bring back the diploma nursing course as these were better quality of nurses, revive the NHS bursary and remove nursing fees at university’ he said.  

It is evident that change is needed in the NHS. Patient lives and staff wellbeing are endangered at the hands of an understaffed, overworked health service and the only solution is to incentivise jobs in medicine. 

This will come in the form of better working conditions, a more hospitable experience for staff and nursing bursaries so that trainees can study without fear of going hungry. No student nurse should fear their own safety or that of vulnerable patients.  

The nursing bursary will encourage new students, whilst compulsory lunch breaks and increased morale at work will improve the amount of staff remaining within the NHS. 

Without change, we are set to see a further downward spiral of the NHS with the health of millions in jeopardy.  

Hannah Gowen