RCN survey reveals what we all know – nurses face intolerable pressures
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RCN survey reveals what we all know – nurses face intolerable pressures

Julie Sylvester @RCNi_Julie Editor, Primary Health Care

What happens when a nursing service is so stretched that its members can no longer cope? District and community services are pivotal to the health and well-being of those so vulnerable they need care and treatment in their own homes.

Primary Health Care. 31, 2, 5-5. doi: 10.7748/phc.31.2.5.s1

Published: 29 March 2021

The service has been under pressure for years, but the rising acuity seen over the past year and the COVID-19 knock-on effects are starting to make the situation feel untenable for many nurses.

To find out what nurses feel are the issues that need to be tackled, the RCN district and community nursing forum carried out a survey of its members. The findings, outlined by the forum’s chair Julie Green (page 11), should ring alarm bells across four UK governments.

Community teams by their nature often pick up where other services leave – they are the safety net. So when hospitals reach capacity, community caseloads grow. As the survey results show, nurses already work beyond their shifts; miss lunch breaks; and fear that clinical care quality is being affected by constant clock-watching. Is it fair that this dedicated, highly skilled and trained group of nurses donate their time unpaid on a regular basis?

Recruitment and retention issues urgently need to be addressed: 86% of survey respondents reported vacancies in their teams. While such vacancies remain unfilled, under-staffing is affecting planned care and demand is exceeding capacity. Only half the nurse respondents had a mechanism to establish daily capacity of their teams.

The RCN team behind the survey has set out a call to action. It urges recognition that 90% of the country’s healthcare is delivered outside of hospitals. For district and community nursing this means an understanding of acuity and caseload levels; appropriate resource levels; effective technology; and strong, effective leadership.

‘The survey’s findings should ring alarm bells across all four UK governments’

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