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Nursing in unfamiliar settings: why staff aren’t interchangeable

Nurses discuss potential dangers and risk of burnout when they are forced to cover for staff shortages, and why transferrable skills have their limits
Nurses check paperwork together, one explaining it to the other

Nurses discuss potential dangers and risk of burnout when they are forced to cover for staff shortages, and why transferrable skills have their limits

Nurses check paperwork together, one explaining it to the other
Picture: John Houlihan

Staffing shortages make it increasingly likely nurses will be asked to work on a different ward or even in a completely different department when they turn up to work. But do you have the skills, and is it safe?

Emergency nurse Matthew Osborne insists nurses are not interchangeable, and believes it could be as dangerous to move a nurse from one ward to cover on another as it would be to leave that ward understaffed.

He tweeted:

His message elicited dozens of responses, with many nurses saying they were often treated ‘just as numbers’ and expected to move around different areas without adequate knowledge of a specialty.

Others highlighted their experience of being moved to different wards and feeling worried about not knowing the proper procedures or systems.

Nurse Maggie Simpson said senior nurses were often guilty of pushing those junior to them to ‘work anywhere’, while Alison Sharp noted that moving staff around to cover shortages could ultimately cause them to feel undervalued and want to leave.

Clinical nurse specialist Matt Hicks said: ‘It’s also a major generator of burnout if done regularly and repeatedly. Moral injury from not feeling like you’re giving good care takes years to process. The implications for staff and patients is profound.’

And staff nurse Hannah Palmer Tweeted:

Meanwhile, others argued experienced nurses should have a reasonable knowledge of most co-morbidities and basic skills apply to any nursing discipline.

Risk of burnout when nurses are moved to unfamiliar settings

Nurses responding to a recent Nursing Standard survey described being routinely allocated to areas where they had little or no experience. One nurse told of the impact of short staffing where they work.

The nurse said: ‘Staff are constantly moved to other areas, sometimes specialist areas. The lack of knowledge in these areas leaves nurses them filled with anxiety and demoralised.’

University of Southampton nursing workforce lecturer Chiara Dall’Ora told Nursing Standard the belief that nurses can be ‘replaceable and moveable’ between wards is worrying.

‘What might be at play as a potential burnout mechanism is the mismatch between the job you have been trained to do and paid for, and the actual job you are asked to do,’ she added.

‘This mismatch in the long run leads to low morale and disillusionment and, ultimately, to burnout. The fact managers believe that as nurse you can be replaceable and movable between wards is concerning, as nurses will specialise and become familiar with their ward/unit routines and norms – so plugging them into other work locations at short notice is not without consequences.’


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