Have your say in safe staffing survey
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More than 20,000 people have so far taken part in a survey which aims to show the reality of staffing levels in front-line nursing
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about their working conditions. Picture: iStock
An RCN survey which aims to show the reality of staffing levels in front-line nursing has so far drawn 20,000 responses.
The RCN online poll, which closes at 11pm on Wednesday 31 May, asks members to share working conditions on their most recent shift.
It was launched at RCN congress in Liverpool earlier this month amid calls by the college for UK-wide safe staffing legislation to protect patients and the nursing profession.
In her keynote speech in Liverpool, RCN general secretary Janet Davies called for the rest of the UK to follow the example of Wales and enshrine safe staffing in law.
Time for legislation
‘We've got the first step in Wales, with legislation for acute settings,’ Ms Davies told delegates.
‘We heard Nicola Sturgeon pledge the same in Scotland, though a year later we're still waiting for her promise to become a reality.
‘It's now time for legislation – legislation with real teeth – to guarantee safe and effective staffing in every health setting right across the UK.'
Earlier this month the RCN published a report called Safe and Effective Staffing: The Real Picture, which showed nurse vacancy rates have doubled in the past three years.
The report revealed there are 40,000 unfilled nurse posts in England, with 12,000 more health care support worker vacancies. Mental health and community care are experiencing the greatest shortages, the college warned.
The survey asks members:
- What the staffing levels were like the last time they were at work.
- The impact staffing levels have on them.
- The care they were able to provide.
- How they felt when they got home from work.
Complete the Staffing levels on the frontline survey here
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