What chance does nursing stand in a perfect storm?

摘要

It is as if all the elements have come together to cause the perfect storm for nursing. We are still living with the impact that a 1 pay cap imposed in October 2010 has had and is having on the individual and collectively as a profession. The stubborn and unfair decision by the Prime Minister not to redress this unjust treatment of nurses and other public sector workers is doing nothing for morale. When morale is low, care will suffer as well as the health and wellbeing of the individual nurse. Applications to nursing and midwifery programmes at British universities have fallen by 23 since the bursary was abolished (Adams, 2017). This slump was inevitable considering student nurses are now required to pay around ￡9000 a year in fees. Cuts have also been made to continuing professional development (CPD) funding for nurses in England. This reckless and short-sighted joint decision by the Department of Health and Health Education England brings with it many risks, as ongoing education and training is crucial for the delivery of safe and effective care. The cuts to funding impact on universities and other providers of CPD, but most importantly it will impact significantly on the patient as demands for services grow and patient needs and service configurations change (Council of Deans of Health, 2016). The nursing workforce is in crisis. The NMC (2017) revealed that there are now more nurses and midwives leaving the register than joining it. When fewer nurses graduate in 2020 this will only aggravate what has already become an untenable situation.