At a meeting in Edinburgh yesterday (Wednesday 15 May) RCN members representing all fields of practice - adult, children’s, learning disability and mental health - working across social care, community and acute services, and including nursing students, shared their personal experiences and perspective on the challenges facing the profession.
The event provided members with the opportunity to speak directly with Scotland’s Interim Chief Nursing Officer, Anne Armstrong, and key MSPs including Dame Jackie Baillie MSP, Paul Sweeney MSP and Carol Mochan MSP from Scottish Labour and Sandesh Gulhane MSP and Tess White MSP from the Scottish Conservatives.
Chair of Scottish Executive Nurse Directors group, Claire Pearce, also joined the session chaired by RCN Scotland Board Chair Julie Lamberth.
Members shared the challenges of working in an environment where staff shortages and increased demand have resulted in unsafe practices becoming normalised. They talked about the impact on patients and residents and on themselves and colleagues, highlighting the impact being unable to provide safe and effective care has on the mental and physical wellbeing of nursing staff.
Politicians heard about the need to value registered nurses and nursing support workers equally across all settings and in particular the need to recognise the clinical skills, contribution and impact of nurses working in community services and social care. They also heard about the challenges of being a nursing student and the negative impact of financial pressure on the nursing workforce of the future.
A passion for the nursing profession was evident throughout the discussions, as well as calls for the recommendations and actions that come from the Ministerial Nursing and Midwifery Taskforce to be ambitious enough to retain experienced nurses and to attract people into the profession.
The meeting coincided with the publication of our third ‘The Nursing Workforce in Scotland’ report. The report sets out the ‘bigger picture’ around Scotland’s nursing workforce statistics and contains 10 recommendations for tackling the nursing workforce crisis, including a continued call for a nursing retention strategy.
When sharing her experiences, Amy Noble, RCN Scotland Nurse of the Year said: “I do it because I love it, despite the challenges.”
Commenting on the roundtable, Julie Lamberth, Chair, RCN Scotland Board said: “We really appreciate the opportunity to share our experiences directly with Scotland’s politicians and senior nurse leaders. While the members who joined us today came from varied backgrounds and a range of services, the themes of being under-staffed and under-valued were consistent. The Ministerial Taskforce and implementation of the Agenda for Change review provide an opportunity to address the issues shared today and to set out short, medium and long-term actions to protect the future of nursing.”
