• The Royal College of Nursing publishes findings from 2017 employment survey
• It finds nearly three out of four nurses felt worse off than they did five years ago, while a quarter are thinking about quitting due to money worries
• We say recruiting and retaining the staff that the service needs is now the most pressing issue for trust leaders.

The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) has published the findings from the 2017 RCN Employment Survey.

It found that nearly three out of four nurses say they feel worse off than they did five years ago, while almost a quarter have had to take on another job simply to make ends meet.

Findings included:

• almost three out of four (70%) reported feeling financially worse off than they were five years ago;
• almost a quarter of respondents (24%) say they are thinking of leaving their job because of money worries;
• four in 10 (41%) say money worries are making them lose sleep.

In response to the survey of nursing staff carried out by the RCN, the head of analysis at NHS Providers, Phillippa Hentsch, said:

“Recruiting and retaining the staff that the service needs is now the most pressing issue for trust leaders. We need to do all we can to support trusts to make themselves great places to work – pay and job satisfaction are key components of this.

We need to do all we can to support trusts to make themselves great places to work – pay and job satisfaction are key components of this.

“In our latest workforce report, we urged the government to set out a fully funded plan to end the pay cap during this parliament.

“We welcome the reassurance from the health secretary that the cost of any pay increases recommended by pay review bodies will be funded with additional money so that trusts do not face a further squeeze on existing budgets. We hope to see this commitment honoured in the upcoming Budget”