Patient safety and working conditions major concerns for nurses, survey finds

The INMO has today published the results of its 2024 member survey, revealing that nurses and midwives are concerned about how patient safety is being negatively impacted by staffing shortfalls, and that significant numbers have considered leaving their workplaces due to high levels of stress. 

 

The union’s 2024 survey shows that 76% of respondents stated that their current staffing levels and skill mix did not meet the required clinical and patient demands in their work area, with 92% of those expressing concern that patient safety was at risk.

More than half of respondents (54%) stated that they felt under pressure from their workplace to work additional hours/shifts, with 15% stating they worked more than 20 additional unpaid hours per month. 

 

As in previous years, the INMO survey aimed to capture the proportion of nurses and midwives who intended to leave their professions, or their workplaces. In response to this, 63% of respondents stated that they had considered leaving their work area over the last month, and of those 44.54% said this was mainly due to workplace stress.

 

The union also surveyed members on issues such as health and wellbeing, and their experiences of Long COVID, with responses revealing that more than 1 in 5 nurses and midwives (21.39%) stating they had attended their GP due to work-related stress and 1 in 8 respondents (12.57%) stated they had or had previously had Long COVID.