'Overworked and undervalued' nurses bring retirement plans forward

Over half of nurses in Scotland have considered leaving their job in the last year, a survey from Unison has revealed.

And a third are now planning to retire in the next five years, with many having brought their retirement plans forward.

The trade union warned that the NHS workforce is feeling “overworked and undervalued” after working through the coronavirus pandemic.

Three quarters of nurses and nursing staff say they were feeling tired and exhausted, while almost two thirds said morale on their team was poor.

While a majority (83 per cent) of respondents said they were proud to be a nurse, only a third would recommend it as a profession.

Only one in ten felt the Scottish Government valued their skills.

The trade union released the results of this latest survey to mark International Nurses Day.

It has called on the government to invest in more staff and improve working conditions of the NHS workforce.

Margo Cranmer, chair of Unison’s nursing sector committee, said: “The nursing team, along with the rest of NHS staff, need support to recover from the impact of the pandemic and deal with the backlog of patients that have built up while resources moved to COVID.

“This should be a stark wake-up call for the Scottish Government to take swift and effective action to improve the working lives of those who work in Scotland’s NHS.”