Dispatches: Confessions of a Nurse reveals the results of an extensive survey of nurses and midwives about the reality of their work and standards of patient care.
Key findings from the YouGov survey are detailed here. Please download the survey if you'd like to read the full results.
Patient care
- 42 per cent of nurses and midwives interviewed say they have either been in or witnessed situations where patients have been put in unnecessary danger
- Over half (57 per cent) of the A&E nurses interviewed say they have witnessed situations where patents lives have been put in unnecessary danger
- Almost half (53 per cent) say they have seen colleagues perform medical tasks that they are not qualified to do
- 44 per cent of the nurses and midwives we polled say they don’t always stick to the rules
- Over a third (37 per cent) think that patient care in the NHS has become worse in the past five years
Impact of understaffing and long hours
- Half (51 per cent) of all the nurses and midwives interviewed say that they are exhausted most of the time
- 29 per cent say long hours and exhaustion prevent them from doing their jobs properly
- 83 per cent of the midwives surveyed say they have been in situations where they have had too many patients to look after properly
- 70 per cent say understaffing prevents them from doing their jobs properly
- One third (33 per cent) say they would leave nursing and midwifery if they could
Behaviour of nurses
- 43 per cent say they have seen other nurses shout at patients (13 per cent admit they have themselves shouted at patients)
- 44 per cent of nurses and midwives interviewed admit to calling in sick when not really ill
- 40 per cent admit to browsing the internet when they should be working
- 36 per cent admit to coming to work with a hangover and unable to concentrate on the job properly
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