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BARNEY NEWMAN
Amanda named Nurse of the Year for tackling domestic violence
RCN Nurse of the Year Amanda Burston
A nurse who spearheaded a domestic violence service in an emergency department has been named RCN Nurse of the Year. Amanda Burston was named overall winner of the 2015 Nursing Standard Nurse Awards for her part in setting up the Safer Steps service, which has helped more than 400 victims of abuse. Ms Burston said: ‘It is overwhelming. It sounds corny but it is not about me, it is about the victims of domestic abuse.’ University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust chief nurse Liz Rix said Ms Burston has shown ‘a real dedication to helping the people she works with’. See pages 12-13 and 18
RCN urges new government to take action on low staff morale By Alistair Kleebauer
@alistairbauer
The new government must act quickly to tackle low morale among nurses, according to our opinion poll for the 2015 general election, which shows it has hit ‘rock bottom’. We asked 4,413 nursing staff, including nurses and healthcare assistants, about their voting intentions and priorities for the next government, just days before the UK went to the polls to elect the next government. Our joint survey with the Sunday Mirror reveals that an overwhelming majority of nurses believe morale has plummeted among staff since the coalition government came to power. Nurses were asked how they would describe staff morale now compared with five years ago. An analysis of the 3,603 responses to this question showed the terms most frequently used by nurses to describe morale were ‘terrible’, ‘poor’, ‘low’, ‘worse’ and ‘stressed’. The survey highlighted the factors contributing to nurses’ low morale,
which included staffing pressures, feeling undervalued, nurses leaving the NHS because of heavy workloads, difficult working conditions, and pay. One respondent said morale is at ‘rock bottom’ adding: ‘I wish to leave nursing after 26 years because it is unsafe and staff are treated poorly.’
‘STAFF ARE WORKING OVERTIME AND THROUGH THEIR BREAKS REGULARLY’ In response to the findings, RCN general secretary Peter Carter said that front line staff have gone above and beyond to care for patients in increasingly difficult circumstances, but have been stretched to breaking point. ‘Morale in the NHS is at an all-time low. The next government must treat this as a top priority and take immediate action,’ he added. Unison head of nursing Gail Adams said: ‘Staff are working overtime and through their breaks regularly.
‘Despite going the extra mile so they can provide the care they want to give, that has an impact on morale.’ Morale is ‘better’, according to some respondents. One nurse said it is ‘better in the community team I work in but worse on the wards, which is an employer issue, not a government one’. Of the 3,450 people who stated their priority for the next government, nearly half pinpointed safe staffing, while 35.3% highlighted a decent pay rise. Safe Staffing Alliance chair Susan Osborne said the results of the survey were ‘heartening’. ‘The fact that front line staff are shouting about safe staffing will mean nurse directors and other professional leaders have to say “this has got to stop” and we need safe staffing levels.’ Asked what the new government should do to improve the NHS, popular responses included improving staffing levels and pay, and stopping privatisation. For survey findings go to www.rcni.com/survey-results
NURSING STANDARD may :: voluses 29without no 36 permission. :: 2015 7 Downloaded from RCNi.com by ${individualUser.displayName} on Dec 08, 2015. For personal use only. No 6other Copyright © 2015 RCNi Ltd. All rights reserved.
Share your news with us – email [email protected], call +44 (0)20 8872 3144 or @NurseStandard
BARNEY NEWMAN
Amanda named Nurse of the Year for tackling domestic violence
RCN Nurse of the Year Amanda Burston
A nurse who spearheaded a domestic violence service in an emergency department has been named RCN Nurse of the Year. Amanda Burston was named overall winner of the 2015 Nursing Standard Nurse Awards for her part in setting up the Safer Steps service, which has helped more than 400 victims of abuse. Ms Burston said: ‘It is overwhelming. It sounds corny but it is not about me, it is about the victims of domestic abuse.’ University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust chief nurse Liz Rix said Ms Burston has shown ‘a real dedication to helping the people she works with’. See pages 12-13 and 18
RCN urges new government to take action on low staff morale By Alistair Kleebauer
@alistairbauer
The new government must act quickly to tackle low morale among nurses, according to our opinion poll for the 2015 general election, which shows it has hit ‘rock bottom’. We asked 4,413 nursing staff, including nurses and healthcare assistants, about their voting intentions and priorities for the next government, just days before the UK went to the polls to elect the next government. Our joint survey with the Sunday Mirror reveals that an overwhelming majority of nurses believe morale has plummeted among staff since the coalition government came to power. Nurses were asked how they would describe staff morale now compared with five years ago. An analysis of the 3,603 responses to this question showed the terms most frequently used by nurses to describe morale were ‘terrible’, ‘poor’, ‘low’, ‘worse’ and ‘stressed’. The survey highlighted the factors contributing to nurses’ low morale,
which included staffing pressures, feeling undervalued, nurses leaving the NHS because of heavy workloads, difficult working conditions, and pay. One respondent said morale is at ‘rock bottom’ adding: ‘I wish to leave nursing after 26 years because it is unsafe and staff are treated poorly.’
‘STAFF ARE WORKING OVERTIME AND THROUGH THEIR BREAKS REGULARLY’ In response to the findings, RCN general secretary Peter Carter said that front line staff have gone above and beyond to care for patients in increasingly difficult circumstances, but have been stretched to breaking point. ‘Morale in the NHS is at an all-time low. The next government must treat this as a top priority and take immediate action,’ he added. Unison head of nursing Gail Adams said: ‘Staff are working overtime and through their breaks regularly.
‘Despite going the extra mile so they can provide the care they want to give, that has an impact on morale.’ Morale is ‘better’, according to some respondents. One nurse said it is ‘better in the community team I work in but worse on the wards, which is an employer issue, not a government one’. Of the 3,450 people who stated their priority for the next government, nearly half pinpointed safe staffing, while 35.3% highlighted a decent pay rise. Safe Staffing Alliance chair Susan Osborne said the results of the survey were ‘heartening’. ‘The fact that front line staff are shouting about safe staffing will mean nurse directors and other professional leaders have to say “this has got to stop” and we need safe staffing levels.’ Asked what the new government should do to improve the NHS, popular responses included improving staffing levels and pay, and stopping privatisation. For survey findings go to www.rcni.com/survey-results
NURSING STANDARD may :: voluses 29without no 36 permission. :: 2015 7 Downloaded from RCNi.com by ${individualUser.displayName} on Dec 08, 2015. For personal use only. No 6other Copyright © 2015 RCNi Ltd. All rights reserved.
