RCN Employment survey Scotland 2019

The report of findings from the RCN's survey of members in Scotland in 2019. The RCN received 1,916 responses from Scotland out of a total of 8,307 responses across the UK. This survey is the latest in a long running series undertaken with RCN members, including registered nurses and health care support workers.

The results of the survey show overwhelmingly that nursing staff in Scotland are feeling under enormous pressure at work and too busy to provide the level of care they would like. In the survey, 60% of respondents agree they are under too much pressure at work, 60% report feeling too busy to provide the level of care they would like and 52% work beyond their contracted hours on every shift or several times every week. The findings lay bare the serious consequences for both patients and nurses of the huge number of vacant nursing posts. The RCN believes it is time to make staff wellbeing a major priority and the first step is to safeguard staff psychological health through the guidance and implementation for the safe staffing act.