More nurses leaving the profession than joining, figures show

More registered nurses are leaving the profession than joining, analysis by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) has revealed. First published in July, the data showed that the overall number of leavers has increased from 23 087 in 2012/13 to 34 941 last year (NMC, 2017a). By contrast, the number of initial joiners was 29 025 for 2016/17.

Jackie Smith, NMC Chief Executive and Registrar, said: ‘At a time of increased pressure on the healthcare workforce to deliver quality patient care, we hope our data will provide evidence to support government and employers to look in detail at how they can reverse this trend.’

Recent figures reveal that the number of registered nurses has continued to decline, with 27% more people leaving the register than joining between October 2016 and September 2017 (NMC, 2017b).

‘These alarming new figures represent a double whammy for the NHS and patients,’ said Royal College of Nursing (RCN) Chief Executive Janet Davies.

‘Not only has the number of UK nurses quitting the profession gone up, but significant numbers of EU-trained nurses on whom the health service depends are leaving and there’s been a huge drop in nursing staff coming to work here from EU countries.’

The number of nurses and midwives from Europe leaving the register has increased by 67%, while the number joining the register from the EU has dropped by 89%.

Although the NMC does not have separate figures for the number of practice nurses leaving the profession, records show that in March 2017 there were 15 528 full-time equivalent practice nurses. This represents a decrease of 225 since March 2016 (NHS Digital, 2017). The number of European nurses joining and leaving general practice is unclear.

Why are nurses leaving?

One of the key reasons nurses are leaving the register is because an increasing number are reaching retirement. Nurses of the ‘baby boomer’ generation are now able to claim their NHS pension, and many are choosing to do so. Under the NHS pension scheme, nurses who were working on or before 6 March 1995 have the right to retire at 55 without any reductions in their pension.

‘Nursing and midwifery are widely acknowledged to be ageing professions, with significant numbers on the register coming up to retirement age,’ said Ms Smith.

It is this factor, combined with increasing workloads, that is encouraging nurses to leave the profession early said Crystal Oldman, Chief Executive of the Queen’s Nursing Institute. ‘I think what’s happening is with the increasing demands on individual nurses in their areas of practice, those at that age—between 55 and 65—are saying, “you know what, this is not what I joined to do,”’ she said.

‘“I am not able to give the care that I used to be able to give, so I’m going to retire now. I’m not going to revalidate, I’ll come off the register, I’ll take my pension.”’

Jenny Aston, Royal College of General Practitioners Nurse Champion, agrees that retirement is the main reason for increasing numbers of practice nurses leaving. ‘The QNI survey that was done a few years ago suggests that there are about 30% due to retire in the next 2–3 years,’ she said. ‘That’s going to be a massive number, unless for some reason they wish to stay on or are encouraged to stay on.’

Valerie Ely, 58, is a registered nurse and senior lecturer at Huddersfield University who is in the process of taking voluntary severance. She went part time at 55, because to remain a manager she was required by the university to do a PhD.

‘I am sad about it and to some extent a bit bitter, but I am 58 so have to accept it,’ she said. ‘A PhD would be 6 years part time and it’s really performance managed.’

‘The irony of my redundancy date is that it’s the same day I would have had to renew registration and revalidate. I have not been clinical for some years and it’s unlikely I’m going to get a job at another university, so I don’t feel that I have many options to stay on the register,’ she added.

But not all those leaving are of retirement age. Of those who didn’t cite this as their reason for leaving, the average age has reduced from 55 in 2013 to 51 in 2017. Additionally, the numbers of leavers aged 21–30 years has increased from 1 510 in 2012/13 to 2 901 in 2016/17.

A survey of 4 500 nurses and midwives carried out by the NMC revealed that working conditions, a change in personal circumstances, and a disillusionment with the quality of care provided to patients were also cited as reasons for leaving.

Sarah is a lead practice nurse at a GP surgery in South Yorkshire. She has been a practice nurse for 9.5 years but is leaving to take up a respiratory nurse role at a hospital trust. She is hoping the new job will bring back her passion for nursing.

‘As nurses experience tougher work conditions, the importance of ensuring they are valued cannot be understated’.

‘Although I enjoy the variety within the role, I am increasingly feeling overwhelmed with the extent of the knowledge and skills I need to be competent to do my job,’ she said. ‘There are only two nurses at my surgery, so we both need to be able to do everything within the practice nurse remit.’

As nurses experience tougher work conditions, the importance of ensuring they are valued cannot be understated. Kathryn Yates, Professional Lead for Primary, Community and Integrated Care at the RCN, thinks that the feedback from patients, families and carers about the outstanding care they receive from general practice nurses is incredibly important.

‘We need to continue to raise the profile of general practice nurses and how valued they are,’ she said. ‘I think we need more evidence to support that.’

Additionally, Dr Oldman says that, due to increased workloads, many nurses are finding themselves no longer doing the job they were trained to do. This understandably causes frustration and a decrease in job satisfaction. ‘They may not be leaving if the conditions were suitable for them to give the best possible care they want to give,’ she said. ‘We have a lot of anecdotal evidence from nurses who say, “I would stay, but I can’t do the job I was trained to do.”’

This lack of being valued is at the heart of why Sarah decided to leave practice nursing. ‘There is a lack of understanding and awareness of what practice nursing involves, which has an impact on others’ expectations,’ she said. ‘It is viewed by the public and other nurses/health professionals as an easy job, with nice hours and none of the pressures that are obvious in hospitals, emergency departments etc.

Our contribution is usually overlooked or any achievements attributed to GPs.’

Combatting the problem

Central to the issue of recruitment and retention is a workforce plan that ensures there are sufficient numbers of nurses now and in the future. A clear workforce plan also allows for accountability when those numbers aren’t met.

Crystal Oldman said: ‘I think the issue is about having a robust workforce plan and also having accountability for that somewhere centrally. Each individual provider must have its own workforce plan, but we are a national health service. What I would like to see is a national workforce plan for registered nurses.’

Kathryn Yates supports this but adds: ‘If we signpost to one particular organisation, it may devolve responsibility. I think there is also a sense of being mindful of how organisations work together to try and come up with real-time solutions.’

For Jenny Aston focusing on training the next generation and making nursing an attractive career is key. ‘Nursing isn’t going to change over the next 10 years: there are still going to be injections, there is still going to be lots of wound care, there is still going to be a need to monitor patients’ health,’ she said. ‘The work is not going away. There may be bigger practices, but I don’t see the nursing activity changing and, therefore, there is going to be an ongoing need to train up the next generation because 30% are going to be retired in 3 years’ time.’

Additionally, there need to be incentives for nurses not to retire early. ‘What lots of people don’t realise is that there are ways to stay on, claim your pension and make your pension arrangements different, so you don’t lose out on the final salary [pension benefits],’ said Ms Aston. ‘But I don’t think many nurses have good financial advice on how they get the best out of staying in work.’

Most importantly, nurses have to be listened to, so their concerns are understood and they feel valued. According to Kathryn Yates, it may be unclear what their needs are: ‘Going forward we may have a workforce that wants to work differently, and we must continue to make nursing an attractive and first destination career.’ she said.

Maria Caulfield, former nurse and Conservative MP for Lewes, said: ‘While I welcome the fact that more nurses are entering the profession than ever before, I am concerned that we are losing large numbers of our most experienced nurses, who are retiring or leaving the profession early. As a result, overall nursing numbers remain static at a time when the demand and need for nurses are increasing. There are a variety of reasons why nurses are leaving and certainly the pay freeze and cap have not helped morale, but from talking to colleagues it is the lack of overall recognition and feeling of worth that has led to many walking away. This is why I have lobbied ministers to ensure nurses are recognised. Lifting the pay cap is one way to show this.’

Health Education England oversees education and training of NHS staff. It has identified the need for additional supplies of nurses and improved rates of employment for graduates. Closing current shortages will also help with moderating increasing workloads.

NHS Improvement has launched a programme to improve retention of NHS staff by 2020. It will look at reasons why staff are leaving to help understand how to improve retention rates.

References

NHS Digital. General and Personal Medical Services, England March 2017. https://digital.nhs.uk/catalogue/PUB30044 (accessed 13 December 2017)

Nursing and Midwifery Council. The NMC Register: 2012/13–2016/17. 2017a. https://www.nmc.org.uk/globalassets/sitedocuments/other-publications/nmc-register-2013-2017.pdf (accessed 13 December 2017)

Nursing and Midwifery Council. The NMC Register: 30 September 2017. 2017b. https://www.nmc.org.uk/globalassets/sitedocuments/other-publications/the-nmc-register-30-september-2017.pdf (accessed 13 December 2017)

British Thoracic Society/Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network. SIGN 153. British guideline on the management of asthma 2016. 2016. https://www.brit-thoracic.org.uk/document-library/clinical-information/asthma/btssign-asthma-guideline-2016/ (accessed 19 December 2017)

National Institute for Health and Care Excellence. Asthma: diagnosis, monitoring and chronic asthma management. 2017. https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng80 (accessed 19 December 2017)

Taken from Practice Nursing, published January 2018.