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Neonatal nurses shortages – Another crisis
Journal of Neonatal Nursing (2016) 22, 1
www.elsevier.com/jneo
EDITORIAL
Neonatal nurses shortages e Another crisis Like everyone these days my email in-box is stuffed full with emails from one company or another that I have never had the remotest contact with, trying to persuade me to place one more order. Nevertheless, out the many dozens there is always that one occasion when a headline catches my interest. On this occasion, it was “NHS neonatal intensive care units ‘stretched to breaking point’”. Looking further I found other similar articles in the newspapers and nursing journals. There is a feeling of de ´ja ` vu. For those of us who have been around in neonatal care for many years, there is a sense that this could be an article published 20 years ago, if not more. Indeed, I could not help but go away and search the archive, and immediately up comes a paper with a 1987 date, which highlighted the real challenge of staffing neonatal units with nurses and doctors, rather than organisational care. There are several more to be found through the years. The headlines today are no different. The issues of staffing remain constant. The figures are comparable. According to Bliss, 64% of neonatal units do not have sufficient qualified nurses, whilst the units are running at over 80% occupancy (Bliss baby report, 2015). The knock-on effects remain the same e poor career development; little opportunity to release staff for training opportunities; and babies and families experiencing inappropriate transfers. This will not be unfamiliar to us all. So what has happened, or not happened, to bring us once again to this point where apparently
nothing has improved for 30þ years and headlines are made again? Once again it is the babies and families who will ultimately suffer, as standards cannot be maintained and nurse retention declines even further, amidst an atmosphere of low morale. Previous reviews, toolkits and recommendations all seemed to have failed to date if the current headlines are believed? None of the solutions have worked. Neonatal care is a victim of our own success, as the escalating complexities of care bring rewards but not without constant pressure and demands that are difficult to sustain personally. There is no ‘quick fix’ as any long-term improvement will be small and take time. Predictably, the response from NHS England to theses headlines is once again a comprehensive peer review of neonatal services and to work with organisations such as the NNA. We must not stop trying, either as individual neonatal nurses, or collectives of nurses in organised groups (like the NNA), and must speak up in an effort to eradicate the sense of the de ´ja ` vu.
Reference Bliss baby report 2015: hanging in the balance. Available at: http://www.bliss.org.uk/campaigns-and-policy-reports.
Dee Beresford E-mail address: [email protected]
Available online at www.sciencedirect.com
ScienceDirect http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jnn.2015.11.001 1355-1841/ª 2015 Neonatal Nurses Association. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
www.elsevier.com/jneo
EDITORIAL
Neonatal nurses shortages e Another crisis Like everyone these days my email in-box is stuffed full with emails from one company or another that I have never had the remotest contact with, trying to persuade me to place one more order. Nevertheless, out the many dozens there is always that one occasion when a headline catches my interest. On this occasion, it was “NHS neonatal intensive care units ‘stretched to breaking point’”. Looking further I found other similar articles in the newspapers and nursing journals. There is a feeling of de ´ja ` vu. For those of us who have been around in neonatal care for many years, there is a sense that this could be an article published 20 years ago, if not more. Indeed, I could not help but go away and search the archive, and immediately up comes a paper with a 1987 date, which highlighted the real challenge of staffing neonatal units with nurses and doctors, rather than organisational care. There are several more to be found through the years. The headlines today are no different. The issues of staffing remain constant. The figures are comparable. According to Bliss, 64% of neonatal units do not have sufficient qualified nurses, whilst the units are running at over 80% occupancy (Bliss baby report, 2015). The knock-on effects remain the same e poor career development; little opportunity to release staff for training opportunities; and babies and families experiencing inappropriate transfers. This will not be unfamiliar to us all. So what has happened, or not happened, to bring us once again to this point where apparently
nothing has improved for 30þ years and headlines are made again? Once again it is the babies and families who will ultimately suffer, as standards cannot be maintained and nurse retention declines even further, amidst an atmosphere of low morale. Previous reviews, toolkits and recommendations all seemed to have failed to date if the current headlines are believed? None of the solutions have worked. Neonatal care is a victim of our own success, as the escalating complexities of care bring rewards but not without constant pressure and demands that are difficult to sustain personally. There is no ‘quick fix’ as any long-term improvement will be small and take time. Predictably, the response from NHS England to theses headlines is once again a comprehensive peer review of neonatal services and to work with organisations such as the NNA. We must not stop trying, either as individual neonatal nurses, or collectives of nurses in organised groups (like the NNA), and must speak up in an effort to eradicate the sense of the de ´ja ` vu.
Reference Bliss baby report 2015: hanging in the balance. Available at: http://www.bliss.org.uk/campaigns-and-policy-reports.
Dee Beresford E-mail address: [email protected]
Available online at www.sciencedirect.com
ScienceDirect http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jnn.2015.11.001 1355-1841/ª 2015 Neonatal Nurses Association. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.