Unions have demanded action from the Scottish Government to halt an "exodus of nursing staff" after new figures showed a 13 per cent rise in the number of employees leaving the profession.
A total of 2,690 nurses in Scotland left in the 12 months to September 2022, coming off the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) register.
This was 314 more than in the previous 12 months, with Scotland seeing a higher increase in nurses leaving the profession than the seven per cent rise recorded in Wales, or the rises of four per cent and three per cenr in England and Northern Ireland, respectively.
Meanwhile, there are more than 4,600 vacant registered nursing posts in the NHS in Scotland – meaning approximately 10% of all posts across the country are empty.
RCN Scotland director Colin Poolman said the number of nurses quitting showed the "dire state that ministers have allowed nursing to fall into".
And he called on the Scottish Government to not only deliver a “fair pay” settlement for nurses and safe staffing levels, but to also produce a nursing retention strategy that “sets out a plan to tackle the exodus of nursing staff from our profession”.
He made the plea as one nurse told how “staff are burnt out, exhausted and now no longer able to keep up with the constant demands for more”.
The anonymous staff nurse, who works on an acute hospital ward, added: “We are constantly being asked to give more time, more effort, cover more shifts, change our planned shifts – and that is not even taking into account Covid demands.
“This is all just down to the service being so short-staffed and unable to recruit or retain staff. Most of us can’t give any more. The workforce is exhausted.”
The Scottish Government is currently in talks with the RCN and other unions representing NHS staff over a pay settlement for 2023-24.
That comes after ministers imposed a pay deal which will give health workers an average 7.5% rise in December.
Nurses in the RCN had rejected that deal. Poolman said: "The increasing numbers of nurses leaving the profession speaks volumes about the dire state that ministers have allowed nursing to fall into through years of underfunding and neglect.
"Nurses are under constant pressure and stress, are regularly working extra, unpaid hours to cover staffing gaps, and are then going home feeling like they’ve been unable to provide the quality of care that they want.
"The toll this takes on staff wellbeing cannot be overestimated.”
Poolman continued: "It takes three years to educate a newly registered nurse and, on top of this, for every nurse who leaves the profession, valuable experience and expertise are lost.
"Many of those leaving will also have additional qualifications and experience of working in specialist roles.
"The Scottish Government needs to deliver fair pay and safe staffing and develop a nursing retention strategy that sets out a plan to tackle the exodus of nursing staff from our profession.”
Scottish Labour's Jackie Baillie said the number of nurses quitting the profession was "concerning", and showed the "level of burnout and exhaustion that our hardworking NHS nurses are feeling just now".
She said: "We are hearing time and time again that nurses are only leaving because they feel that they have no other option.
"They are overworked, underpaid, and being forced to work in increasingly challenging environments."
Baillie added: "The mass exodus from nursing must be stopped. The SNP must act now to ensure that the numbers in nursing are going up rather than down, and take meaningful action to demonstrate that this profession is still seen as the rewarding and valuable career that it always has been."
Scottish Lib Dem leader Alex Cole-Hamilton also demanded action. He said: "This worrying exodus is yet another sign that the Health Secretary’s plan for NHS recovery is failing.
"Nurses are feeling burned out and undervalued. They need meaningful solutions, not another decade of SNP mismanagement."
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