As a well-remunerated ED doc, I’m slightly hesitant about sticking my big nose in to the thorny issue of nurses pay but that’s never stopped me before.

Here’s my thoughts, for what they’re worth /1

Recruitment and retention of nurses has always been an issue in ED. They come here as bright-eyed newly qualified RN’s and within a few months, you see the energy start to sap away from them. They’re already taking about exit strategies.

It used to be Practice Nurse posts. Now it’s Guild Nursing. The locum doctor epidemic has crossed into another species of healthcare worker and the R rate is increasing.

If a SNG nurse does two shifts/week, 46 weeks a year, with a couple of bank holiday shifts, they can earn over £30k pa.

A contracted Band 5 nurse would have to work twice as many hours (over half of them anti-social) to get near that pay, and only then after years of service.

How do we stop nurses leaving in droves to come back to our departments to do the same job they left, for more money?

Start by recognising that ED nurses have a higher intensity workload requiring a varied skillset that should be rewarded accordingly.

As well as having to do all the activities of a ward nurse (increasingly so as patients wait days in ED’s for beds) they also have to be trained in triage, minor injuries, resus, trauma, life support, plasters, dressings, arterial lines, intubation...

Why not, after skills-based assessment and achievement, give those nurses an incentive to stay and remain a permanent part of a team by rewarding their hard-work and commitment with a Band 6 contract?

It would boost morale, save money and make ED a more attractive place to work.

All nurses are underpaid, but I’d love to see @RCNNI_NorthernB take this on.
What you reckon, @noellamdn @BMcFetridge01 @pollardgavin16 @thomark74 @germckay? Could @WesternHSCTrust lead the way?