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Eight in 10 nurses say the number of patients they have to treat in non-designated clinical areas, such as corridors and store rooms, has increased since the beginning of last year.
Nine in 10 said they were concerned that this practice puts patient safety at risk and compromises patient dignity, privacy and confidentiality.
More than half (60%) said they were anxious that the situation could lead them to be struck off the nursing register or that it could result in a court case if a patient were to come to harm, yet around a third said they didn’t feel comfortable to raise concerns about the impact of providing care in inappropriate settings.
Nurses feel “broken” and some feel “suicidal”
More than 500 specialist A&E nurses shared their experiences of overcrowded hospitals ahead of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) Congress in Brighton.
Here, the results of the survey were revealed, as well as free text answers to the survey, where nurses described feeling “broken” and “suicidal”.
One emergency care nurse described how corridor care is destroying staff morale. “When you walk into the department and see 15-20 people in the queue, day in day out – you lose any hope it’s going to be a good shift,” they said.
“Having to care for patients in this way makes you feel you’re a terrible nurse. Sadly, I have become desensitised to it as I’ve been dealing with it for so long. But unless something is done, we will continue to lose brilliant nurses who are getting to breaking point,” they continued.
Nurses facing aggression from scared patients
This nurse also spoke about how patients and their relatives often become physically or verbally abusive towards staff, because they are scared about the setting they’re being treated in.
According to the survey, two thirds of emergency care nurses have faced increased violence or aggression from frustrated patients and relatives.
The emergency care nurse says these patients/relatives are “rightly scared” by the situation they find themselves in, but acting with aggression is causing nurses to leave in their droves.
A “bleak picture”
RCN General Secretary & Chief Executive Pat Cullen says the survey’s results paint a “bleak picture” that is representative of the whole of the NHS.
“Patients backed-up through emergency departments is a stark sign of a health and care system grinding to a halt. A corridor is no place to die and no place to work either,” she said.
Ms Cullen is now urging the government to ensure nurses can provide safe and high quality patient care.
“When ministers fail to grip this situation, they allow patients to pay a high price and nursing staff to work in fear, professionally compromised. Governments must urgently plan and invest to reverse this new trend,” she said.