When will nurses be paid what they are worth?

Nursing is one of the UK's most treasured professions. The Ipsos Veracity index shows that nurses are thought of as trustworthy by 94% of respondents. And yet new research has shown that nurses are paid no way near what they are worth.

A new report by Cavell, a nursing and midwifery support charity, found that 42% of nurses, midwives and nursing associates they financially supported were unable to afford necessities such as food, with some even facing homelessness. This was in addition to the added strain of mental and physical illness and caring for their families.

Nurses are clearly asking themselves why they would put themselves through the stress of the job for such derisory renumeration.

The Royal College of Nursing has warned of workforce shortages persisting into the next decade, as nursing student numbers continue to dwindle. Figures from the RCN project that over 32,000 nursing students are predicted to drop out of their courses by the end of the current parliament – which is enough students to fill all 31,774 vacant NHS nursing posts in England. The prediction is attributed to financial burdens, strain on the system and low pay, making the profession unattractive to students.