Why nursing numbers don’t add up

The nursing workforce is growing, but not fast enough. What does that mean for a profession that’s under increasing pressure from the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond? Special guest Professor Jane Ball, Professor of Nursing Workforce Policy at Southampton University, joins us to talk about how nursing can recruit and retain the numbers needed – and why the Government needs to go beyond its target of 50,000 recruits to head off a growing crisis.   Nursing Matters is presented by PNC chair Rachel Hollis and Dr Sue Haines. We’d love to hear your questions. Tweet them to @theRCN tagged #NursingMatters     • “Even before COVID we were desperately short of nurses… And when there’s fewer nurses, more patients die of avoidable conditions.” – Prof Jane Ball • “With the crisis in staffing we will need to create multiple routes into the profession.” – Sue Haines • “The system just doesn’t want to hear that it needs more nurses” – Prof Jane Ball     Presented by Rachel Hollis and Sue Haines. Audio production by Alex Rees. Assistant producer Jelena Sofronijevic. Music: ‘Snappy’ by Jonathan Boyle under licence from premiumbeat.com. Nursing Matters is a Podmasters Production for the RCN.   https://www.rcn.org.uk See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices