Various pressures

May 29, 2007 08:19 GMT  ·  By

Being a nurse is not as sexy as many could think. 44 % of British nurses complain their sex life is harmed by the emotional stress of their job.

A survey made on about 2,000 nurses pointed that 70% of them experienced physical and mental health issues connected to work-related stress. 25 % said they had started drinking more.

The stress could have been caused by the pressure of financial deficits and the threat of job cuts in the NHS. Stress also made 10 % of the nurses to smoke more and about 30 % reported taking off more days sick than usual. Over 20 % of those surveyed had taken more than 30 days off during the last year.

"Nurses are under pressure, under valued and under paid. Stress is a serious issue for nurses who run the daily gamut of violence and abuse from patients and relatives, as well as coping with the day-to-day pressures of having to do ever more with fewer resources because of deficit-led cost cutting. When you add to that worries about job security and a pay cut, it comes as no surprise that stress levels are affecting nurses' personal lives and relationships." said Dr Peter Carter, general secretary of the Royal College of Nursing.

A 2006 survey discovered that over 25 % of nurses had been physically attacked at work, while about 50 % had been bullied or harassed by a manager.

"We need to tackle these issues if we are to keep nurses in the profession, while at the same time attracting new recruits so they can continue to deliver high quality patient care." said Carter.

"The impact of stress on NHS employees was vastly under-estimated" said Steve Barnett, director of NHS Employers.

"Work-related stress was responsible for 30% of sickness absence in the NHS - and cost the service ?300-400million a year." Another survey made on almost 400 nurses discovered that 90% would be vulnerable to an increase in sexually transmitted infections over the next five years.

85 % said sexual health was not given a sufficient priority and funds by healthcare providers.