Bullying and low pay problem for nurses - survey

Many young nurses say bullying is a common feature of their workplace. File photo / Paul Estcourt

Many young nurses say bullying is a common feature of their workplace and almost half of those who responded to an online survey believe there are insufficiently staffed to provide safe care, a survey reveals.

The on-line survey of 2000 nurses aged under 30 was conducted by New Zealand Nurses' Organisation researchers Dr Jill Clendon and Dr Leonie Walker late last year. The response rate was 23 per cent.

Almost 46 per cent of respondents felt there were insufficient nurses to provide safe care.

Bullying and harassment were listed as features of 38.2 per cent of workplaces and nearly half of those who said bullying was a problem in their workplace were looking for a new job.

Just over a third of young nurses had changed jobs in the past year, most commonly to gain different skills, although 16 per cent of these nurses cited bullying as a problem in their workplace.

More than 40 per cent of nurses said the realities of nursing differed from their expectations with more emotional challenges and less pay progression.

About half felt they were not appropriately paid for their roles and responsibilities and one in 10 surveyed were considering leaving nursing in the next year because of poor working environments and a lack of flexibility in the workplace to accommodate family needs.

A range of recommendations had been made as a result of the survey findings.

Dr Clendon said developing family-friendly workplace policies would help younger nurses stay in the workplace.

Addressing bullying in the workplace and improving the content of the undergraduate curriculum on the emotional challenges of nursing as well as improving pay progression in employment agreements were also among the recommendations, Dr Clendon said.

Nurses said a pay increase and more recognition from their managers would contribute to them staying in their jobs.

- NZPA