Wellbeing Services for Nurses

Even before Covid-19, nurses have had to contend with highly stressful jobs leading to high rates of mental illness.

Nurses work in a range of settings, with high levels of individual responsibility and are often the primary contact for the patient and relatives, coordinating care and providing compassion at difficult times. Many nurses report high levels of stress and almost one quarter of sickness absence for nursing staff is due to anxiety, stress, depression, or other psychiatric illness. The level of suicidality in nurses is also estimated to be around 23% higher than the national average, with female nurses particularly affected.

One in five nurses are understood to come from BAME backgrounds, a group that has been particularly hard hit by the Covid-19 pandemic and this will have placed additional stress on the workforce, with many having been exposed to the virus and potentially lost friends or family as a result of the illness.

Outside of the workplace, nurses may be exposed to financial pressures and worries where partners have been unable to work, which may also lead to relationship difficulties. A report by the Cavell Trust in 2019 found that not only are nurses twice as likely to suffer financial hardship, but nurses are three times more likely to face domestic abuse than the public.