The causes and dire effects of the NHS nurse shortage

‘The inflexible, inconsistent shift patterns, coupled with a complete lack of control over my schedule, made it feel impossible to balance my career with the realities of life outside work.’ Photograph: Tommy London/Alamy

The latest figures from the Royal College of Nursing paint a worrying if unsurprising picture (Two-thirds of NHS nurses believe lack of staff is putting patients at risk, survey finds, 18 May). But to achieve safer staffing levels, we must look beyond recruitment and listen to what those leaving the workforce are telling us needs to change.

For me, it was the complete incompatibility of a career in nursing with any semblance of normal family life. The rigid system of inflexible, inconsistent shift patterns, coupled with a complete lack of control over my schedule, made it feel impossible to balance my career with the realities of life outside work. Despite having spent three years training to achieve my registration, I left after just 12 months on the job.