Neonatal nursing workforce survey – What does the landscape look like in England?

Abstract

The aim of this survey was to identify an in-depth analysis of the staffing in all the neonatal units in the Operational Delivery Networks in England. A survey tool was constructed by the lead nurses from the ODN's in conjunction with a data analyst. This was then sent to all of the managers in every unit in England to complete. Questions were asked around nursing staff vacancies, how these were being managed, how registered and unregistered staff were being educated, if link nurses were employed, if community outreach teams were utilised and how this was all being funded. Managers were asked to provide free text comments so that some qualitative data would help illuminate the current difficulties that they were dealing with together with some insights into what had helped.The survey showed that almost all units had vacancies and that these were more prevalent in the south of England, with the biggest reason for these being retirement. Managers reported that in some areas it was relatively easy to recruit and conversely in others it was extremely challenging. It was especially difficult to recruit staff with experience. There were challenges in managing staff education and in particular enabling staff to achieve the QIS qualification, or in the case of nonregistered staff, NVQ or foundation degree qualifications.There are variations among units in availability of link roles and also the provision of community outreach teams and funding for these roles is unclear and disparate.Whilst this has provided a snapshot across England it has also pointed to further, more detailed work that needs to be done to ensure that units are staffed appropriately and in line with current standards.