A lack of flexibility in permanent jobs
drives nurses to take up bank or agency working,
according to a new report from the Royal College of
Nursing (RCN).
The survey Temporary Working also highlights the impact
of the NHS financial crisis with almost half of newly
qualified nurses (48%) doing temporary or bank work
saying it is not their preferred choice. This supports
evidence of the shifting labour market, with newly
qualified nurses struggling to find posts and forced to
take up temporary work instead. One in ten of
respondents said they took up temporary work as they had
no alternative, and a third would prefer to be in a
permanent nursing post.
More than 500 nurses took part in the survey, which
found a split in opinion on the advantages and
disadvantages of temporary work. Whilst many nurses
welcome the flexibility it affords them, others would
prefer to be in a permanent job - but can't find a
suitable role. Around 65% of respondents said they took
up temporary work to gain flexibility in working hours,
something which many permanent roles did not offer. A
number of anonymous responses highlight the difficulty
many nurses have getting flexible working arrangements.
One response read: "bank and agency nurses get a poor
press as the 'money grabbers' of the NHS, when in
reality many of us are doing it because of a lack of
other options. No trust in this areas offers
family-friendly hours, and I have had seven job offers
retracted when I asked about it."
Other findings include: • 68% of nurse undertake
temporary work to supplement their basic pay• Over half
(55%) of nurses do bank/agency work on a regular basis.
• 1 in 3 nurses said that uncertainty and
unpredictability of work supply is the main downside of
temporary work• Black and minority ethnic respondents
are more likely to work night shifts and weekend shifts
than their white counterparts
Janet Davies, Executive Director of the RCN said: "The
effect of job post freezes and redundancies are clear -
for many nurses temporary work is their only option.
"It's also a real concern that many nurses are not
afforded flexibility in their permanent roles and are
forced to move into temporary roles. The Government had
committed to ensuring that nurses had greater
flexibility in their working lives - yet these findings
clearly show that this has not happened."
Jane Ball and Geoff Pike, Employment Research, 2006,
Temporary Working: results from an on-line survey of
nurses 2006, published by Royal College of Nursing
Employment Research Ltd is an independent research
consultancy, undertaking a range of research and
evaluation, much of which is focused on health sector
human resource issues.
www.rcn.org.uk
