Three-quarters of emergency nurses carry out ‘corridor care’
TREATING A&E patients in corridors is becoming “the norm” as patient safety is being compromised due to overcrowding, leading nurses have warned.
The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) said emergency departments are being put under “intolerable pressure” after a poll of nurses found almost three-quarters (73 per cent) provide care to patients in a non-designated area, such as a corridor, every day. Nine in 10 said safety was compromised as a result.
The survey of more than 1,100 RCN members working in emergency care in England also found that the term “corridor nursing” is formally used in half of workplaces. And 90 per cent added that the frequency of caring for patients in non-clinical areas has increased since last winter.
The RCN said treating patients in corridors could put extra strain on patients, and nurses could face difficulty performing tasks such as administering urgent intravenous antibiotics.
Mike Adams, the RCN’S director for England, said: “This survey shows that having to deliver care in crowded corridors is becoming increasingly the norm for NHS nursing staff.
“Highly complex procedures such as insertion of intravenous lines and medication should not have to be carried out in conditions like these, while it is completely unacceptable that patients’ privacy and dignity are being undermined by lack of access to toilet facilities while they’re stuck in corridors.
“The reasons for the increased pressure on A&E departments are many and well-known – too few staff, not enough beds to admit patients to, and a lack of social care affecting hospitals’ ability to discharge patients quickly.
“But as a result, nurses in emergency departments are being put under intolerable pressure to keep patients safe.”
Dr Katherine Henderson, the president of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine, branded the findings “terrible” for patients.
She said: “It is shameful that corridor care has become the norm, and this survey reflects the reality emergency department staff experience on a daily basis. Corridor care is terrible for patients and demoralising for staff, who through no fault of their own, have nowhere to admit patients to.”
Professor Stephen Powis, NHS England’s medical director, said the survey did “not give a reliable representation of nurses’ views”, but conceded that A&E departments needed to expand.