Perception of nursing ‘is stuck in past’

Public perception of the work nurses do is “stuck firmly in the past”, with action needed to help encourage more people particularly men - into the profession, a new report said.

While the number of people working in the NHS has never been higher, there are concerns over staffing in the future due to growing demand on services from Scotland’s increasingly elderly population.

A report commissioned by Chief Nursing Officer Professor Fiona Mcqueen also noted the workforce was “ageing”.

The number of registered nurses and midwives working in NHS Scotland has increased by 5.6 per cent since September 2006 - with health service employment figures showing the whole time equivalent of 43,340.2 employees.

Only 11 per cent of the total nursing workforce is male, with the report finding the “perception of nurses and nursing is stuck firmly in the past, and was found to be ingrained in the public consciousness from as early as primary school”.