The number of sick days taken by nurses owing to Covid increased by more than 40% between February and March of this year, according to NHS digital statistics released today.
The illness absence numbers indicated that nurses took 192,122 sick days owing to Covid in March, a 43 percent rise over February’s 134,739 Covid-related sick days.
The statistics also revealed that nurses took 17% more sick days owing to worry, stress, and sadness than at the beginning of the epidemic. Nurses took 112,434 sick days owing to mental health concerns in March 2020, but this amount increased to 132,053 days in March of this year.
The number of sick days claimed by nurses due to mental health increased by 3,000 days in March compared to February. While ill days related to anxiety, sadness, and stress accounted for a lesser fraction of overall sick days throughout the NHS, the number of mental health sick days climbed by over 20,000 in the same month.
‘The epidemic put a major pressure on the healthcare staff,’ according to the study, ‘and we heard several testimony from a workforce that has gone above and beyond for far too long, leading to fatigue and declining morale.’
The Covid-19 epidemic has had a severe influence on the mental health and well-being of employees who have been subjected to tremendous stress while facing the same issues.
Patricia Marquis, RCN Director for England, stated, ‘The pandemic continues to take its toll on nursing, with a 17% rise in staff absenteeism owing to anxiety, stress, and depression since March 2020.’ The latest Health and Social Care Committee report exposed the nurse workforce dilemma.
Millions of patients are enduring lengthy delays for care, putting further strain on a profession that is already on its knees. Another real-terms salary drop has put salt to injury, forcing nurses to consider strike action.’