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In the Independent Nurse survey respondents were asked whether their capacity to care was impacted by the workload and 44 per cent answered yes.

Of those that answered yes, 84 per cent said that they were unable to find the time to reflect on practice and 80 per cent of the respondents cited the increased levels of paperwork as impacting on the amount of time they were able to with patients.
In the Independent Nurse survey respondents were asked whether their capacity to care was impacted by the workload and 44 per cent answered yes. Of those that answered yes, 84 per cent said that they were unable to find the time to reflect on practice and 80 per cent of the respondents cited the increased levels of paperwork as impacting on the amount of time they were able to with patients. Nearly 60 per cent said that patient consultations and visit times were shortened to fit everything in. Thirty per cent said that working extra hours had led to diminished compassion in patient care. A district nurse said: 'staff morale is very low, we are unsupported by managers, there is a blame culture when things go wrong and we are exhausted because we are working flat out most shifts.' Many of the respondents said that nurse stress and tiredness was a key factor in diminishing patient care. Another district nurse stated that: 'stress and tiredness can lead to illness and making mistakes.' A practice nurse described themselves as 'stressed and constantly chasing my tail. And there is no one listening.'