Nurses at Craigavon Area Hospital in county Armagh are feeling burnt out and stressed, according to a recent inspection report.
A Regulation and Quality Improvement Authority (RQIA), carried out over four days following an unannounced visit in April, came back with the findings.
While the overall findings were positive, the inspectors observed caring and committed staff struggling to cope in various areas of the hospital.
Olive Macleod, RQIA’s chief executive, said: “RQIA’s overall findings at Craigavon Area Hospital were good.
“In each area inspected we identified strong leadership, good governance, and processes in place to provide good quality care to patients.
“While we noted a shortage in nursing staff numbers in the medical and surgical wards inspected, the Southern Health and Social Care Trust was working actively to address this deficit.”
The inspection team included doctors, nurses, pharmacists and allied health professional peer reviewers and members of the public led by RQIA’s healthcare inspectors.
Although additional nursing appointments had been agreed, the delay in recruitment was impacting on staff, leading to complaints of tiredness, burnout and stress.
The report added: “We observed prompt staff responses to call bells and requests for assistance from patients when the ward had the agreed staffing levels.
“However, when the ward was short-staffed, we observed caring and committed staff struggling to meet patients’ basic care needs.”
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