Nurses in England took an average of one week off sick for stress last year, data shows

The disclosure has prompted concern that the intense strains nurses face in their jobs, including low pay and understaffing, are damaging their mental health and causing many to quit.

Nurses and health visitors took a total of 1,675,275 days off sick during 2023 as a result of stress and similar conditions, NHS England data showed.

That means that each of England’s 352,125 members of both professions missed an average of 4.95 days at work for that reason, according to a Royal College of Nursing analysis of the figures.

“Dangerous stress levels have become normalised inside an NHS which is unable to cope with demand,” said Prof Pat Cullen, the RCN’s general secretary and chief executive.

“These are sobering findings,” said Prof Alison Leary, the chair of healthcare and workforce modelling at London South Bank University.

Another nurse said: “[I am] so stressed and anxious about lack of income and financial pressures that my mental health has seriously deteriorated to the point of taking long-term sick leave for the second time in two years.”