Three quarters of general practice nursing staff say they feel confident about speaking up and raising concerns in their workplace, a survey has revealed.
The findings also show that the majority of practice nurses (68%) feel they are given good support from their managers – with 33% ‘strongly agreeing’ and 35% ‘somewhat agreeing’ with this view.
The insights come from a survey of 280 practice nursing staff carried out by our sister title Nursing in Practice between March and April this year, which suggests many nurses feel secure when expressing views with managers.
However, nursing staff shared a range of experiences about speaking up at work, with one practice nurse admitting they ‘don’t feel listened to’, while another described being ‘looked after very well’.
One practice nurse said: ‘I work in a very supportive practice where it is encouraged to speak up and raise concerns as they happen, to avoid harm and risks.’
Overall, 43% strongly agreed that they felt confident in speaking up and raising concerns at work, while 32% ‘somewhat agreed’ with this.
Some respondents outlined the risk of speaking up in a practice setting where staff hierarchies exist.
‘It is difficult in a practice setting, as partners always tend to support the practice managers, but I have had recent issues and have felt I could speak to senior partners,’ one practice nurse said.
Yet, another enhanced level practice nurse recalled: ‘I have been reprimanded for speaking up before and raising safety incidents.’
Meanwhile, 61% of respondents also strongly agreed they had solid working relationships with other practice team members and 27% ‘somewhat agreed’ with this statement.
Nursing staff respondents to the survey also shared challenges they faced trying to provide appropriate support to nursing associates working in general practice.
For example, an independent prescriber and nurse manager said: ‘I tried to step in to support my nursing associate as we have been under huge pressure due to sickness and retirements.
‘I was literally shouted out for bringing it up.’
A version of this article was first published by our sister title Nursing in Practice
