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

Nurses in England took an average of a week off sick last year because of stress, anxiety or depression, NHS figures reveal.

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…