A devastating new survey has exposed the human toll of chronic staff shortages within the NHS, with nurses reporting panic attacks, nightmares, and being pushed to breaking point.
The Alarming Statistics of a Workforce in Crisis
According to the bombshell report from the Royal College of Nursing published on November 17, 2025, workforce shortages are creating intolerable pressures that leave nursing staff feeling compelled to work through illness.
The survey of more than 20,000 UK nursing staff revealed that two-thirds (66%) admitted to working while sick multiple times a year. This marks a significant increase from 2017, when fewer than half (49%) reported such behaviour.
Stress has emerged as the predominant cause of illness among staff, cited by 65.1% of respondents compared to just 50% in 2017. Both figures represent eight-year highs, painting a picture of a workforce under unprecedented strain.
Personal Accounts of a Broken System
The statistics are given human faces through harrowing personal testimonies collected by the RCN. One NHS staff nurse in England described developing a chronic stress-related illness but felt unable to take time off because their department was already "overwhelmed and overstretched".
Another nurse took sick leave due to the stress of understaffing but continued to experience work-related nightmares during their absence.
The situation extends beyond NHS hospitals into social care. A staff nurse working in an independent care home expressed dread about "going to work knowing we'd be short staffed" and the inevitability of working unpaid overtime to complete essential tasks.
Perhaps most shockingly, a nurse in social care reported that staffing levels were so critically low that they couldn't even leave to use the toilet.
Systemic Failures and Government Response
Official NHS figures for June show the overall sickness absence rate for NHS staff in England stood at 4.9%, meaning approximately one in twenty staff members were off sick. The rate was even higher for specific roles: 5.3% for nurses and health visitors, 5.7% among midwives, and 5.4% among ambulance staff.
Most concerning is that 29% of all sick days taken by NHS staff in June were attributed to anxiety, stress, and related conditions. Among nurses specifically, this figure was 28%.
RCN General Secretary Professor Nicola Ranger delivered a stark assessment: "Nursing staff are being driven to ill health from working in understaffed and under-resourced services. The reality is they're not breaking; many are already broken."
In response, a Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson pointed to their ten-year health plan, highlighting initiatives including occupational health support, new flexible working standards, and efforts to combat workplace violence and harassment.
The department also mentioned a new graduate guarantee designed to create better job opportunities for qualified nurses and midwives, aiming to reduce the burden on existing staff.
