The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) Wales is warning that modest growth in the nursing workforce must not mask the growing challenges of retaining experienced nursing staff, following publication of the latest Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) register data (covering nursing registrations April 2025 – March 2026).
The latest survey of nurses in Wales leaving the register paints a concerning picture, revealing significant pressures being faced by nurses in Wales, with 50.4% of respondents saying they had left nursing earlier than they had originally planned. Almost half (46%) of those leaving the register cited retirement as their main reason, while 11% left because of physical or mental health. A lack of support accounted for 6.3% of departures and 5.5% said burnout or exhaustion was their primary reason for leaving.
Growth has continued across every field of nursing practice in Wales, but at a slower rate than last year. Children's nursing increased by 1.7% (down from 2.8% last year), mental health nursing by 1.3% (down from 2.3%), adult nursing by 0.9% (down from 1.7%), and learning disability nursing by 0.3% (down from 1.1%).
Executive Director of RCN Wales Nicola Williams said:
"It is encouraging to see continued growth across all fields of nursing in Wales, but these modest increases should not distract from the serious workforce challenges revealed by this data."
"The fact that more than half of those leaving nursing say they left earlier than they had planned is extremely concerning. When experienced nursing staff are leaving because of poor health, burnout or a lack of support, it represents not only a loss of expertise but also a warning that the pressures facing our workforce are unacceptable.
“We have the most amazing nurses in Wales who provide fantastic person-centred care every day, but many nurses are working in areas which are grossly understaffed and is affecting the safety of patient care, as they cannot provide the care they need to. Nursing teams often have additional patients with no additional staff, and in areas such as mental health resulting in nurses being injured whilst at work. Some RCN Members are telling us that they are told the staffing levels cannot be increased due to lack of money.”
"Across Wales we need to, in partnership, review nurse staffing levels across all clinical settings to ensure that staffing levels meet patient and population need and this needs to be formally reviewed every 6 months and reported to Health Boards. Health Boards should be held to account in line with the Nurse Staffing Levels (Wales) Act 2016 requirements for ensuring staffing levels are safe across all clinical areas. An aeroplane would not fly without enough staff, so why do we allow health care that can cause harm to people, to be provided in areas where there are insufficient staff. This is not right. We have to provide safe care environments for patients and staff and do far more to retain the skilled, experienced nurses we have by improving working conditions, paying nurses for the work they are doing, investing in staff wellbeing and ensuring nurses have the support they need throughout their careers."
"Every nurse who leaves the profession early represents years of experience that patients and services can ill afford to lose. RCN Wales is calling for sustained investment in the nursing workforce and a clear, patient dependency based establishment reviews across all clinical settings that are reported through to Boards, and long-term workforce strategy that values, supports and retains nursing staff."
Ends
Notes to editors
The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) is the voice of nursing across the UK, including around 35,000 members in Wales. The RCN promotes the interests of nursing and patients on a wide range of issues and helps shape health care policy.
For more information, contact the RCN Wales communications and media team on 02920 680 769 or mediawales@rcn.org.uk
Follow us: Blue Sky @thercnwales.bsky.social Facebook @RCNWales LinkedIn rcnwales Instagram @rcn_wales Threads @rcn_wales
