Job satisfaction and employment prospects for nurses

A recent media campaign has emphasized the benefits to the NHS of attracting nurses back to work. In this article, the potential for success from such a recruitment drive is acknowledged but the balance of assessment is redressed, to reflect a broader economic perspective which takes into account resource limitations. The costs of these initiatives, as well as the benefits, are considered in terms of how else the resources involved could be used. A call is made for nurses, and other individual decision makers engaged in nurse recruitment, to consider benefits with all relevant costs systematically, even if reliable information is limited. That approach would be in the spirit of the changes to NHS governance that are currently being introduced and could help to ensure that the health of patients overall is served as well as possible by the contribution to it made by nurses.