British Association of Critical Care Nurses

Nursing organisation the British Association of Critical Care Nurses (BACCN) has signed up to support the campaign through the following statement:

The BACCN supports the Nursing Times Covid-19: Are You OK? campaign, which aims to raise awareness of the potential long-term impact of working through the Covid-19 crisis on nurses’ mental health and wellbeing (and that of other staff and pre-registration students), and to ensure they have access to sources of formal and/or informal support.

• Read the association’s supporting statement on the BACCN website

• Click here to read about our Covid-19: Are You OK? campaign 

Nicki Credland, chair of the BACCN, said: “Critical care is an extremely stressful environment to work in, with around one third of critical care nurses (CCNs) experiencing severe burnout, and 86% experiencing one of its three classic symptoms of exhaustion, depersonalisation and reduced personal accomplishment.

“The Covid-19 pandemic has exacerbated this situation. Increased patient to nurse ratios, the need to support and supervise non-critical care trained staff, long shifts in PPE, patient distress, rising death rates, and personal/family infection has all increased the intense emotional stress of CCNs.

“It is absolutely imperative that we identify psychological distress early, avoid harm where possible and support staff wellbeing as a key priority.

“We are delighted to be part of the Covid-19: Are You OK? campaign raising awareness of this significant issue facing the profession.”

• Read more about the campaign at Covid-19: Are You OK?