The Royal College of Nursing has predicted a massive shortage of nurses in years to come as low pay and plunging morale take their toll. Health Reporter Mike Waites spoke to two nurses about how they view the profession.

Alan Crossland, 46, began nursing nearly 30 years ago.

He is now nurse service manager for acute medicine in charge of more than 200 nurses across nine wards at Bradford Royal Infirmary and St Luke's Hospital.

He has worked all over Bradford in a variety of nursing roles and has watched the role of nurses become more demanding.

He said the reasons for problems in recruiting were complicated not least by falling numbers of people in the relevant age groups.

Nurses were now highly trained and multi-skilled but pay had not risen to reflect the extra skills and remained low compared to other peer groups posing a struggle for many nurses in particular those with families.

New efforts were being made by health bosses in Bradford to encourage schoolchildren to consider a career in nursing but attracting youngsters remained a problem.

"When I first started, patients who came into hospital would also have a period of convalescence while they waited for things like having stitches out when they were reasonably well. But now there is a push once they have been treated to get them home which is where they want to be.

"The net result is that patients on the ward are more dependent than they were previously, making it a more demanding and stressful job.

"Patients are also different nowadays in terms of being more questioning about what we are trying to do and they can be verbally and physically abusive and violent.

"Nursing is a physical job - you can't do without getting close to people - and nurses do feel vulnerable sometimes whereas I don't think we would have done 20 years ago.

"We are working hard to get into the schools to raise awareness about the profession to enhance its image.

"Nurses make decisions based on their experience, knowledge and training which make a difference to people who are quite poorly."

Staff nurse Erfan Hussain, 24, works in the hectic casualty department at Bradford Royal Infirmary.

He qualified eight months ago following a three-year course at Bradford University which included placements at local hospitals and in the community as well as his academic work.

He decided to take up nursing after portering at the hospital for four years from leaving school.

"I had a lot of friends who were student nurses in those days who said I could better myself.

"People think it's easy doing nurse training but you have to put in a lot of work and the grant you get isn't a lot really for what you are doing.

"My three brothers went to university and were surprised about the amount of work I had to do - I don't think a lot of students have to get up at 5am.

"People don't come into the profession because of the pay but everyone needs to get their bread and butter and the pay isn't very good for the amount of training you do.

"People may say to us how can you go on strike as you're the caring profession but the question is who is going to care for us?"

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.