ASK people to name a group of professionals they respect and value, and a large number will probably say nurses. Indeed, it is hard to understate the role nursing staff play in the NHS, both in terms of treatment and management.

Anyone who has a nurse in their family or sphere of friends, however, will be all too aware that many feel stretched to breaking point, as a new survey by the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) highlights.

The body’s latest employment survey contained 800 responses from Scottish nurses, and the results make for depressing reading.

Three quarters said they were worse off financially than five years ago, and one in four admit losing sleep over money worries. More than two thirds, meanwhile, said their pay grade was not commensurate with the work they actually do, and only 38 per cent would recommend nursing as a career.

Perhaps the most worrying finding of all, however, is that over a third of respondents said they were looking for another job.

These concerning responses come off the back of figures last week suggesting it is taking far too long to fill many posts, with more than 800 Scottish nursing jobs currently unfilled after three months of advertising, and 4.5 per cent vacant overall.

To add to what is starting to look like a perfect storm for the profession, more nurses are quitting than ever before and almost one in five are due to reach retirement age by 2026. The picture looks even bleaker when it becomes clear that there are actually a record number of nurses in place throughout the NHS, but increased demand simply swallows up extra bodies.

So what can practicably be done to ease the pressure and make the job of nurses more attractive?

The Scottish Government deserves credit for responding to the recruitment crisis by increasing this year’s student nurse intake to its highest level since 2010. It should also be noted that First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has pledged to lift the NHS pay freeze from 2018.

Unfortunately, however, as with so many of the difficult questions around public service provision in this time of continued austerity, there are no easy answers, particularly around pay.

As yet we do not know how much of a pay rise nurses – or indeed other NHS workers - may be in for, but it’s hard to imagine that it will be at a level that will fully redress the 14 per cent pay cut the RCN say nurses have experienced since 2010. It is clear that if we do not reward nurses for their hard work, which takes its toll both physically and emotionally, many more will probably decide to walk away the profession, which could have a potentially disastrous effect on an already creaking NHS.

Giving out pay rises, however, no matter how well deserved, will inevitably mean diverting investment away from frontline services; working out who or what is most deserving will clearly be a painful process indeed.