One of the country's most senior nurses will tell the Royal College of Nursing's annual congress Labour must improve nurses' welfare to prevent staff quitting the profession.

Nurses who feel their employers take their wellbeing seriously are happier in their jobs

Roswyn Hakesley-Brown, RCN president

Roswyn Hakesley-Brown, president of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN), will tell the congress in Harrogate that nurses feel undervalued and underpaid.

Nurses will discuss Labour's pledge to raise national insurance contributions by 1% to create 15,000 extra GPs and 35,000 more nurses by 2008.

On Sunday, Prime Minister Tony Blair again said he would carry the can if his huge programme of reform and investment in the NHS fails.

'Dissatisfied'

An RCN commissioned survey published on the eve of the congress, revealed the vast majority of patients were satisfied with the standard of nursing care.

But Ms Hakesley-Brown will argue nurses are far from satisfied.

A key address on Sunday entitled, 'Putting Care First', will set out four criteria for keeping long-serving professionals in state hospitals.

Nurses who quit the NHS in February called for employee-friendly policies including more money, more flexible shift arrangements and comprehensive support at work.

Ms Hakesley-Brown is expected to say: "The Health Minister, John Hutton, told me recently, with some pride, that the target of recruiting 20,000 nurses had been achieved.

"I was quick to point out to him that the challenge was in retention as well as recruitment.

"Those nurses told us the same things that would make them seriously consider returning to nursing were those which might have kept them there in the first place."

Labour promises to recruit an extra 15,000 GPs and 35,000 nurses by 2008

She is expected to add: "Our survey found that employers who value their staffs' needs and consult them about how their work is organised are more likely to find nurses satisfied with their jobs and in better psychological health.

"It is about protecting and supporting staff. Nurses who feel their employers take their wellbeing seriously are happier in their jobs."

A glass ceiling in the nursing profession currently prevents senior nurses advancing their career without leaving nursing for hospital managerial posts.

The RCN will call for a look at specialist nurses, trained units to carry out some of the work traditionally organised by doctors.

A minute's silence will be observed at the start of the speech in respect of the Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret who were both Royal patrons of the RCN.