The Royal College of Nurses is worried about staff shortages

The Royal College of Nursing says 2,000 NHS nurses left Britain for America last year, thought to be the largest number on record.

But the Department of Health said the figure was small compared to the 77,000 NHS nurses it has recruited since 1997.

British nurses had always been drawn to jobs in America, the government said.

The RCN released the figures ahead of its annual report into the state of nursing, due out on Monday.

It blamed a new recruitment drive in the US, offering larger salaries and improved living standards, for the rise in British nurses crossing the Atlantic.

Staff shortages

The US wants to employ one million new nurses by the year 2010.

In recent years Britain has recruited large numbers of nurses from abroad to help with its shortages.

The RCN believes they now account for about one in four nurses in the NHS.

But, the college warns, the increase in nursing staff seen over the past few years in British hospitals is now at threat.

The report comes just months after data for 2003, published by the Office of Manpower Economics, showed one in 10 nurses left the NHS in that year.

With the number of newly-qualified nursing staff joining the service also at 10%, the RCN warned the NHS was "running to hard to keep still".