Most NI nurses believe they are paid poorly compared to other professions

The survey also reveals that 87% of nurses believe they are paid poorly in relation to other professional groups.

The RCN is warning that the issue of recruitment and retention of nursing staff must be sorted out.

If it is not it will hamper the modernisation and improvement of services for patients, it says.

The annual employment survey was carried out across the UK.

It aimed to establish how recent changes in health care provision have affected the individual nurse and how the recruitment and retention of nurses needs to be addressed.

Recruitment

"It is clear from this survey that we are still not getting it right when it comes to the recruitment and retention of nurses in Northern Ireland," Janice Smyth, RCN Northern Ireland deputy director said.

"It is also worrying that over half of hospital nurses (61%) say that changes in junior doctors' hours have resulted in an increase in their workload.

"In addition, changes in GP contracts are reported to have increased the out-of-hours services provided by nurses and it is important that nurses are appropriately rewarded for this extension to their roles," she said.

The research showed that more nurses in Northern Ireland have childcare responsibilities than in the rest of the UK- 64% compared to 55% - and that more nurses in the province work part-time.

The survey also revealed that less than half of nurses in Northern Ireland say that they can take time off for training and only a third of respondents had a training and development plan.