A ‘staggering’ drop since Brexit in nurses coming from the EU to the UK has changed the skill mix of the profession. And this shift, in which experienced nurses from the EU were replaced by less experienced professionals may have been a factor in almost 1,500 additional patient deaths, a report says. Our panel of nurses share their views on the issue: they variously cite underinvestment in nursing and poor nurse workforce planning, rising patient complexity, the role of ward culture and leadership, the impact of better nurse to patient ratios on care outcomes and call for government action to address low nurse numbers.