I have read the article by Peter Carter of the Royal College of Nursing (“Safety in numbers: why we need more nurses”, 17 May) several times and I am still unclear as to his central message. Is he saying that poor care is a direct result of low staffing levels and poor “skill mix” or that nurses are insufficiently well paid?I am a registered nurse with 15 years’ experience and it is clear to me that nursing is in crisis. Nurses are well paid in comparison to the mean salary of the population but take on responsibility with which their pay is not commensurate. The demands to create beds for admissions and to maintain the highest standards of care are relentless and managerial support is often lacking. Most significantly, the level of hospital staffing (not nec