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NHS job cuts are top of the agenda as nurses gather in Bournemouth for their annual conference.Royal College of Nursing general secretary Peter Carter warned over the weekend that pressure to save money in the NHS was threatening jobs.
An online RCN survey of 287 nurses ahead of its four-day meeting suggested the pinch is already being felt.
Nine in 10 of those responding to the poll said patient care was compromised at least several times a month.
Nearly a third said it happened on most shifts, the self-selecting survey showed.
Most hospital wards are operating with an average of 13% fewer staff than they officially need, it also found.
'Disastrous' cuts
Mr Carter said: "Despite assurances that the NHS budget will be protected, the reality is that trusts are making deep and dangerous cuts to staff numbers now, with further cuts planned for the future.
"We would urge whichever party forms the next government to work with the RCN to devise ways of making the savings that we know are possible within the NHS, whilst protecting front-line care."
The union leader was speaking after warning on Sunday that potentially "disastrous" cuts were on the way.
The NHS has been told to save up to £20bn by 2014 - a budget saving of about 5% a year.
While all three parties have promised to protect front-line services - the Tories going as far to say they will increase the budget in real terms - Mr Carter has said he is concerned jobs will still be targeted.
He told the BBC it could be worse than the deficits crisis in 2005-6 when many NHS trusts struggled to balance their books and were forced into cut-backs. The RCN believes at least 22,000 posts went during that period.
The union said staff cuts often do not require redundancies because they can be made by not replacing retirees from the workforce of more than one million people.
In response to the issue, the RCN has promised to launch a campaign to keep a check on the number of cuts being made as well as sharing ideas about how to make the health service more productive without harming care.
Joyce Robins, of Patient Concern, said: "Plans to reduce the budget will inevitably mean less staff to care for patients."This article is from the BBC News website. ? British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.