Speaking at RCN Congress

RCN Congress 2024 was held in ICC Wales in June this year and I had the amazing opportunity to speak to a resolution about social care nursing. I wanted to share my experience and what led me to that podium.

I have been an advocate for people of all ages receiving social care and health care in places where they live and work for most of my career - which is now the best part of 40 years (I started my nurse training in 1987). I am not only a member of the Children and Young People’s Forum but I am a dual qualified nurse (Adult and Children) and I work in homecare – providing support to people of all ages in their own homes to be able to live their daily lives.

I am passionate about ensuring that the voices of people who receive social care and those who look after them is heard. I do what I can to speak up when it is needed even when it is hard to do so. That passion led me to have conversations with a number of different people both within and outside of the RCN about social care nursing which then led to the idea for a Congress proposal.

With the help of a couple of very knowledgeable people I put together a proposal item for resolution and submitted it. The title of the resolution was “Recognising the value of, and need for, senior nursing leadership within social care across the UK.” I hoped my passion showed in the proposal and that the topic would be of interest to RCN members.

I knew there were a lot of submissions for Congress, and I honestly thought the item wouldn’t be accepted so when I received the email to say it had been, I was excited. I had been given the opportunity to talk about Social Care Nursing and hopefully make a difference!

But that was only the beginning of the journey…!

Then began the task of pulling together the background information, finding a seconder for the resolution and writing the five minute supporting speech.

I had the backing of three or four experienced people within the RCN and a couple outside. It was these people who helped with arranging the literature search, proofreading the background information, agreeing to second the resolution and generally pointing me in the right direction. However, when it came to writing the speech I was on my own. It was then that the anxiety kicked in!

What had I done? I was going to have to stand up in front of hundreds of people and speak!

I’d spoken publicly before, this wasn’t new, but somehow Congress was a different matter. I needed to remind myself a number of times in the weeks beforehand why I was doing what I was doing – this was about social care nursing and the people that I advocate for, it was not about me.

This didn’t stop the nerves completely, but it helped – that and practising in front of the mirror in my hotel room the night before!

On the day I was filled with a mixture of emotions – excitement, nervousness, anticipation and a touch of fear. However, when I stepped up to the podium and began speaking it was all about the subject of the resolution. The value of and the need for senior nursing leadership within social care. A subject I am passionate about and eager for others to understand.

You can read the content of the resolution speech and the responses received are here if you are interested to know more or simply just to see how I did.

I can’t say I wasn’t relieved when my part was over because I was, but I was also thrilled to see a sea of green “Yes” voting cards passing the resolution.

We are a couple of months on from Congress now, and I remain grateful for the opportunity I was given to stand up and speak about something so crucial as senior nurse representation in social care.

More importantly, I'm eager to hear and even more excited to see how the RCN Council will implement this resolution over the coming year and beyond to make a meaningful difference.

Find out more about RCN Congress.