Across Scotland RCN members marked the day, from taking part in learning and development sessions to enjoying a reflective catch up with colleagues.
Celebrating who we are, what we stand for, and the incredible contribution we make in these unprecedented times is more important than ever. Nurses Day is an opportunity to reflect, and for me, it highlighted the vital need to apply the lessons we have learned from the pandemic to ensure nurses and nursing support workers feel valued, respected and protected.
It also reminded me how proud I am to be a nurse. I started my nurse training 33 years ago and it’s been an exciting journey that has led me to the role of Lead Nurse for Independent Health and Social Care in RCN Scotland. Given my role, I was particularly interested in finding out more about how Care Homes marked our annual celebration of all things nursing. I talked to a well-established care service that has been around since 1916 and a very new service.
Boclair care home in Milngavie has been open less than a year. Speaking with the Boclair team, I was reminded of my own welcome into the nursing fold. On my first day, I remember feeling excited and nervous. Staff Nurse Campbell met me at the ward door with a warm smile and said: “Welcome to ward 5b student nurse Dale. There are three things in life that you won’t ever get back; a word after it’s been said; time after it’s passed and your pen when you work with nurses.”
That’s probably one of the truest statements I have ever heard.
Boclair Care home celebrated nurses’ day by presenting two of their residents, both former nurses with bouquets of flowers. Their hard-working staff all received a gift voucher and, in addition, nursing staff received the essential nursing accessory, a notebook and a pen shaped like a nurse. Each pen was different to reduce the nursing habit of collecting pens that don’t belong to us.
Erskine Care Homes, is long established, and provides care for veterans and their spouses. They
held their annual Registered Nurse and Senior Care assistant event on Nurses’ Day, discussing a range of topics from important nurses from the past to wound management, diabetes and delirium.
Local RCN reps made sure the RCN offer was visible on the day. RCN student Nurse Cole Razaq assisted RCN steward Richard Christison with answering questions and promoting RCN membership. When I spoke to Richard, his enthusiasm for the event was clear, he told me that Erskine had succeeded in making the day thought-provoking and educational.
However you celebrated nurses’ day, I hope you it helped you appreciate that whatever the setting or location, the one thing all nursing staff have in common is our unwavering commitment to make a difference to people’s lives.
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