“Future Nurse, Future Leader” conference round-up

Throughout the day we heard from some fantastic speakers who encouraged attendees to consider how they can take on leadership responsibilities during their studies and careers and how they can use their nursing voice to influence change.

Eileen McKenna, RCN Scotland Associate Director Professional Practice, opened the event by examining the qualities of good leadership and the learnings we can take from geese. “Be a goose” (and not a seagull) was a mantra that many of us certainly took away from the day!

Scotland representatives on the RCN Students Committee, Craig Davidson and Dawn Keating, then shared their experiences of being active student members and the leadership lessons they've learned during their student journeys.

Professor Brendan McCormack’s presentation on students as leaders was a real highlight with attendees feeding back that they felt inspired and more confident going forward in their roles. One of the strong take home messages from the day was that everyone has leadership responsibilities and that students should have a voice without feeling intimated.

During the panel session we heard from a range of speakers with backgrounds in senior practice, academia, politics & media who shared their insight and experience on using your voice to shape the future of health and social care. It was a great opportunity for attendees to ask a wide range of questions which were answered by Lewis Macdonald MSP, Professor Brendan McCormack, journalist Jen Trueland and Bronagh Scott, RCN Director of Nursing, Policy & Practice.

During the afternoon, attendees got the opportunity to be “15 minute curators” by considering and selecting five objects to go forward for a 2020 exhibition celebrating nursing pioneer Florence Nightingale. The event wrapped up with attendees creating some fantastic campaigns on key issues affecting nursing which they then pitched to our judging panel in "The Boardroom." Congratulations to the winning group who came up with a campaign that aimed to improve nursing wellbeing and tackle high levels of sickness absence.

Once again RCN Scotland would like to thank everyone who came for helping to make the event such a success, and we look forward to sharing the details of next year’s event with you!