The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) in Wales held its 8th annual Nurse Leadership Summit at Cardiff City Stadium on March 27th 2019. The theme of this year’s summit was ‘Compassionate Leadership’, which aimed to explore the place of compassion in leadership in terms of individuals, professions and communities.
The summit brought together nursing leaders at every level from academic and clinical settings. Attendees were given the opportunity to identify successes and challenges of leadership within the nursing profession, as well as hearing from theorists and new leaders.
Lindsay Cordery-Bruce, Chief Executive of The Wallich Centre chaired an exciting programme featuring a range of prominent speakers including Professor Jean White CBE, Chief Nursing Officer for Wales and Dr Andrew Goodall, Director General of Health and Social Services and Chief Executive, NHS Wales as well as 2018 RCN Wales Nurse of the Year, Eve Lightfoot, who spoke about her own journey of compassion. The keynote speaker was Jo Vigor, Assistant Director Leadership & Organisational Development, The King’s Fund who talked about compassionate leadership in nursing.
The event was attended by Gaynor Jones MBE Chair of RCN Welsh Board and Sue Warner, Chair of RCN Council.
Helen Whyley, Director, RCN Wales said: “Leadership in nursing is vital, and compassionate leadership is particularly important. Leading with empathy and kind-heartedness enthuses the workforce, gives a voice to patients and improves care for people and communities in Wales. At this year’s summit we were delighted to be joined by members of the RCN Wales Nurse of the Year Alumni Network, a hugely inspirational group of nurses.”
