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Blogs



18 blog posts
  • RCN rep badge logo 2020 Matthew Stewart Matthew Stewart 22 Mar 2024

    Update on the recent Joint Reps Conference in Bristol

    I am Matthew, an RCN steward and South West Board Member for Gloucestershire Branch.  

  • Vicky Brotherton at RCN Congress award ceremony having just received her medal and certificate for her Award of Merit 2023 800x400 Vicky Brotherton Vicky Brotherton 28 Feb 2024

    Do you ever wonder what your RCN South West Regional Board does?

    As your South West RCN Regional Board Chair, I wanted to share key messages from our Board meeting this month. Did you know that all RCN members in the South West can attend the open part of the board meeting via MS teams and participate in the discussions?  

  • Collage of South West leaders 2024 Jeanette Jones Jeanette Jones 17 Jan 2024

    Happy New year from your South West leadership team

    Your regional top team of elected members join your regional director in wishing you a Happy New Year and looking forward to 2024 from their own particular perspectives.

  • Vicky Brotherton at RCN Congress award ceremony having just received her medal and certificate for her Award of Merit 2023 800x400 Vicky Brotherton Vicky Brotherton 12 Dec 2023

    Reflections on a year like no other

    As we approach the end of the year I thought I would share my reflections on 2023.   What a year it has been. A year like no other as we worked together on picket lines during our strike action. Standing together in the hope that we would be recognised for the outstanding care we give to our patients/clients with a fair pay award.

  • Sarah Winfield-Davies 800x400 Sarah Winfield-Davies Sarah Winfield-Davies 5 Dec 2023

    My door is always open

    When I reflect on the last year and think about all of the IHSC employers and members and I have met I feel incredibly proud and privileged to be in this role as your link to the RCN, your voice to improve your membership experience and to showcase the often-unseen innovations and exceptional care delivered within the independent health and social care sector. 

  • Orange rectangle, three nursing support worker 'stick men (two red with one blue in the middle) with a light shining on them, the words Nursing Support Workers' Day in navy blue and the hashtag #NursingSupportWorkersDay in orange text over a blue strip below Steve Dunne-Howells Steve Dunne-Howells 23 Nov 2023

    My RCN journey - the first twenty years

    I was so proud in 2003 when I completed my NVQ 3. Not long after that day I was presented was an application form to join the Royal College of Nursing. I didn't think I could become a member of the RCN because I thought that you had to be a registered nurse (RN). Sadly, there are a lot of health care support workers and RNs who believe that this is true even today. 

  • Lucy Muchina Lucy Muchina 20 Nov 2023

    Vital members of the nursing team

    As years fly by and the weighing scale needle refuses to move in the direction I’d like, I have made the decision to have regular checks with my GP in addition to daily activities to keep myself fit and healthy.

  • Vicky Brotherton, Chair of the RCN Plymouth Branch Vicky Brotherton Vicky Brotherton 20 Sep 2023

    Get active – what does that even mean?

    I became ‘RCN active’ in about 2013 but what does ‘get active’ even mean? Well, for me it's been a rollercoaster of a journey. A journey through which I have made life-long friends and made a difference to colleagues in my workplace and across the profession. 

  • Emma Hallam 800x400 Emma Hallam Emma Hallam 18 Sep 2023

    Job evaluation raises pay and reward for nursing support workers in Bristol

    In 2021 new job profiles were agreed by Staff Council, which includes the RCN and NHS Employers. The new profiles say that Band 2 staff should be undertaking tasks such as feeding, bathing, toileting, recording fluid balance and nutrition while any staff undertaking patient observations and clinical care such as monitoring heart and blood pressure rates, taking bloods, wound observation and urine analysis should be job evaluated to Band 3. This meant that many staff were entitled to a re-band.

  • Black History Month RCN logo - yellow, green and red background behind the three words and a white RCN logo over black paintbrush-style background Lucy Muchina Lucy Muchina 24 Aug 2023

    Black History Month

    I recently attended an internationally educated nurses’ (IEN) event and was truly inspired by the amazing talent of our IENs.