Walking the wards for Nurses Day

The Initiative

To celebrate International Nurses’ Day and recognise the care that nurses around the South West region deliver to their patients, predominantly office bound staff from the RCN South West left their desks and joined their mobile colleagues visiting the local hospitals, meeting nurses and carers, to specifically thank them for the contribution they make everyday.

The visits also provided an opportunity for staff that don’t usually get to meet members, to get out and join regional officers and local activists, to ‘walk the wards’ of their local hospitals and discuss the issues affecting members in their workplace, giving staff a better understanding of what members face. The visits also allowed RCN staff to talk with non members about the benefits of membership, as well as encouraging current members to get more involved with RCN activities and become activists.

Where they went

17 hospitals were visited throughout the South West in May. The dates and venues were as follows:

• 1 May ~ Dorset County
• 1 May ~ Gloucester Royal Hospital
• 1 May ~ Yeovil District
• 9 May ~ University Hospital Bristol
• 10 & 11 May ~ Great Western
• 11 May ~ South Devon
• 11 May ~ Royal United Bath
• 11 May ~ Royal Cornwall HT or Plymouth Hospital NT
• 15 May ~ Plymouth CIC
• 17 May~ Musgrove Park
• 18 May ~ St Leonards Hospital
• 18 May ~ Peninsula CIC
• 22 May~ Royal Devon and Exeter
• 22 May ~ Royal Cornwall HT or Plymouth Hospital NT (TBC)
• 23 May ~ Salisbury
• 24 may ~Dorset County
• TBC ~ Royal Bournemouth

How the visits went

Dawn Cooper
Activist South West

"On Tuesday 1 May, I spent the day with RCN staff ‘Walking the wards’ of the Gloucester Royal Hospital. This was part of an initiative by South West RCN to raise awareness of International Nurses’ Day, thanking nurses and healthcare assistants for the contribution they make to care in the region and hearing the views of members about local issues.

"The event was very successful, with several of the ward sisters encouraging their staff to come and talk to us and learn about the RCN. Importantly, we also dispelled the myth that HCAs can not join the RCN; which appears to be a common held misconception.

"The visit also enabled me to meet with colleagues while I was out of my clinical role, giving me time to discuss their roles and responsibilities and talk about ways that the RCN can help."

Helen Hancox
Regional Officer for Bristol, Bath and Gloucestershire

“This was a fantastic opportunity to meet with our members and personally thank them for everything that they do in the name of nursing. Everyone that we spoke to was genuinely pleased to talk to us and appreciated RCN staff taking the time to meet with them.”