We need to talk
Published: 15 November 2011
Letter from Maggie Williams
Welcome to this issue.
Elaine Wright has recently stood down as chair of the Imaging Forum. Elaine has been chair for the past 5 years and has made a significant contribution to the forum. Elaine has worked tirelessly to promote our image and ensure that imaging nurses are recognised as part of the wider team, ensuring that others recognise that imaging nurses have a contribution to make at all levels from Department of Health led initiatives to local issues. Elaine will be greatly missed by all those on the forum committee but I am sure she will continue to lend us her valuable experience from time to time.
I have been fortunate enough to be elected as Forum Chair to take over from Elaine and I hope that we will continue with the passion that Elaine had. I work in interventional radiology in Gateshead and have worked as a staff nurse, junior sister and now clinical lead. This range of experience I hope enables me to understand the issues that we all face in our working day.
The forum committee will soon be planning work for the next year and therefore it is vital that we know of all the issues in the workplace. If you have ideas/issues that you would like the forum to take forward please let us know by emailing me at community.editor@rcn.org.uk
The first of our regional workshops was recently held in Cardiff. It was a great day and delegates have told us that having regional workshops has made the study days more accessible, that the speakers were informative and that the opportunity to network was valuable. Have a look at future dates and come and join us in a really great educational day.
Imaging newsletter - what’s in it for you?
Our newsletter aims to give you the information you require, letting you know what the committee has been undertaking on your behalf and giving updates on current issues. However, it is just as important that we address the needs that you face daily in your work. To do this, we’ve come up with a few newsletter ideas we’d like your opinion on:
- a ‘focus on’ article section, where a department can introduce themselves, using the newsletter to highlight areas of good practice and ask advice regarding issues
- a section where members’ questions are sent in to the committee and answered via the newsletter, for everyone to benefit from
- a section for imaging-related literature and book reviews.
Any thoughts? Please email me at community.editor@rcn.org.uk and let me know what you would like to see included.
Let’s chat!
The RCN’s online Discussion Zone is a really useful resource if you are looking for answers to your questions from staff working in similar areas. Imaging-related issues that have recently been discussed include patient escorts, CT colonography, specialist/advanced nurse practitioners and cardiac cath lab and radiology. If you haven’t used the Discussion Zone before, take a look and add your questions to it – simply go to the RCN Imaging Nurses Forum page and click on Discussion Zone on the left tab.