We asked COLIN WAY, Chair of the CYP Advisory Panel, what he makes of the upcoming changes.
But what does 'transition' mean to the Children and Young People's Field of Practice?
RCN forums have been going through major changes in the past year or so and we are now in a period of transition which, I believe, will see us emerge as a stronger, more cohesive voice for nurses who work with children and young people.
Briefly, here are the changes which directly affect us.
We currently have 11 forums and 16 special interest groups and these will continue to exist. However, they will soon move from being finite groups with committees who meet face-to-face a couple of times a year to being interactive online "communities" in which all nurses who work in the specific area can log on, 24/7, and raise issues pertinent to their daily practice.
Each of the existing forums and special interest groups will then merge into one of five new RCN CYP "super" forums (as outlined in this story).
How will it work?
Take, for example, my specialty. The Paediatric and Neonatal Intensive Care Forum will become part of the new CYP Acute Care Forum. We will continue to communicate with each other via our online community and any issues arising from that will go forward to the Acute Care Forum where we can engage with a wider group of nurses who share broadly similar interests.
As we feed in our specific issues or projects, the Acute Care Forum will have more of a co-ordinating function - for instance, taking an overview of concerns emanating from all the various communities, co-ordinating project bids, preventing overlaps and taking a synergistic approach where some of these projects can be shared and progressed jointly.
CYP Advisory Panel
The Advisory Panel will remain, and I will continue as Chair and Jane Coad as Vice Chair for the time being. Meeting in January and September, our remit is to provide strategic direction, integrate our specialty within the RCN, influence Council and co-ordinate the work of CYP forums and communities, including operational plans, project bids and Congress activities.
Eventually the Advisory Panel will have two elected representatives from each of the five new forums and will continue to have representation from RCN Fellows who have a special interest in CYP nursing and from the four countries of the UK. We are also looking at having parent representation and possibly in time even children and young people.
So that's a quick snapshot of what has been a long and very complex period of change. As is ever the case with transitions, it can be hard to give up our familiar, comfortable ways, but sometimes it does no harm to shake things up a bit. It gives us a chance to look at what works and what doesn't, at where we are now and where we would like to be.
So yes, it's been a challenging year, but through the support and hard work of our colleagues in the field of practice and forums we are now in a better position to capitalise on new structures and more dynamic ways of working. We look forward to improving communications within our membership and engaging you directly in the very real opportunities that lie ahead.
Meanwhile we are making sure that the infrastructure we need is in place and capable of supporting us as we move forward together.