Letter from the Chair (Spring 2009)
Professor Duncan Mitchell
You may be aware that the RCN has been reorganising the way in which the professional forums work. The number of forums has been cut substantially and many have merged or are in the process of merger. When I last wrote for the newsletter I was unsure how this was going to affect us.
The College has recently set up a new Heritage Committee and is looking at how we could work with this group. Whatever happens in this regard, I am sure we will be able to continue to plan activities to promote interest in the history of nursing for some time to come.
This year we are again holding the annual Monica Baly lecture at Congress. Last year's event was really successful, attracting many more attendees. It was particularly good to see so many nursing students expressing an interest in the history of nursing and I'm grateful to the RCN Association of Nursing Students for continuing to sponsor the event with us. The speaker this year will be Dr Gerard Fealy from University College Dublin, talking about apprenticeship training in nursing. I hope to see you there.
London meetings
There has been some disquiet from members about the fact that we will no longer be organising a London event in November. I'm afraid the executive committee had a simple choice: charge a commercial rate for the day or stop putting it on. We very reluctantly opted for the latter as we felt that a commercial rate would put off many people who usually come. However, while there will not be an event at RCN headquarters in November 2009 or 2010, we can revisit this in the future and I'm always keen to have ideas for new, re-packaged or revived events.
Finally, now that our forums have been re-organised there will be fresh elections for executive committees in the early summer. I will not be standing again, although I'll remain a very interested member of the Society.