Get involved with the RCN

The RCN HCA and AP Network

Join the RCN Health Care Assistant (HCA) and Assistant Practitioner (AP) Network so that your voice can be heard and best practice shared.

The network is free to join for HCA and AP members and will give you access to:

  • communicating with like-minded colleagues
  • HCA and AP events throughout the year in your region or country
  • a dedicated project group member who will ensure your views and opinions are heard by feeding back to the RCN HCA and AP Team
  • regular updates from the Health Care Assistant Adviser.

For more information on the network and how to join please visit the RCN HCA and AP Network page.

Become an RCN representative

RCN representatives are vital to the successful working of the RCN in whatever role they take on. As an activist you can make a difference to nurses, health care assistants and your professional development. There are a number of different types of roles:

  • stewards
  • safety representatives
  • learning representatives.

Please visit become an RCN representative for further information.

Become a five-minute activist

If you're unable to committ the time to become a representative, why not become a 'five-minute activist'? Over a cup of tea, or after a shift, it can only take five minutes to affect a change for the benefit of colleagues, patients and the public. Find out more here.

Join an RCN forum

Thousands of RCN members join together via the specialist nursing forums. If you are interested in keeping up with news in your field of practice then you should join an RCN forum too. You will receive regular newsletters from your forum committee, can read online content in the forum's online community and network with colleagues in the forum's area on the Discussion Zone.

Please visit RCN forums to join today.

Become a diversity champion

Diversity champions act as leaders for diversity and equality. They act as role models, taking actions when appropriate and addressing behaviours when necessary. They ask questions to check that diversity in its broadest sense is being recognised, understood and considered as integral to the decision making and evaluation processes. A good diversity champion doesn’t need to know all the answers but needs to be prepared to spend some time developing their own personal competencies around diversity and equality issues. Find more information about being a diversity champion here.