Become an RCN Representative

Have you thought about becoming an accredited local RCN representative? You could increase, develop or improve your personal and professional skills. You could make a real difference to your patients, the working lives of yourself and your colleagues – and even the future of nursing care.

What is an RCN representive?

Representatives play an important role in the RCN’s work and activity. They are elected members who represent other RCN members in the workplace by promoting employment rights, ensuring a healthy and safe working environment, and furthering the learning and professional development of their colleagues.

There are three types of RCN representatives:

• Stewards - support and represent members in the workplace. Their role is to promote workplace employment rights and ensure that members are treated fairly. Read more about RCN stewards
• Safety representatives - represent the health and safety interests of members at work and work with employers to ensure a safe and healthy working environment for RCN members. Read more about RCN safety representatives
• Learning representatives - support the learning and career development of RCN members in the workplace through enabling members to meet continuing professional development requirements for safe and effective practice. Read more about RCN learning representatives

For more information on representative roles please see the activist section of the RCN website (please note you will need your membership number to access these pages).

Why become a representative?

Whether you’re a health care assistant (HCA), assistant practitioner (AP), health care support worker or nursing auxiliary, there are lots of reasons to become a representative. These include the opportunity to:

• expand your horizons – by learning new and transferable skills, increasing your knowledge and working with people you may not otherwise have met
• challenge yourself – by becoming involved in tasks outside your usual sphere of activity
• boost your confidence – through focusing on your own learning and development, with our specially tailored study programmes designed to enhance your expertise
• provide support for other RCN members in the workplace – making a difference to their working lives and to nursing care.

The role of an RCN representative is challenging, and you will need to be willing to to make a firm commitment to help achieve valuable improvements to the working lives of HCAs, APs and nurses. However, we will ensure you receive all the support you need to be an effective representive, as well as many other benefits:

• fully supported by RCN staff and by a network of other representatives throughout the UK
• specially trained, with your continuing learning and development needs met by the RCN's Learning and Development Institute, backed by RCN officers
• legally entitled to reasonable paid time off for your learning and development and to carry out your representative duties
• encouraged to access a specialist area on the RCN's website, which contains a wide range of resources, and a discussion area
• kept up-to-date with news and information via your own monthly newsletter, Activate
• invited to attend national conferences and events
• entitled to a 25 per cent discount off the member rate for RCN conferences organised solely by the RCN Events team
• eligible to receive a special RCN award that recognises your hard work and achievements.

For more information on why you might become a representative please see the activist section of the RCN website (please note you will need your membership number to access these pages). The RCN has also produced a leaflet (PDF 1MB) [How to access PDF files] specially for HCAs and APs, highlighting the benefits and challenges of becoming a representative. 

How to become a representative

• download the representatives recruitment leaflet (PDF 1MB) [how to access PDF files] and complete the short form at the back 
• contact RCN Direct on 0345 772 6100, or your local RCN office to request a representatives recruitment leaflet (please quote publication code 004 022). Members living in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland can contact their country office. RCN members in England should contact their regional office.
• contact your local representative or local RCN branch. Their contact details will be on the RCN notice board.

The short form should be sent to your local RCN office who will then contact you to arrange an informal chat to discuss the role. If you decide you'd like to proceed with your application, you'll then receive an application form.

To apply, you need to be nominated by two RCN members. These are people who believe you would make a good representative, and may be a colleague from your branch or a work colleague. After you have completed the application form, indicating what type of representative you wish to be, it should be sent to the branch secretary. There will be a workplace election, after which the branch will ratify your nomination as an elected trade union representative, and the regional or national office will inform your employer that you are an accredited RCN representative.

The full application form will only be accepted once you have sent in an expression of interest form and spoken to your regional office.

For more information on how to apply to become a representative, please see the activist section of the RCN website (please note you will need your membership number to access these pages).