Karen’s poster promotes dignity

Published: 27 April 2012

An RCN member and health care support worker (HCSW) has produced a poster to promote dignity in the workplace.

Karen Byrne, who works for Aneurin Bevan Health Board, produced the poster as part of her two-year Certificate of Higher Education in Health Care, which she completed in July at the University of Glamorgan.

It has already been displayed at two conferences, and HCAs and APs will be able to read it at this year’s RCN Congress in Harrogate.

Karen said: “After creating the poster, I thought that I would not let the messages go to waste and that I would very much like to be involved in the promotion of dignity. I am still very passionate about the topic, and I dedicated the poster to the memory of my grandma – who was the inspiration behind it.”

She said it is important to step back from blaming a lack of time and focus on patient care.

Karen said: “Dignity to me is not just about a physical image but also in the manner which we communicate with those in our care. I feel that it only takes five minutes to try and put a patient at ease, let them know that you are listening, that their recovery is important, and they are individual to you as a person as well as a patient.”

Read Karen Byrne’s dignity poster (PDF 54KB) [see how to access PDF files]