Why should health practitioners join the RCN?

As a valued member of the nursing team, health practitioners, such as health care assistants and asssistant practitioners, can join the RCN - the largest professional union for nursing in the UK, with around 400,000 members both in the NHS and the private sector.

For details of the eligibility criteria for this category of membership read further information about the health practitioner first year discount. Your RCN membership will provide:

Protection

• Your membership includes indemnity protection of up to £3 million against claims of clinical negligence if you are at work or on a placement (conditions apply). This includes a 'good samaritan' clause to safeguard you if you go to the aid of someone that needs urgent medical attention when you are outside of work. If you are a midwifery assistant, view the additional information relevant to you.
• The RCN has the largest in house legal team of any union in the UK so in appropriate circumstances, as a member you are entitled to advice and representation by one of our experienced lawyers on any matter of law that occurs in the course of employment. Without RCN membership you could be forced to pay from £120 to more than £300 per hour for a lawyer. In the financial year 2010/2011 in England and Wales we recovered over £7.3million of compensation for our members in employment litigation, criminal and personal injury claims.

Advice and support

• We have over 4,000 workplace representatives who can support you in the planning and management of your learning, ensure health and safety requirements are complied with and your terms and conditions are the best they can be. These representatives are fully trained and work in the nursing profession like you so they fully understand your needs and issues.
• RCN Direct is our information, advice and support service. We have fully trained advisers available over the telephone from 8.30am to 8.30pm, 365 days a year, and online whenever you need it.
• The RCN Careers Service provides advice on writing CVs and application forms, interview techniques and career planning. A careers coaching session can cost in excess of £100, but as a member you are entitled to free careers advice sessions, delivered by advisers with a wealth of experience of nursing and health care career pathways.
• RCN Immigration Services are authorised by the Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner. We offer free consultations to members. If you were not a member, basic advice with no representation could cost a minimum of £100.
• Our welfare service offers practical financial advice.

Learning and development

• The First Steps for Health Care Assistants (HCAs) induction resource can help you with your induction training as well as enable you to gain confidence in basic care skills.
• The RCN has one of the largest specialist nursing libraries in Europe with access to over 64,000 books, key nursing databases, 700 ejournals and 600 ebooks. Much of the service is available online meaning you can save money. For example, on Amazon the second edition of Skills for nursing and healthcare students is £20. Through the RCN’s elibrary you can access it free.
• As an RCN member you can use our online Learning Zone to create an online evidence-based portfolio and develop your personal and clinical skills through bite sized chunks of learning. The Learning Zone includes tools and exercises that you can do on your own and on areas that maybe you don’t want to admit you need some extra help with.
• Discounts are available to RCN members wishing to study with the Open University.
• We run events that are specifically designed for HCAs, HCSWs and APs. Furthermore, as an HCA member, you can save up to 40% off the delegate fee of our conferences, seminars and workshops – this saving can be between £32 and £104.

Networking opportunities

• As a member you can join the HCA and AP Network. Here you can get local news, share best practice, debate current issues and get your voice heard.
• If you have an interest in a particular area of health care, you can join one of our specialist forums. The forums help you network and enhance your practice knowledge and skills as well as provide opportunities to get involved in shaping the direction of the specialism. Or, you can just use them as a means of getting the latest information relevant to you and your practice.
• Every fortnight you will receive RCN Bulletin magazine* which is packed with news and jobs. You will also receive a quarterly e-newsletter containing news, information and advice relevant to you.

A campaigning voice

• We work alongside other unions when negotiating with decision makers to ensure that your pay and conditions are the best they can possibly be.
• We are committed to campaigning and lobbying to bring about real improvements in the lives of nurses and health care assistants - improving studying, working conditions, and training opportunities. For example our Frontline First campaign has highlighted local cuts to health budgets and is now seen as the authority on this issue as it continues to receive widespread national media coverage.

Discounts

• Through RCNXtra members are saving money on all sorts of things – insurance, utilities, high street stores, supermarkets, dining out, leisure attractions, DVDs, holidays and much, much more.

Can you afford not to join the RCN? Join today.

* RCN Bulletin is not available to members based overseas.