Congress 2008 highlights - Sunday

RCN Congress 2008 opens in style

RCN Congress opened in Bournemouth on Sunday evening with an inspirational speech from RCN President Maura Buchanan.

Touching on the theme of this year’s Congress, Forward Together, Maura spoke about the care, compassion, dignity, and respect that is at the heart of nursing.

Download the full text of Maura Buchanan’s speech (doc 76kb)

The opening ceremony also saw presentations of RCN Fellowship, Honorary Fellowships to six outstanding individuals who have all made major contributions to nursing.

A special Congress opening message from the RCN President, Maura Buchanan

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Hello and welcome to Congress 2008 – it promises to be a busy week, but above all, it promises to be an enjoyable, rewarding and fulfilling week.

The theme for Congress 2008 is Forward together, which is about making progress and making a difference. This is our chance to honour the pioneers who push and expand the nursing boundaries, and to celebrate a profession that is constantly evolving, modernising, changing and adapting.

Nurses make up a third of the UK health care workforce and our roles are constantly expanding and diversifying. Yet, it its very heart, nursing is and always will be a caring profession. Our profession goes wider and deeper than ever before. But, wherever we work and whatever we do, we are one nursing family. And, as members of that family, we don’t simply care about our profession – most of all we care about the issues that affect the lives and the health of out patients, be it nutrition, dignity or safety. These are the issues that top our agenda and dominate our debates this week at Congress.

Moving forward together as a profession means we must also move forward together as a college.  We must be united, inclusive and recognise what we can all offer – including the experience of our dedicated activists, the expertise of our specialist forums, the enthusiasm of our students and the boundless talents and skills of each and every member. Forward together, we can meet challenges head on and make real progress.

So in Bournemouth this week, we will prove that we are united, respected and trusted health care professionals, with caring and compassion at our core.