Congress and your continuing professional development

RCN Congress as a whole has been accredited by the RCN Accreditation Unit. This means that attendance at Congress provides a valid contribution towards the requirements of PREP.

The programme of events outside the main debating chamber continues to grow and includes learning and training events, professional networking and social activities, together with the exhibition, which is bigger and more varied than ever. All these activities will be included in the Congress handbook and listed on the website shortly.

At Congress itself, a display area in the RCN lounge will enable members to advertise their events. To avoid unnecessary waste, leafleting the conference hall will not be allowed unless permission is given by the conference manager.

Events can also be promoted via the Congress Daily Bulletin, though space is very limited, so inclusion cannot be guaranteed.

Tips for getting the best out of Congress:

RCN Congress offers members a unique menu of opportunities for their professional development. Just stop and think about the full range of chances the week gives you to develop personally and professionally:

  • Ensure you have full details of the Congress agenda – for each item there is a synopsis and some suggested background sources so that you can begin to prepare yourself to be more knowledgeable about the issues. 
  • The debates provide a rich diet of learning to take back to your practice area; they stimulate thought; provoke constructive analysis of the issues and may cause you to re-think practice in your workplace.
  • Professional and educational events take place throughout Congress week at breakfast, lunchtime and in the evenings. Many of these are put on by various departments and membership groups within the RCN; others are offered by external providers. 
  • There is a series of seminars run in conjunction with the exhibition throughout Congress week, which offer a further menu of learning choices.
  • The Congress Exhibition may not initially strike you as a place to learn, but look at it afresh What is there that you could apply within your practice? Is there anything that might cause you to re-evaluate your career or educational pathway?
  • Congress offers the perfect opportunity to network. There are so many chances to meet people from all walks of practice, management and education. Make a note of contact details to build up your personal list of people who might be helpful to you in your professional future.

So those are some of the opportunities, but how can you gain from this in terms of your personal and professional development? The important thing is to capture what you have learned. This will be a different experience for each and every one of you, so it’s up to you to tailor the week to your own ends.

Start off by planning your week. Take some time to work out systematically which events and debates are most important to ensure you get what you want out of Congress.

  • Read the background information for the debates – you’ll get much more out of them if you can do this.
  • Keep details of  the of people you meet throughout the week who might form a useful network for you.
  • Read the Framework for structured reflection (PDF, 128KB) and use it to reflect on your experiences and to capture your learning.  You can download and keep it in your PREP portfolio so that it can count towards your required hours for professional updating.
  • Try to reflect not only what you have learned from each event or debate you attended, but also what you have learned about the complete experience of Congress. For example, at the end you might think that you need to gain some more skills in assertiveness if you are to make your nursing voice heard; equally you might have decided to submit an article to one of the nursing journals on a subject that you feel passionately about.

Whatever it is, capture it and act on it! We do hope that this will help you to gain the most possible from Congress 2008.