Rod's blog
Here we are again, the last day of Congress. The week really has flown by and I put that down to the quality of debate, our brilliant key note speakers and of course the opportunity to meet with so many of our dedicated members.
Yesterday we were fortunate enough to be addressed by Molly Case, a second year student nurse from London and spoken word artist. She delivered an awe-inspiring performance of her poem Nursing the Nation. We posted the video of her recital online and it has already had over 18,000 views. You can view and share the video either on the RCN facebook page or the YouTube channel here.
Molly preceded Lord Willis of Knaresborough, Chair of the Willis Commission on nursing education, and she really was a tough act to follow. However, I think he succeeded. In light of the allegations that nurses are ‘too posh to wash’ or ‘too clever to care’, the Willis Commission looked the challenges facing nurse education, with particular focus on the move to an all graduate scheme. He presented those findings back to Congress. Willis thoroughly discredited these myths and explained that his Commission found no evidence that there is any conflict between compassion and intellect. Lord Willis then stayed on to chat with our student members and take their questions.
Today we have our Inspirational Nursing session which I am particularly looking forward to. The session is to be held by Joanne Tomlinson, Nursing Standard Nurse of the Year, and she will be explaining how she has shaped her service to make a real difference for her patients.
I would encourage you, if you can, to watch the session live on the website or catch it again on the Congress archive.
