RCN Northern Ireland Christmas lecture and reception

Published: 08 December 2009

RCN Northern Ireland Director Janice Smyth and RCN Executive Director of Nursing Janet Davies jointly presented the 2009 RCN Northern Ireland Christmas lecture at a reception on Tuesday 8 December.

Janet highlighted the key achievements of the RCN during 2009, whilst Janice focused upon the issues that the RCN is addressing in Northern Ireland. These include the selection and preparation of pre-registration nursing students, the scope of the role of the executive director of nursing in HSC trusts, and the implementation of Agenda for Change in Northern Ireland.

During the evening, the newly-named Mona Grey Meeting Room was unveiled as a permanent tribute to the first salaried Secretary of the RCN in Northern Ireland, who died earlier this year. Guests contributed to a collection to support the new Holy Innocents Children's Hospital in Mbarara, Uganda. This is the first dedicated children's hospital in Uganda and further information about the work of the hospital is available at www.holyinnocentsuganda.org.

The lecture was introduced by RCN Northern Ireland Board Chair Ann Marie O'Neill and attended by RCN members and other key figures within nursing and health care in Northern Ireland, including Jim Wells MLA, Chair of the Northern Ireland Assembly Health Committee, and Chief Nursing Officer Martin Bradley.