Since the RCN was founded in 1916, we have fought for nurses’ rights. Over the last century, the RCN Library and its collections have grown to serve an increasingly varied group of nursing staff in terms of gender, race, religion, age and job role. From 1976, this included supporting members as the main nursing trade union. We also welcome the public through our doors, further diversifying the communities we serve.

In 2024 the RCN launched its Equity, Diversity and Inclusion strategy which underpins the College’s EDI work.  Several of our existing ways of working align with the strategy’s aims and we have additional projects planned which will allow us to contribute to the strategy’s implementation.  The strategy has also outlined areas of development the Library and Museum team will contribute to, and these are reflected in our plan where appropriate.

The RCN Library and Museum EDI mission is to create a welcoming and supportive community for all our users, within nursing staff and beyond. This underpins the Library and Museum mission to support the nursing profession and inspire everyone to explore nursing and its history.

• You will feel welcome to use our services and collections, in person and online.
• You will find us a place of inspiration and support for your nursing interests.
• You will feel included in our decisions, and comfortable offering suggestions and ideas to help our EDI plans evolve. 
• You will feel a valued part of the Library and Museum service and play your part in supporting its diversity.

As a community, together:

• We will create a culture of listening, reflection and learning from each other. 
• We will all seek to understand our own assumptions and the impact of our behaviour on others. 
• We will value our differences, learning from them to ensure that we grow and change in recognition of all our needs. 
• We will ensure all staff undertake regular EDI training and continuing professional development. 

Our EDI plan seeks to ensure that these principles are embedded throughout our services. We will review it every two years, adapting and expanding as necessary.

• The RCN EDI strategy commits to a full revision of how we collect and monitor data on protected characteristics, and to annually report on the outcomes. The Library and Museum will contribute to this and demonstrate our own progress.
• We will review our policies to ensure they are anti-racist and anti-discriminatory.
• Our project plans have embedded equity impact assessments, and these will continue to inform how we develop our services.
• We will consult the communities we serve to evaluate our progress, including the EDI committee and RCN leads to develop member networks for protected characteristics.
• We will review budgets annually to allocate adequate resources and funding to implement these suggestions.

This plan was last updated in June 2025

What we are doing:

• Our library space is wheelchair accessible.
• Our bathrooms contain free menstrual products.
• Our stock is in easier to reach places with clear signage and accessible equipment available and we welcome support animals in all our spaces.
• We offer quiet, wellbeing and group spaces. 
• We are fine free and offer free postal loans and returns.
• Our online offer, both databases and websites, has built-in accessibility options.
• We have assessed all user equipment fits best practice.
• We introduced noise cancelling headphones for member use.
• We have scheduled ongoing staff training in using accessibility equipment.
• Adjustable desks are available in quiet study and downstairs study areas.

What we did in 2024:

• Add a folding baby change unit in the disabled toilets.
• Review the monitor size of PCs to check they are accessible. 
• Ensure the new library service platform is accessible.

What we will do in the future:

• Develop the new library service platform to ensure full accessibility for our members.
• Investigate use of AI chatbot for out of hours customer support.
• Complete review of the library space with member input to restyle the space to improve members' experience.
• Critical examination of RCN library website and library space using EDI experts.

What we are doing:

• We regularly review our resources to ensure we are supporting EDI areas and fill gaps in our collections.
• We encourage our members to submit their recommendations to ensure resources reflect our membership.
• Our collection management tools (policy and matrix) have been through an equity and inclusion assessment and must have Welsh language options.
• We review our thesaurus terminology to ensure we are using terms that are up to date and not offensive and suggest changes to union catalogues.
• We support equity of access to our collections via our virtual reading room and eLibrary offer.
• Encourage nursing history donations (books, objects) from more diverse audiences by adding donations invite to exhibition spaces.

What we did in 2024:

• Review, remove, and replace offensive subject headings and classification numbers from the in-house classification scheme, following the RCN EDI toolkit guidance.
• Hold annual four-county reviews of the classification scheme to ensure terminology is appropriate and provide opportunities for Library and Museum staff to recommend changes.
• Provide access to resources that support equity, diversity, and inclusion in nursing.
• Help to build a strong evidence base for the EDI strategy by ensuring the appropriate resources are purchased and made available.
• Contribute to building a definitive best practice repository aimed at reducing and eliminating health inequalities in nursing practice.

What we will do in the future:

• Add a statement to our webpages regarding offensive terminology in our historical collections.
• Implement classification scheme review, addressing historic offensive classification practices.
• Improve accessibility of print book shelving and space.

What we are doing:

• We offer both online and in-person training sessions at varying times with different formats and lengths.
• Our trainers use a variety of tools to promote user engagement, clearly state learning objectives, avoid jargon and provide presentations in advance.
• Additional training resources are available in different formats including video guides and printable user guides.
• In-person one-to-one training sessions can be delivered in a quiet space with adjustable lighting. A large computer screen is also available.
• Large mouse pointers are used and instructions for renaming self are provided in online training sessions.

What we did in 2024:

• Review the assistive technologies and accessibility features of resources used during training sessions.
• Review our Reps training sessions and support development of new EDI Reps training.
• Review the live captioning used in our online training sessions.

What we will do in the future:

• We will review good EDI practice and innovations in training from other libraries to continuously improve our sessions.
• We will review the examples used in our training sessions to ensure a diverse range is used.
• Explore assistive technologies available for online training and the features available through online resources (databases etc).
• Create a guide on what to expect during 1-1 sessions.
• Provide space for members to communicate additional support needs during training sessions.

What we are doing:

• We ensure our exhibitions have large print guides and are independently checked for accessibility.
• Our events are wide ranging, offered in person, hybrid and online at varied days and times and we record them where possible to ensure access to all.
• Our event series actively promotes diversity and inclusion: panels with 3 or more speakers will include at least one speaker from a global majority and lived experience speakers wherever possible. Our launches are BSL-interpreted and at least two events in each programme have live subtitles.
• We brief speakers to ensure they consider and flag difficult or offensive historic content and have safeguarding polices and risk assessments in place.

What we did in 2024:

• Offer expenses to volunteers to ensure a diverse range of people are able to take up our opportunities.
• Review volunteer support needs at the outset of each programme and make devices available to remote volunteers to reduce digital exclusion.
• Make optional name labels available at events to support attendees with face blindness.
• Work with our volunteer team to diversify exhibition content and, through this, our collections.

What we will do in the future:

• We will review options for additional forms of interpretation in the next main exhibition, including Easy Read and diverse types of content.
• We will explore ways to implement user testing across our exhibition and event programme.
• We will review the work of other groups working on EDI in museums to identify additional measures for future improvement.
• We will publish a Museum Access Plan, identifying additional measures for improvement arising from these reviews.
• Contribute to the RCN’s new EDI branded event series to build members’ EDI knowledge and confidence.

What we are doing:

• Our recruitment panels are a mix of genders and ethnicities.
• We are members of the Disability Confident employer scheme and have blind recruitment in place.
• In our advertisements we offer financial assistance for travel costs or remote interviews and encourage applicants from underrepresented groups.
• We give robust and comprehensive feedback to any interviewed candidate.
• We offer training roles to allow access to the sector.
• We are advertising in new places to encourage diverse talent application and via cultural and library partners (e.g. Arts Emergency). 
• We contribute to numerous external EDI networks and advocacy groups working in partnership to emulate best practice and form collaborative activities.
  
   

What we did in 2024:

• We will trial providing questions 24 hours in advance of interviews.
• We will improve the interview process by creating a pack for all candidates which includes panel member names, photos, and pronouns, and a clear timetable for the day.
• We will improve accessibility information including public transport options and building information.
• We will agree minimum levels of diversity for interview panels.

What we will do in the future:

• Consider ways to better collaborate with staff networks.
• Providing opportunities for paid training including apprenticeships.
• Scaling assessment centre and interview tasks to job roles.
• Work with recruit to improve accessibility of application forms to include non-written applications and assessment centres.