Maybe you couldn’t be in Liverpool for RCN Congress 2025, or maybe you were there and the four days flashed by in a blur as you got involved in events and debates, listened to speakers and met colleagues at networking events, such as the nursing support worker social.
Whatever the case, we’ve got you covered with just a few (and certainly not all) of the moments of Congress 2025.
Nicola Ranger’s keynote speech
Pay, internationally educated nursing staff, students, corridor care and more. RCN General Secretary and Chief Executive Professor Nicola Ranger spoke on a range of topics in her keynote speech.
Watch highlights in the video below – or if you’d prefer to read the main points, take a look at our summary of what Nicola said on the key issues.
Nursing education crisis
We heard from students about the challenges they’re facing while in education. From being used to plug staff shortages to working additional jobs outside of clinical placements to get by, the struggles they're facing were high on the agenda.
Resolutions passed from the debates around providing extensive support to reduce the hardships faced by the international student nursing community, and a review of the financial support available to all nursing students.
To become a nurse in the UK, students undertake university studies alongside mandatory placements as part of their training, with very limited financial support. You can add your name to call on governments across the UK to commit to review the financial support available for nursing students.
We also published a report delving into issues in nursing education, including redundancies and severances in the university workforce.
Immigration measures
The rights and futures of migrant nursing staff were a big theme at Congress, with our report on internationally educated nursing staff (IENs) being released on Wednesday. The topic became even more important as the UK government announced plans to reduce immigration on Monday.
In her Congress keynote speech, Nicola called on political leaders to stop making life difficult for nursing staff who want to work in the UK. She said ministers should bring down immigration application costs, give IENs access to benefits and grant indefinite leave to remain to all nursing staff “without delay”.
Nursing pay
On Wednesday, there were reports in The Times newspaper that there are plans to give doctors a higher pay rise than nursing staff, again. Nicola spoke about the news on stage:
Stand with me now – enough is enough
“You can’t take away nursing posts and use the money to give another profession a pay rise,” she said. “We want career progression and a pay rise. Stand with me now – enough is enough.”
Nursing support workers
Nursing support workers were vocal across the main debates, making sure their vital voice and input was heard in sharing their stories and insights from the variety of specialisms they work in.
In the week, we launched the RCN’s new definition and levels for nursing support workers. These definitions aim to support and protect staff, as they play a vital role in delivering safe and effective care. This is part of our ongoing work looking at the levels of nursing, which aims to provide a professional framework for nursing that will encompass the whole nursing workforce.
Nursing support workers rounded off their time at Congress with a special reception event.
Four days of debates
Congress is the ultimate opportunity to take part in vibrant debates about the issues affecting the nursing workforce. The debates form the business agenda of Congress are an opportunity for members to share their opinions with RCN Council, and to influence the work of the RCN.
This year’s agenda saw passion-driven debates on topics such as the use of opioids, increasing understanding of neurodiversity, and nursing’s role in combatting human trafficking.
- You can watch back debates from the hall by clicking through the Congress programme to the individual debate sessions.
The RCN Awards and opening ceremony
On Monday, Congress began with its annual RCN awards. Here, we appointed seven new Fellows and five Honorary Fellows, announced six Award of Merit recipients and recognised our Representative, Student Ambassador and Forum Achievement award winners. Read more about the winners.
RCN President Bejoy Sebastian addressed the room at the awards ceremony, saying the awards are “an opportunity to celebrate the brilliance of our members and the tireless work you do for our profession”.
Reflecting on the role nursing staff have in leading change and innovation in health care, Bejoy added: “I trust in the power of the collective strength of nursing and truly believe that together we can make the profession more valued and respected.”
Of course, we can’t cover everything that happened at Congress. Watch the highlights video below:
And we’ll leave you with just one of the many moments that sums up the togetherness, energy, and inspiration you find at Congress, wherever in the UK we hold it. Thanks for having us, Liverpool.
