Why nursing must refuse to cope

I want to talk to you about the nursing voice. It’s a phrase we use a lot at the RCN. But this isn’t a new idea. The RCN is celebrating 110 years, and the history of our College is filled with pioneers of nursing, of nurses making their voices heard, of women refusing to accept the status quo.

Mona Grey was born in 1910 in Mussoorie in the Himalayas. By 1933, she had relocated to England where she decided to train as a nurse at the London Hospital, Whitechapel. She served as a ward sister, a night matron, and worked throughout the Second World War.

By 1946 she was the first salaried secretary of the RCN’s Northern Ireland Committee and later became Northern Ireland’s first Chief Nursing Officer. Even in retirement she continued to advocate for older people and founded funds for nursing education.

Her passion for nursing, that determination to find a solution, to find a way through, are things that I deeply admire. But perhaps the biggest thing I see is a fellow activist.

I never actually considered myself to be an activist. I joined the RCN in 1988 when I started my nurse training and I always spoke up for nursing, sometimes landing myself in trouble for not conforming.

We have a powerful voice. History shows us this

It was actually very late on in my career when I realised I was an activist; only a few years ago in fact.

If you voted on the last pay award, you were an activist. If you took part in the first nursing strikes in the history of the RCN, you were an activist. If you’ve advocated for a patient who couldn’t speak for themselves, raised concerns about staffing levels, or refused to accept unsafe practice as “just the way things are”, you have been practising activism.

Last year we launched the RCN Activism Strategy, defining activism as “taking action together to bring about positive change for nursing and our communities”. As a collective, we have power; we have a voice. And we have a powerful voice. History shows us this.

In 1916, the College of Nursing was established. Education and training were at the heart of our activities. We also had other important goals: to speak up for nurses to protect their interests and wellbeing, and to provide nursing with professional status through registration.

By 1919, the RCN had made a significant impact on government policy, with the passing of the Nurses’ Registration Act 1919, which established a UK state register for nurses for the first time.

In the early 1920s, 35,000 nurses signed a petition calling for exemption from the Unemployment Act.

The RCN’s Raise the Roof campaign between 1968 and 1971, led to nurses publicly campaigning for a pay increase for the first time. It resulted in a 22% uplift.

In 1974, thousands of nurses marched through London – and within 10 days, an independent inquiry was announced, resulting in an average 33% pay increase.

Corridor care has been a really strong example of where you have demonstrated the power of nursing activism

Where the RCN has made the most difference, has been through the voice of our members. The way we have shown we refuse to cope. Nursing is a force for good.

Today, there is a lack of recognition of the skills and expertise of nursing, which is reflected in what nursing staff are paid and how we are treated. We know that when there are enough nurses, with the right skills, in a ward, on a shift, or in any care setting – patients are safer.

We know the current pay framework is broken, and long overdue reform to the pay structure is needed. Thanks to what you have told us, we've been demonstrating to the UK governments just how restricted nursing career progression and pay growth are, in the NHS today.

After months of pressure from the RCN for structural reform, in February 2026, ministers announced a package of commitments to support nursing career progression in the NHS in England.

While this is a welcome package of reforms, it is not the whole solution to the structural reform our profession needs. Yes, it is significant, hard-won progress, but only a step towards the value of the nursing profession being fully recognised.

Nursing students are facing severe financial hardship during their studies, and we need an overhaul of financial support across the UK. Last year, we heard reports from some newly registered nurses in particular regions of England, about difficulties finding a registered nurse job.

Alongside RCN members, we stood up firmly against this and secured commitment to address the issue, and I’m pleased that the vast majority of newly registered nurses secured roles.

Last year we also saw the planned closure of the nursing course at Cardiff University – and using your voice we were able to push back against that.

I hear students articulating their experience from their placements; being told ‘get out while you can’

Corridor care has been a really strong example of where you have demonstrated the power of nursing activism. The voices of our members, alongside the determined campaigning of the RCN-led coalition, has resulted in NHS England publishing plans to start tackling corridor care in acute trusts, new data collection in Northern Ireland to public petitions and demonstrations in Wales.

The RCN can’t bring about the changes that need to take place on their own – every member of the nursing workforce, every member, has a role to play.

Too often, I hear students articulating their experience from their placements; being told “I don’t know why you’re doing nursing, get out while you can”. This is nurses not valuing nursing.

There are so many different ways for our members to get involved: becoming an RCN representative, joining our forums, becoming a workforce champion, or stepping into our new ambassador roles.

The RCN can and will continue to be the voice of nursing, but we cannot bring about the changes that are needed, without every single registered nurse, student and nursing support worker also being the voice of nursing.

Every conversation, every time.

We need each other more than ever - for the future – for the future of our profession and the future health of the populations we serve.