The recent heatwave has brought a number of challenges for nursing staff, particularly for those of us who need to wear personal protective equipment (PPE) for long periods. Many of us will remember the summer of 2020, when temperatures regularly exceeded 30°C and health care staff were caring for patients with COVID-19 while wearing full PPE for entire shifts. Add the effects of menopause or a health condition that is worsened by heat, and wearing PPE can quickly become uncomfortable, exhausting and, at times, almost intolerable.

During the pandemic, much of the attention around PPE rightly focused on issues of fit, particularly for an ethnically diverse workforce. However, members also shared wider concerns about how PPE affected their health, wellbeing and ability to work safely. We heard from nursing staff experiencing menopausal symptoms, those managing long-term health conditions, and members whose religious beliefs meant they required alternative forms of respiratory protection. For example, some members who maintain beards for religious observance reported difficulties accessing suitable respiratory protective equipment, such as air-fed hoods.

These experiences highlighted an important truth: one size does not fit all.

Drawing on members' lived experiences, working with the RCN Changemaker community, members of the UK Health and Safety Reps Committee and staff with professional expertise, the RCN has developed its Inclusive Personal Protective Equipment for a Diverse Nursing Workforce position statement. The statement recognises that the nursing workforce is diverse in terms of sex, ethnicity, religion, disability, body shape and facial features, and that PPE provision and organisational cultures and practices must reflect that diversity.

Poorly fitting or inappropriate PPE can affect more than just physical safety. It can impact comfort, dignity, confidence and inclusion at work. The position statement calls on employers to ensure PPE is designed, selected and supplied with inclusivity at its core. This includes providing suitable equipment, carrying out individual assessments where required, and ensuring that nursing staff are not expected to adapt themselves to equipment that was never designed with their needs in mind.

At the heart of the RCN's position is a simple but powerful principle:

PPE should fit the nursing workforce, rather than the nursing workforce having to fit the PPE.

The publication of the position statement is just the beginning. We will continue to develop practical resources and tools to support RCN representatives and members in advocating for more inclusive PPE in their workplaces. We will also be working with employers, manufacturers, regulators and policymakers to drive forward the changes needed to ensure equitable protection for all nursing staff.

When people think about PPE, respiratory protective equipment (tight-fitting face masks) often come to mind first. However, PPE is much broader than this. It includes safety glasses and goggles, protective footwear, gloves and even radiation protection equipment such as lead aprons.

One inspiring example comes from Adele Paris, an RCN member and senior theatre nurse at Morriston Hospital. Alongside colleague Elizabeth Thomas, Adele raised concerns that traditional tabard-style lead aprons used in theatres did not provide adequate coverage or fit for women nursing staff. Rather than accepting the status quo, they worked with suppliers, organised staff fit assessments and explored a wider range of available options. Their efforts helped secure improved access to different styles and sizes of lead gowns, ensuring staff could choose radiation protection equipment that fitted safely and comfortably. Their work demonstrates how local nursing leadership can successfully influence workplace safety and make PPE more inclusive for everyone.

The UK Health and Safety Representatives Committee is keen to hear from members who are campaigning for safer and more inclusive PPE in their workplaces. By sharing experiences and examples of good practice, we can build the evidence needed to drive lasting change across health and care settings.

If you have been campaigning for better, more inclusive PPE, we would love to hear from you. Please contact the Health, Safety and Wellbeing team at hswteam@rcn.org.uk Together, we can help ensure that every member of the nursing workforce has access to PPE that protects, supports and respects them.