From RCN Steward to Council member: why you should consider joining the Nursing Support Workers Committee

It’s been a privilege to carry the voice of Northern nursing support worker members to London. We’ve done some great work and I’ve worked with some fantastic committee members who have supported me through my roles as Vice Chair and now Chair. Recently I’ve been elected as the Nursing Support Worker member of Council, a great honour.  

What being elected onto Council has meant in practice is that while I can continue chairing the Nursing Support Workers Committee, my official role representing the northern region has become available and there will be an election soon. We have five vacancies we’re finding it hard to fill. Nominations open on 1 May.  

If you’re a nursing support worker who is interested in exploring what your RCN membership has to offer you and you’re passionate about pushing forward the nursing support worker agenda, then this role could be for you. Please don’t be shy. You will receive such a warm welcome and so much support, you won’t look back. 

Being on the committee has been the most enjoyable and rewarding experience. It has enhanced my career because I’ve had a lot of learning and development and I’ve grown within the RCN too, also becoming an RCN Northern Board member.  

I think it’s hard for members to picture what we do. We try to help by minuting our meetings and we produce bullet pointed summaries after each meeting which we publish on the RCN Nursing Support Workers’ Facebook page, but there are still a lot of nursing support workers who don’t even know they can join the RCN, let alone a national RCN committee like this, and ultimately Council, the RCN’s overarching governing body.  

There’s still a lot of work to do for the nursing support worker membership and to increase the visibility of the committee. Even just getting the word out there that HCAs and NSWs can be a valued part of the RCN is still important and so we are striving to ensure that this College represents the entire nursing profession.  

On the committee we work on regulation, delegation, and equality. We are doing a piece of work currently looking at regulation and whether every member of the nursing support workforce should to be regulated across all lower bands. There’s a strong case for it. We have more responsibility now, our roles are changing and it seems logical that our work should be regulated.

One of our big successes is that we’re in the fourth year of national Nursing Support Workers’ Day, a celebration of our roles that has brought nursing support workers to the forefront of the RCN. It falls on 23 November every year. This year to celebrate we’re putting together our first-ever conference at RCN HQ in London. Nursing support workers can come and drop into the conference and take part in developmental workshops, health and wellbeing sessions, learn the history of when the first auxiliary nurse was welcomed into the RCN, and take a walking tour of the historic building, which was donated to the RCN.

I’ve got the Nursing Support Workers Committee chair role for four years and the Council seat for one year so hopefully we will find a good nursing support worker representative for the northern region. It’s the most rewarding committee that you could ever work within. The knowledge that other members bring is immense. Our professional lead Ofrah Muflahi is an absolute asset to us; it’s fantastic that we can call on what she brings us in knowledge and strength in the RCN.  

Any member who wants to join will be welcomed and made to feel at home. They would have every one of our contacts. We are there to give them support. I’d recommend getting involved to any member who wants to get that bit more out of their membership. It does take a lot of commitment but the rewards outweigh the sacrifices. I’ve learnt so much in my time which has benefitted me in my professional role. There was a time when I wouldn’t have spoken to anyone up in management and now I have no problem with talking to them - either in the RCN or in the trust, because being on the committee gives you confidence. It involves a time commitment – we have such a big work plan - you do have to set aside some time to read the papers that arrive before each meeting. We meet six times a year – sometimes via  Teams and sometimes in London. But you get to shape the College’s work on behalf of all nursing support workers so it’s very rewarding. 

I would definitely encourage members who want to learn more about the RCN and its activities to join the committee as we listen to each other and our members and we represent them. If you want to help push things forward for nursing support workers then this is the place to be.