I have been a member of RCN Council for the RCN South East Region since January, and it has certainly been a steep but highly enjoyable learning curve.

The RCN is a large and varied organisation - representing over half a million nursing staff and students - and it has been an incredible opportunity to sit on Council and input into the running of the College.

However, it is not just for Council to input - every member should take their opportunity to have a say in how the College is run. The Annual General Meeting – taking place next Thursday 17^th July in-person and online – is an important opportunity to do just that.

As a membership organisation the AGM is where RCN Council presents recommendations to the membership for their approval, and this year's AGM will consider resolutions that Council has discussed and collectively agreed will improve the governance of the RCN.

The resolutions include things like clarifying the role of the General Secretary, the need to set an Annual Budget and hold a special meeting if additional expenditure is required, and to include members of the RCN Executive Team - such as the Chief Nursing Officer, Chief Financial Director, and Chief Executive & General Secretary - as non-voting members of Council.

These are all in line with external report recommendations and what Council members collectively recognise as good practice. A significant area of Council work since I joined in January, as with the last Council, has been to implement the recommendations from the independent Governance and Culture Review reports and to bring governance in line with best practice, as we would with our clinical, educational, and research practices in nursing. Putting forward these resolutions is an important part of this work.

Back in March, I wrote about my first Council meeting in a blog, and the observations I made then are a theme in this post. I wrote about how it is easy to forget that the College is made up of four separate organisations that fall under Council's responsibility. Council is responsible not only for the governance of the RCN but also for all four entities that comprise the RCN Group, which also includes RCNi, RCN Holdco Limited and the RCN Foundation.

The RCN is a multimillion-pound organisation which brings significant governance responsibilities. As Council members, we possess a range of expertise, particularly as nursing staff and representatives of our members' interests. But it is also fair to say that collectively, we don’t have expertise in running multimillion pound organisations. The RCN Executive Team and specialist advisors, for example the auditors, provide Council with the information and discussion needed to enable us to make decisions in members' interests and fulfil our roles responsibly.

This process is so important. However it’s also important to note that, unlike a typical board, the Executive Team do not have voting rights - and the resolutions will not change this. It will help to ensure that Council does not work in isolation from wide-ranging advice, but the elected Council members will still remain the ultimate decision-makers.

The elected Council members have collectively agreed that the resolutions will enhance the governance of the Council, which is something members have been requesting for several years - and something that the public would expect of us as a profession.

When I stood for election, I promised to be transparent and accountable in my role. I will always do my upmost to honour this, so please do not hesitate to contact me about this, or other RCN matters, on sally.bassett@reps.rcn.org.uk.

And most of all, I want to take this opportunity to encourage all members to use their voice and vote on the resolutions at this year’s AGM. And remember if you are unable to attend, you can also vote by proxy. More details about the AGM, including full details about all the resolutions, are available here.