I thoroughly enjoyed attending the RCN annual congress in Newport, Wells, between 4-6 of June, 2024.I met colleagues from different nursing backgrounds and had the opportunity to meet the RCN representatives from my local branch.
I have not attended RCN congress before, therefore I didn't come with any expectations. Beforehand, I only reviewed the Congress's agenda and the programme of the well-being events. I decided to attend the debates daily and to chose what well-being events I would attend on the day.
From the minute I arrived, I felt welcome. Everyone had a smile on their face and people were very happy to help me and answer my questions.
I was surprised by the extent of the congress. I certainly wasn't prepared to meet more that 3000 nursing professionals at one place.
I thoroughly enjoyed the debates, people were happy to share expertise and opinions, and those were respected by other RCN members. High numbers of members had the opportunity to contribute despite the long queues, which were very well managed by the chair. I liked the fact the we received daily reports from the agenda committee about what was going on behind the scenes.
I absolutely admire the retired RCN members who always greeted me when passing by. During debates, they were very passionate about making the nursing profession recognised and respected. They were as much involved in the debates as the nurses who are still practicing their profession. These people are an absolute inspiration to me.
During the two days I was required to vote, I managed to have conversations with nurses from the general practice forum, diabetes forum and air force forum, and we discussed the challenges we currently face in our workplaces. Despite our different nursing backgrounds, the staffing issues and the physical and emotional exhaustion seemed to be experienced by everyone.
I met other members from the Cancer Forum and I admire how passionate they all were about the future of the cancer nursing. With the increased number of patient referrals, the advancement of diagnostic technologies and new targeted treatment options, the cancer nursing workforce currently face numerous challenges. Therefore, cancer nurses need strong support in order to adapt to their constantly changing working environment.
I attended few wellbeing events and I really enjoyed them. The RCN Activism event was motivational and made me aware of all the different ways nurses can get involved in promoting the nursing profession and make real changes in our work environment. The leadership and management event was very relevant to my role and broadened my knowledge of the existing leadership theories. The sepsis event was delivered by critical care nurses, and has given me a good insight of how sepsis is managed within the ITU environment. However, neutropenic sepsis was not mentioned during the event. The last event I have attended developed my understanding of the difference between enhanced and advanced nursing practice.
I also enjoyed the evening events. Through numerous conversations, those evenings with members of different RCN London branches, I got an insight of what is happening at branch meetings and what branches are getting involved in during the year.
To summarise, I absolutely enjoyed my time at Congress and I genuinely believe that every nursing professional should experience this at least once during their professional career. Again, many thanks for giving me the opportunity to be part of RCN Congress 2024.
