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Reflections

Congress momentum will push RCN’s campaign for fair pay, says Peter Carter Since last month’s RCN congress I am fired up by the enthusiasm and purpose displayed by RCN members in Liverpool. The premier event in the nursing calendar, congress saw members from all over the country meet to share ideas for nursing practice and inform the college’s agenda. The range of topics discussed and the quality of the debates were outstanding. Controversial issues such as charges for GP visits and the care of intoxicated people in emergency departments were considered in a highly professional manner, and with an unwavering commitment to supporting patients. Our discussions were reported widely, on the front pages of three national newspapers and in more than 16,000 #RCNCongress tweets. RCN members articulated a lot of anger about the government’s unfair decision on NHS pay. The refusal to grant a 1 per cent cost-of-living rise is a sign of its appalling complacency about the pressures faced by the health service workforce. As I said in my speech to congress, this risks driving people out of nursing. While it is always a concern to hear members talk about financial difficulties caused by poor pay, there was staunch determination among delegates to make clear to the government how unacceptable we find its policy. Congress has undoubtedly added to the momentum of the RCN’s campaign for fair pay. With less than a year until the general election, we will be ramping up the pressure on politicians to secure a better deal for the nursing profession. Peter Carter is RCN chief executive and general secretary

Silence your inner critic Too much self-criticism can lead to self-doubt and a lack of compassion for oneself, warns Stephen Wright I have lost count of the number of nurses I have met like the one I sat with last week. Exhausted and burned out, she was doing her best to make it all okay, be kind and caring, and go the extra mile for her patients even if it meant missing her breaks or going home late. Then the patient complaint came – was it a misunderstanding? Had she got it wrong? The thought that someone had something bad to say about her, justified or otherwise, cut her to the quick. It seemed the world had turned against her – not just the outer world of the patient who had complained, or the boss who had to discipline her, but her inner world as well. Suddenly she was plagued with self-doubt, racked with thoughts that she was ‘wrong’ and ‘bad’ and that she was not ‘good enough’ to be a nurse. Her inner critic – that voice we all hear from time to time, rooted in our upbringing and the forging of the ego – was having a field day. Whatever punishment she felt she was getting from the world around her was

nothing compared to the blame and shame she felt inside. And herein lies the paradox. In a job where she is required to show compassion for patients, she was incapable of extending that

GPS support Give the blind a helping hand, says Jane Bates ‘You should have seen me!’ my patient said, trying to make light of it. ‘I was stumbling down the corridor, all over the place, and couldn’t see a thing. I ended up having to hug a wall and eventually someone noticed me. People must have thought I was drunk.’ The patient is a relatively young man, seemingly fit, but he has diabetes. Like so many people with diabetes, he does not complain, just gets on with life. He has diabetic retinopathy, and has nearly lost the sight in one eye. When he

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Voices - Congress momentum will push RCN's campaign for fair pay, says Peter Carter.

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