Some of us may have heard the saying, “Be alert – the country needs lerts.” The same can be said about stewards and safety representatives: the RCN needs many more than it has.
Although a lot of what the RCN does happens nationally and the RCN has many different parts that negotiate nationally on behalf of members, the RCN is a membership organisation. At a recent local branch meeting several members from a local hospital were understandably upset at the redundancies, redeployment and ward closures being made by their employer. Most disconcerting of all was the very clear criticism those members had of the RCN, especially in comparing the RCN unfavourably to other unions. The Regional Officer commented that understandably these members want the RCN to halt and even reverse the cutbacks and to end their own hurt – but, much like King Canute showed he cannot stop the tide from rolling in, the most pragmatic response to these cutbacks is to acknowledge they will happen and to secure that the employer follows agreed and fair procedure, and to get the best deal for those individual members affected.
However I think it is unfair to accuse the RCN of being ineffective and invisible. The RCN is a membership organisation and it is those very members who complain of invisibility who make it what it is, and it requires accredited representatives in order to do it. Since I became an accredited safety representative several years ago I have been able to influence the NHS Trust that employs me, not only through my representation to the organisation on various committees and steering groups; but also other NHS Trusts through my involvement as a staff side representative working with Improving Working Lives Practice Plus.
One of the biggest problems to visibility is that a lot of this influence is not apparent to shop floor nurses. The greatest impact that I have made with my colleagues is ensuring that they receive a change of shift payment according to a policy that had apparently been buried by the unit for the previous 14 months. It showed me that the way for an accredited representative to be noticed by their colleagues is to do something that improves their everyday lives. Whilst this feels a little shallow it is in a way reasonable; but for this reason accredited safety representatives are in the unique position - that unfortunately many mangers are not - of being in clinical practice as well as contributing to the running of the organisation, and therefore being able to join the two in a way that managers cannot.
I see the role of accredited representatives as having been greatly enhanced by the Improving Working Lives strategy which, although it has somewhat slipped off the radar, showed organisations that staff side input works and is supportive of them.
So, to paraphrase the saying at the start of this reflection: be an RCN representative – your colleagues need you.
