Nursing Matters
32 episodes - English - Latest episode: over 1 year ago -Welcome to Nursing Matters, the brand new podcast from the Royal College of Nursing.
The pandemic is bringing out the very best in nursing – and reminding the public just how invaluable the profession is. What have we learned from this once-in-a-generation crisis? How can we use that knowledge to make the profession more effective in future? And what kind of new deal do nursing staff deserve after all their efforts?
Every two weeks on Nursing Matters, we’ll bring together experts from the RCN Professional Nursing Committee along with some special guests to talk about what really matters to nursing.
From inspirational innovations and pioneering practice to pay, conditions and health and care policy - we’ll look at it all. And we’ll stand up for nursing all the way.
That’s Nursing Matters – available now wherever you get your podcasts.
Nursing Matters is a Podmasters production for the RCN.
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Episodes
Standing up for Nursing Support Workers
November 21, 2022 14:47 - 41 minutesThis special edition of Nursing Matters focuses on our brilliant nursing support workers across the UK, to recognise their invaluable contribution as the RCN celebrates its annual Nursing Support Workers’ Day. We’re talking about the critical roles they play, how they deserve better recognition, and why this vital but often neglected element of the nursing workforce should get the best education and training opportunities for career development. Our special guests are Tara Johnson, a healthc...
Black History Month and Mental Health
October 28, 2022 15:26 - 37 minutesOctober is Black History Month, an opportunity for the RCN to spotlight the contributions of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic nurses across the profession. Dr. Ann Mitchell is a practitioner, educator and researcher in mental health nursing. She talks about her work: challenging stereotypes, stigma and the racism faced by both service users and those who care for them – highlighting the importance of transcultural care, and equal opportunities. Nursing Matters is presented by PNC chair Rach...
Fair pay protects patient safety
September 30, 2022 03:00 - 32 minutesThe nursing workforce in crisis – this week’s Nursing Matters hears from Professor Alison Leary, a Fellow of the RCN whose areas of expertise include health care and workforce modelling, and patient safety. Why is the nursing workforce in such a precarious position? How could this crisis be solved? As RCN members are asked to vote for strike action, why is nursing pay pivotal to the health, safety and wellbeing of the nursing profession, and the UK population? “We have a perfect storm no...
Nursing: Fighting for its future
September 23, 2022 13:29 - 31 minutesThe nursing profession has a long history of activism and of advocating for change. This episode of Nursing Matters hears from Professor Dame Anne Marie Rafferty, past RCN President, Professor of Nursing Policy and noted historian. Anne Marie introduces her top nursing heroines, makes the case for industrial action to effect positive change and discusses the links between pay and patient safety. “Nurses are absolutely crucial in driving access to care, you know, quality and patient outcomes…y...
Industrial action – one nurse’s perspective
September 02, 2022 13:08 - 28 minutesAs the RCN prepares to ballot members on industrial strike action, we talk to one nurse from Northern Ireland who knows exactly how it feels to join a picket line. In 2019, Edna Grant took part in the first ever strike by RCN members which resulted in pay parity and a commitment to safe staffing legislation for the nursing profession in Northern Ireland. Edna shares how she made the decision to go on strike, how derogation worked and how patient safety remained paramount. She also offers in...
Fair pay for nursing - what it means and why it matters
August 26, 2022 10:00 - 47 minutesWith the announcement of the NHS pay awards, we’re looking at the state of pay in nursing. Are UK governments doing enough to recruit and retain the nursing staff our profession, and most importantly our patients, really need? And just how likely is it that nurses will take industrial action? Special guests Ben Zaranko, senior research economist from the Institute for Fiscal Studies, and Denise Kelly, Chair of the RCN Trade Union Committee join us to talk pay, safe staffing, and strike acti...
Ethical recruitment of overseas nurses – how can we do better?
June 16, 2022 03:00 - 40 minutesThe UK relies heavily on recruiting overseas nurses to join the workforce, at a time when we have an urgent need to increase our own domestic supply. In the context of a global shortage of nurses, how should we manage international recruitment, and how can we improve the support given to international nurses when they arrive in the UK? Special guests Felicia Kwaku OBE and Charlotte Collings join us to explore ethical recruitment, the experiences of overseas nurses, and how we can learn from d...
International Nurses’ Day: Celebrating the Best of Nursing
May 11, 2022 16:00 - 36 minutesNurses are leaders, innovators and creators. As we mark International Nurses’ Day, we’re celebrating the profession, and exploring the diversity of nursing roles today. Special guests and RCN award-winners, HMP Cardiff’s Kirsty John and founder and director of British Sikh Nurses Rohit Sagoo, join us to explore the theme of this year’s Nurses’ Day – ‘the Best of Nursing’. Nursing Matters is presented by PNC chair Rachel Hollis and PNC member Professor Alison Leary. Tell us what YOU want us to...
Return to Global Nursing – the RCN rejoins the International Council of Nurses
April 12, 2022 12:31 - 38 minutesThis month the Royal College of Nursing has rejoined the International Council of Nurses, the global organisation which represents more than 27 million nurses around the world. Why did we leave? Why did RCN members vote to rejoin? And what role should we play in a global profession transformed by COVID and by conflict? This week’s guests are Professor Daniel Kelly, the RCN Chair of Nursing at Cardiff University and member of the RCN’s International Committee and Jeni Watts, one of the coordi...
Cancer Care Across the Ages
March 14, 2022 12:27 - 48 minutesTo mark National Cancer CNS Day, we’re looking at the critical role of the Clinical Nurse Specialists in cancer care. What is the experience of cancer across the age spectrum? And what should be in the government’s next 10-year cancer plan? Special guests Nikki Morris and Helen Pearson join us to explore the challenges facing the nursing workforce in cancer care. #NationalCancerCNSDay Nursing Matters this week is presented by PNC chair Rachel Hollis and guest co-host Paul Trevatt. Tell us wh...
Under Pressure: Community Nursing on the Road to Recovery
February 10, 2022 12:39 - 36 minutesHow have primary care – the NHS’s ‘front door’ - and community nursing services been impacted by the pandemic? What help does this crucial sector need in order to recover? And what can be done to attract more people to work in this vital area of nursing? Ellen Nicholson of the RCN General Practice Nursing Forum and Sue Hill of the District and Community Nursing Forum join PNC chair Rachel Hollis and committee member Alison Leary to talk about COVID’s impact on health care services in the comm...
Safe Staffing – where are our red lines?
January 14, 2022 14:20 - 42 minutesThis week we’re looking at the workforce crisis in nursing. How did we get here, what is the impact, and where are the red lines for the profession? Special guests Professor Jane Ball and Professor Dame Anne Marie Rafferty join us to talk about what we really mean by safe staffing, and how we can build back to a more sustainable workforce. Nursing Matters is presented by PNC chair Rachel Hollis and PNC committee member Professor Alison Leary. Tell us what YOU want us to discuss on the podcast...
The Nursing Year in Review
December 23, 2021 10:44 - 35 minutesFrom patient safety to climate change, from long COVID to feminism in nursing, this special edition explores the wide range of issues that impact on nurses and nursing today. Join us as we look back at 2021 and hear from many of our guests about how nursing really matters in all sectors of health and care across the UK. PNC chair Rachel Hollis presents this end of year edition of the podcast from the Royal College of Nursing’s Professional Nursing Committee. Tell us what YOU want us to discus...
Failing to fix the Workforce Crisis? The Health and Care Bill
December 06, 2021 04:00 - 33 minutesAs the controversial Health and Care Bill heads through Parliament, we’re looking at what it may mean for the profession, and why this could be a missed opportunity to address the workforce crisis in health and care services. We are joined by special guests Andy Cowper of Health Policy Insight and Lara Carmona, RCN Associate Director of Policy and Public Affairs, to look at the detail of the Bill – and the importance of policy and politics in health care, and in nursing. Nursing Matters is ...
A Day to Celebrate Nursing Support Workers
November 19, 2021 15:43 - 35 minutesThis week on Nursing Matters, the podcast looks forward to the RCN's Nursing Support Workers' Day on Tuesday, 23rd November, which is celebrating its second year. Each year the organisation shines a light on the essential contribution nursing support workers make to patient care, and joining the podcast this week to help explain their importance is Kevin Morley, Chair of the Nursing Support Workers Committee, and Maive Coley, Vice Chair of the Committee. Nursing Matters is presented by PNC ch...
Climate change, health care, and why COP 26 matters
November 05, 2021 13:08 - 46 minutesOne in twenty vehicles on the road is linked to the NHS, but do we really understand how healthcare contributes to climate change? As COP26 takes place in Glasgow, we explore how the environment affects individual and population health, and what we can do to make our practice more sustainable. We’re joined by Dr Richard Smith, chair of the UK Health Alliance on Climate Change, and Rose Gallagher, the professional lead for Infection Prevention and Control, who also leads on climate change and ...
Why health care is a feminist issue – with guest Caroline Criado Perez
October 22, 2021 16:35 - 42 minutesNursing is a predominantly female profession, yet sex and gender bias is rife. In a remarkably candid conversation, feminist writer Caroline Criado Perez, author of ‘Invisible Women: Exposing Data Bias in a World Designed for Men’, tells us how health care and health care research fails women, how changes are needed for women experiencing miscarriage – and what it means when medicine treats the female body as atypical and niche. We’re also joined by RCN member Leanne Patrick, who works in s...
Black History Month and Diversity in Advanced Practice
October 08, 2021 10:32 - 29 minutesThe RCN is marking Black History Month, by celebrating the contribution made to our profession by Black, Asian and minority ethnic nurses and reflecting on the experience of racism in health care. Special guest Bongi Sibanda joins us to talk about her work as an Advanced Nurse Practitioner and reflect on the importance of Black History Month in confronting structural racism in the profession. Nursing Matters is presented this week by PNC chair Rachel Hollis and student member and Newly Regist...
Patient safety – learning from our mistakes
September 24, 2021 13:05 - 39 minutesPatient safety is fundamental to the delivery and outcomes of effective health care. But what happens when things go wrong? What can we learn from the data and how does nursing ensure effective incident reporting takes place to protect patients and staff? Chair of Patient Safety Learning and Datix expert Jonathan Hazan joins us to discuss how data is key to patient safety and the importance of a just culture in health care. Nursing Matters is presented by PNC Chair Rachel Hollis and PNC m...
Why the RCN Forums matter
September 10, 2021 14:12 - 31 minutesFollowing the changes to this year’s RCN Congress, we look at what steps the College is taking to deal with serious allegations of sexual harassment. Plus, we hear from Sally Bassett, the Chair of the Forum Chairs Committee, about the vital work that forums do for the RCN and the nursing profession at large. Nursing Matters is presented by PNC chair Rachel Hollis and PNC member Mary Codling. Tell us what YOU want us to discuss on the podcast by tweeting @theRCN with the tag #NursingMatters ...
COVID: RCN Presidents on leading in a crisis
August 13, 2021 14:35 - 39 minutesWhat has it been like to lead the nursing profession through a once-in-a-generation pandemic? And what lessons must be learned? We bring together outgoing RCN President Professor Dame Anne Marie Rafferty and the incoming President, Dr Denise Chaffer, for a special edition on the COVID crisis – and the urgent issues of safe staffing and patient safety that it laid bare. Nursing Matters is presented by PNC chair Rachel Hollis and Kendal Moran. Tell us what YOU want us to discuss on the podcast ...
Nursing Pay: Why 3% is not enough
July 30, 2021 08:45 - 32 minutesThe Government’s 3% pay deal for NHS staff falls significantly short of the 12.5% figure from the RCN. How should nursing respond? How can the profession make its case for fair pay? Special guests Graham Revie, Chair of the RCN Trade Union Committee, and Rita Devlin, interim RCN Director for Northern Ireland, explain the background to the Fair Pay For Nursing campaign, whether industrial action is likely – and why fair pay for nursing must not be considered a ‘COVID bonus’. Nursing Matters is...
The Big Gamble: What unlocking means for nursing
July 19, 2021 13:34 - 36 minutesThe Government is removing all COVID restrictions including masks and social distancing, just as cases and hospitalisations are rising steeply. How can an already overstretched NHS handle the inevitable influx of patients, and what will this extra burden mean for the nursing profession? Plus – unlike the professional titles of physician or psychiatrist, the title of “nurse” isn’t protected in law, meaning anyone can call themselves a nurse. We look at the #ProtectNurse campaign to make “nurse...
Time to listen: Nursing people with learning disabilities
June 25, 2021 14:30 - 43 minutesDo people with learning difficulties receive the support they require, and what more must be done to make sure their wishes are central to their care? Do we really listen to what people with learning difficulties are saying and how can the nursing profession continue to help support service users? What can we learn from scandals impacting people with learning disabilities, and how they have been affected during the COVID-19 pandemic? Special guests Scott Watkin from the charity Seeability and...
Burned out: the nursing workforce in crisis
June 11, 2021 09:59 - 41 minutesAs the profession experiences unprecedented and widespread burnout, how do we address the nursing shortage which is at its core? The Independent’s health correspondent Shaun Lintern tells us why quick fixes and a lack of strategy are storing up a crisis in the workforce. He explains what the Mid Staffs scandal can tell us about today’s unfolding staffing emergency. And how can we get more positive images of the profession into a “nurse-averse” media? Nursing Matters is presented by PNC chair ...
Why nursing numbers don’t add up
May 28, 2021 13:04 - 31 minutesThe nursing workforce is growing, but not fast enough. What does that mean for a profession that’s under increasing pressure from the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond? Special guest Professor Jane Ball, Professor of Nursing Workforce Policy at Southampton University, joins us to talk about how nursing can recruit and retain the numbers needed – and why the Government needs to go beyond its target of 50,000 recruits to head off a growing crisis. Nursing Matters is presented by PNC chair Rachel H...
Long COVID: New research into the ‘silent epidemic’
May 14, 2021 12:09 - 42 minutesBy autumn 2021 there could be more people suffering from Long COVID in the UK than from dementia. How can health care services cope with this serious challenge – a condition which can include multi-organ damage, clotting problems, disordered immune response, and renal, liver and brain issues, yet remains little understood? DR ELAINE MAXWELL of the National Institute for Health Research tells us how the NIHR’s Long COVID report uncovered a growing and complex problem, and discovered that the l...
Nursing: It’s not women’s work
April 30, 2021 15:32 - 38 minutesEven after the pandemic showed nursing’s critical value to the country, the profession is still undervalued as unskilled “women’s work”. How can we fix gender inequality in nursing? Is nursing paid so poorly simply because of sexism or is the issue more complex? And should we recruit more men into the profession – or by trying to make nursing seem less “feminine”, are we tacitly accepting a sexist perspective that holds women nurses back? Nursing Matters is presented by PNC chair Rachel Holl...
Caring for community nursing
April 16, 2021 13:58 - 42 minutesCommunity nurses and care home workers continue to shoulder the burden of the pandemic, but many who work in the sector feel unseen and under-appreciated. The nursing profession is at risk of being overwhelmed by immense physical and emotional strain as the pandemic continues - so what support do our community colleagues really need? Special guest Dr Crystal Oldman, Chief Executive of the Queen’s Nursing Institute, joins us to explain the “hidden work” that takes place outside hospitals, and ...
Not just another pair of hands
April 02, 2021 08:40 - 40 minutesInterest in nursing degree courses has never been higher – yet a third of existing NHS staff are considering quitting, citing poor pay, COVID-19 burnout and understaffing. If we’re recruiting enthusiastic, talented young people to the profession, how do we keep them once they’re fully trained? PNC chair Rachel Hollis is joined by Professor Julie Green, Professor of District Nursing at Keele University, Heather Massie, Chair of RCN Students and Dr Sarah Burden, Chair of the RCN’s Education For...
Pay: Why we demand a better deal
March 19, 2021 12:42 - 31 minutesWelcome to Nursing Matters, the brand new podcast from the Royal College of Nursing. This week, the widespread anger over the Government’s derisory 1% pay offer to the NHS. How can the profession win the pay rise it deserves? Plus, how is the vaccine rollout going on the ground? We talk to clinical co-ordinator at the Newport Mass Vaccination Centre Lou Cahill about the scale of the task and how to combat vaccine disinformation. “Pay is a tangible reflection of the value placed on a profess...
Nursing Matters trailer
March 11, 2021 09:04 - 1 minuteComing soon, a brand new podcast from the Royal College of Nursing, the membership organisation that represents over 450,000 registered nurses, midwives, health care assistants and nursing students. Every two weeks on Nursing Matters, we’ll bring together experts from the RCN Professional Nursing Committee along with special guests to talk about what really matters to nursing. From inspirational innovations and pioneering practice to pay, conditions and health and care policy – we’ll look at ...