When We Stand Together: Discovering the Power of Nursing Activism

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Hello and welcome to Generally Practising with Latoya.
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I would like to discuss activism in nursing and nursing power, especially in relation to general practice nursing, especially in relation to general practice nursing.
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For me, I would really like general practice nurses to know their worth, and it lies sometimes with us rocking the boat and shaking things up for the better.
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Now, before you roll your eyes and think that's really not my thing, I would just say hang tight with me please, because I'm not just really talking about picket lines, you know, pulling up picket signs, having a megaphone unless obviously that's your vibe, I say go for it.
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We're talking about everyday stuff that adds up to make that real change.
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So let's just get this straight.
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When can we hear words activism?
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A lot of us do get that picture of protest politics, controversy and maybe even a bit of conflict, but honestly I really think that's just one version of it.
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Rcn has a definition for activism.
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It's RCN.
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Activism means taking action together to bring about positive change for nursing and our community.
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And that's like taking action where it could look like organising a training day for something that you think might be missing within your scope of practice or within the team's scope of practice in guidelines, updates, even maybe even emailing your np if you think within your area there's, you know, staffing issues.
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And if I'm becoming a rcn rep, um, I've had the opportunity of going to congress this year and met someone who was an rcn rep and I was like, hmm, I've actually met an rcn um rep, um, within general practice, obviously.
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I've met um forum, um committee members, but not any rcn reps.
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If you're a rep, I'd love to hear from you, especially if you're working in general practice.
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But just know that activism is not about being loud, it's actually about being intentional.
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And if you're a general practice nurse, you you're already doing activism.
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You you're already an activist.
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You just might not call it that because I that really became present to me on the day I went for with the RCN.
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They had a day of activism with the RCN Activism Academy and honestly, I really got it.
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And how could you possibly already be an activist?
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Flagging something that might be a bit dodgy or might not be following evidence, base of best practice within your role?
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That's part of it.
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If you're fighting for cpd and protected time for those cpd, that is you being an activist.
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And even if you're helping a colleague through a rough patch.
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You are an activist, so that's it.
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Activism, it's the small stuff, it's the quiet stuff, that this isn't good enough and I'm not going to let it slide stuff.
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And can you just imagine if we all did it together?
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Can you imagine what that would be?
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So practically you know how can we honor our power.
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There are guidelines and standards out there that can help us.
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The rcn has a nursing and workforce standard and that definitely is a game changer.
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So I would suggest anyone have a read.
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We will put it to the bottom of the podcast so that you can actually have a read.
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It says things like you know, if a team is understaffed by 80%, that is actually a red flag, because can you imagine the impact that can have?
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Staff burnout and so much other things can happen.
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It also says we everyone deserves cpd within working hours.
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It talks about having protected time, adequate time to do our roles also, and ensuring that nursing leaders have protected times and not just squeezing things in between their patient list.
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So next time someone says, oh, we don't have budget, time and people for that, I say go and look at the RCN nursing workforce standard and see what support you can get from there and when we ask for these things, it's not just one individual that's asking, it's the old profession is asking.
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So I think we should part of this.
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We should definitely talk about leadership, and I'm not talking about the badge and title type of leadership.
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I'm talking about the type where you spot someone on work who's frustrated and says and then you actually just ask them, you you want to have a chat about this and sitting down with them and just trying to see what's going on with them.
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And this is how we start building.
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We actually by inviting one person into our environment, into understanding our role.
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Or, if you're a lead nurse, actually the person just choose someone and you can give them tasks or even show them to do things within your role, that you do things, that within your role that you do, so that you're actually inviting them into your, your I would I say environment, but it could be your role into your crew, and it's it's just for it couldn't?
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That can actually inspire someone if you really think about it.
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So you're a leader and you know someone who's actually interested in your role, share that role with them, teach them.
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They can be the next leader of tomorrow.
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And during that harshi and activism day, there was a quote that they put up from Winifred Hector and this was way back in the 1970s and it said when nurses really understand the power they have together, their united demand will be irresistible.
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I think she's right.
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Power doesn't come from the top down.
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You know, we build that power and it is from the bottom upwards.
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It starts from the ground, and we just need to know that.
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We are very powerful, we're in a powerful position and you might be thinking, ah, latoya, okay, this all sounds great, but what if I don't feel confident doing these things?
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And I say honestly, that's fair, I didn't feel confident some days.
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I still don't feel confident.
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We've all been there.
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But I would say, here's the thing you don't have to lead a process, you just need to start with something small.
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It could just be talking to your manager about the workforce standards.
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It could be joining a Facebook group for nurses, the royal college of nurses.
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We have an amazing, amazing, um gpn forum page on facebook and the member we've got so much members, literally thousands, and what I really like is that someone would put something there and other nurses really try their best to empower that person and give them information and support that they need.
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So if you are a general practice nurse and you are part of the royal college of nursing, I say please look for us on facebook group and join us, because it's a really great community there.
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Then one thing you know something small that you can do.
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You can write up about challenges you face as a lone worker and you can share that with your team and have a chat about it.
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And if you're not sure, reach out to someone who's already involved in things.
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There's support out there.
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None of us are on our own.
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Really.
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We just need to look for what we need.
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And as general practice nurses, you know we're already juggling so much.
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We're delivering care, we're teaching patients and some days it definitely feel like if we're holding up the old system.
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But know that you know you're not powerless.
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You are very powerful and you don't have to wait for permission to change things.
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You just need to start having that conversation and take that first step.
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And if there's one thing I can ask you this week is actually the two things.
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The first question I would ask is what's one thing in your role that needs to change and what's one thing that you can do to kick start that change and it doesn't have to be big.
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Just remember that A conversation, a meeting and even just reading the standards these are all where activism begins.
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And I just want you, general practice nurses, to know that you know we do an amazing job, you know we get great feedback.
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So just remember you are great at what you're doing and I thank you guys for listening to me and, if you really did find this helpful, share it with a colleague if it really hit home.
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And I would say to you guys you know I really thank Ashleigh for getting me involved with this and I say she opened the door and she trust me.
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I spoke to Ashleigh on a Thursday and by Monday I was already on the picture for the podcast.
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So there she's, a leader.
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She's literally opened the door for me to be a part of her crew and I thank her for that.
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So until next time I would say, guys, take care of yourself and definitely take care of each other, because we are all so very important.
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Thank you for listening to generally practicing bye.
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Thank you for listening to Generally Practicing Bye.