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Reps
- Familiarise yourself with the case for healthy workplaces. This gives an evidence base for doing more.
- Read the Healthy workplace toolkit.
- Raise awareness of the Healthy workplace toolkit by sharing the guidance with staff.
- Take the Healthy workplace toolkit to your employer e.g. at partnership forums, the Joint Negotiating and Consultation Committee, Health and Safety Committee.
- Work in partnership with your employer to implement changes using our top tips for employers.
- If your employer is resistant to take the work forward, perform an organisational health check using the Healthy workplace toolkit.
- Identify areas within the healthy workplace domains where working practices or policies can be improved.
- Develop an action plan of improvements that must be made.
- Negotiate improvements with your employer using the RCN's Healthy workplace resources as evidence e.g. spinning plates resource on flexible working.
- If your employer continues to be resistant or you have major concerns about working practices, speak to your RCN senior officer for ideas on progressing the work.
Employers
- Familiarise yourself with the case for healthy workplaces to understand the link between improving health and wellbeing and patient care.
- Read the RCN’s Healthy workplace toolkit.
- Pick a Healthy workplace toolkit domain.
- Read the case studies and pledges of other organisations.
- Use the indicators to carry out a health check of your organisation.
- Identify areas where working practices or policies can be improved (use data from staff surveys, sickness absence, grievance or incident data to help decide priorities).
- Pledge to improve your practices or policies.
- Develop an action plan (if you have an RCN workplace representative(s), work in partnership with them).
- Celebrate your success.
- Repeat the cycle using a different Healthy workplace toolkit domain.
Nursing staff
- Read the case for healthy workplaces to understand more about the campaign why the RCN believes a healthy workplace is important.
- Read working towards a healthy you and the techniques to help you prevent and manage physical and emotional stress.
- If you want to find out more download the Healthy workplace toolkit and carry out a health check of your organisation.
- If you identify areas for improvement, liaise with your local rep to bring about change in conjunction with your employer.
- Celebrate your success.
Directors of Nursing
- Read specific evidence for Directors of Nursing on the link between improving health and wellbeing and patient care.
- Engage with the RCN, your reps and staff to bring about change using the Healthy workplace toolkit.
- Celebrate your success.
Carry out a health check on your organisation
The healthy workplace toolkit supports you as a health care employer, RCN rep, employment agency or host organisation to create healthy working environments.
Page last updated - 03/08/2019