- Get others involved. It should never be down to just one person to organise an event. Consider who you need to talk to early on. Get other nursing support workers (NSWs), your learning rep or local RCN office and your workplace communications team involved early.
- Start planning now. Not only will you need time to get everything organised, but busy staff might need notice to attend. You’ll need to give staff at least two-months’ notice for an in-person event if you’re considering off duty rotas.
- Think about the purpose of your event. Do you want to offer NSWs the chance to learn something new or develop their skills? Do you want to showcase case studies of excellent work in your workplace? Or do you want to use the day to celebrate the role that NSWs play in your organisation? Whatever your event aims, think about what you want to achieve when you start planning.
- Maximise your audience. Emphasise that your event is tailored to NSWs but welcome other staff too.
- Consider communications. If you work in a large organisation, speak to your comms team or learning leads. They may also be able to help with a social media plan leading up to the event and have an email or text distribution list you can make use of. Ask your local RCN learning rep to get involved too.
- Get your poster up. Get the RCN Nursing Support Workers’ Day poster up on your noticeboard – your local rep will be able to help you with that. See below about how to get specific RCN resources for RCN NSW Day too.
- Make it enjoyable. Everyone’s busy so it’s important that you do something people will want to come to and be interested in. Easy access to training that you know will appeal to nursing support workers (NSWs) could work well. Visit RCN First Steps for ideas and for free online learning aimed specifically at NSWs.
- Consider communications after the event. To keep the momentum going, upload slides or short reports on key points to your workplace intranet so others can benefit from the sessions if they couldn’t attend. Get feedback but keep it short. Ask if delegates liked the event and ask them to suggest ideas for next year. Invite colleagues to tweet their thoughts and photos using #NursingSupportWorkersDay.
- Use RCN resources. Check our Nursing Support Workers’ Day web page from mid-October for downloadable materials, such as posters, information on how to order badges and social media graphics to support your event and to help you make the most of the day.
- Get social. Follow our social media channels for the latest updates and use #NursingSupportWorkersDay in your social media posts.
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