NURSING AND EDUCATION PLATFORM

This commission aims to promote an international, positive image of nursing in the UK . Many call for discussion of positive aspects of nursing only, which whitewashes the situation of poor care. It is noted that members of this committee, are representative of the RCN in some way, which is a direct source of conflict (Nightingale 2014). "We will gather information from others" they say- the bias is usually  in the gathering and the reporting. Research may say what you want it to say. Aim to say how good nursing is-- that is what will be done. Blogs in this way, are more valid. The RCN particularly aim to keep the 3 year nursing degree which is inadequate (NHS future forum 2012), and many students complete the course at some Universities without undertaking certain fundamental nursing procedures (Dimon 2013).

This positive image propaganda, has filtered into nurse education UK. According to blogs, and comments from students, some universities/lecturers, are informing students that "poor care does not exist". Recall there are different types of poor care from errors, to false records, to shear abuse. Whilst some lecturers may well believe this to be the case, students are not being prepared for practice- they need discussions of actual situations and advice regarding what to do about it. Action to take, may differ depending which agency owns the establishment. This false image, fails to protect patients- and staff who try to do something about it. It also creates  a never-ending cycle of in-action. Many students leave the course due to their obervations on placement (Dimon 2013).

It would be beneficial to include ordinary nurses (not necessarily RCN members),students, care assistants, relatives and patients on this committee.

In other words- do not tackle the issues- just say "how good we are". Not to mention nurses in other sectors such as care homes.

http://rcnpublishing.com/doi/pdfplus/10.7748/ns2014.01.28.21.10.s4