Shining a Light: A History of Nursing Support Workers: Exhibition Launch
Join us on Tuesday 19th November for the hybrid launch of our new Royal College of Nursing exhibition to discover the fascinating history of nursing support work!
About Shining a Light: A History of Nursing Support Workers: Exhibition Launch
Join us for the hybrid launch of our new Royal College of Nursing exhibition to discover the fascinating history of nursing support work and celebrate the contribution that nursing support workers continue to make today.
Join us in person to enjoy free refreshments and a chance to look around the exhibition alongside drop-in activities and talks from 6pm-7.30pm. Join online via MS Teams from 6pm to hear our panel of finalists in the Nursing Support Worker category of our RCN Scotland Nurse of the Year Awards who have made an outstanding contribution to the care of patients or residents.
Nursing support workers are the heart of health and social care, delivering hand-on care. The exhibition explores the history of nursing support work – from Victorian asylums and wartime volunteers to nursing assistants and care workers today, this exhibition uncovers the long history and diversity of nursing support work.
Exhibits include a handmade magazine created by a young Agatha Christie when she was a volunteer providing nursing support in the First World War, on loan from the British Psychoanalytical Society Archive. Never previously displayed, until this RCN exhibition in London and now in Edinburgh, the magazine gives a vivid insight into the resilience and camaraderie of volunteers at a time of national emergency in their roles known as Voluntary Aid Detachments (VADs).
The exhibition also shines a light on the personal stories of nursing support workers today, celebrating the contribution they continue to make – in hospitals, care homes, clinics and communities.
Our panel will celebrate the incredible work of Scotland’s nursing support workers and feature finalists in the Nursing Support Worker category of our RCN Scotland Nurse of the Year Awards. Join our conversation with our finalists as they talk about what it is like working as a Nursing Support Worker, their career journeys and the innovations which led to their nominations for the awards.
Joining us in person? Drop in activities at the exhibition launch include:
Show and Tell showcasing the history of nursing support work through objects from the RCN Archives.
Add your reflections on nursing support work to our creative question panel.
Shining a Light exhibition was put together in close collaboration with a group of RCN member volunteers who are support workers or work closely with support workers, and the RCN Nursing Support Worker Committee.
Following the launch, the exhibition will be open for visitors Mondays to Thursdays 10 – 4pm.
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