It's April already!
We can't believe we're already six months through our one year, one off tour with the RCN Student Bus.
We've had a couple of quiet months with a few weeks off in the late winter as we recovered from the snow and started making plans for the better weather!
One of our most notable visits recently was to The House of Lords to lobby MPS to sign up to our Nursing Counts campaign and express their support for nursing in the UK. We had over 70 MPs visit us on the day including David Cameron and Nick Clegg! Gordon Brown was unfortunately out of the country but it was a fantastic day and our four students worked so hard in the chilly weather.
We've been shopping we last wrote and now have chairs to put out under the awning on sunnier days so that we can chat to visitors both on and off the bus, before you know it we'll be installing picnic tables and an ice-cream machine - we are so excited about the summer! Although the small temperature rises so far have proven that the bus can heat up incredibly quickly so we'll need to get the water machine fixed soon.
Our tour visits for the rest of the year are picking up and we're really pleased to have our first dates using the bus as an exhibition stand at the NEC in Birmingham, there are very few exhibition halls we would be able to fit into so we're very much looking forward to this.
The poor bus has had some bumps recently so the vinyl wrap on the outside has been given some attention to clear up some of our edges, it's amazing what some 'go faster' stripes from Halfords can do!
We're happy to confirm that we are definitely taking the bus to Northern Ireland! We'll be there for around two weeks and one of us in threatening to canoe just to get a picture of the bus on the ferry!
The bus is now open to all and everyone so we're attending a lot more hospital sites, these days still tend to be quieter than university days so we're trying to work on our marketing strategy, maybe it's not obvious how informal a bus visit can be? If you're in the area, the bus will be at the Holiday Inn hotel in Chatham on Thursday 22nd so please pop in and say hello.
Otherwise we'll hope to see you at RCN Congress in Bournemouth the following week!
Friday, 16 April 2010
Monday, 8 February 2010
A new week and almost the end of our pilot tour
After a successful week in the East Midlands we spent a day in North Wales today, Bangor University in Wrexham to be exact! We had a fantastic day, more than 80 visitors came to see us including a handful of lecturers and a group of midwifery students. We ran FOUR seminars! Dignity, NMC Pre-reg Review, CV and Interview Techniques and Accountability, some students took the day off placement to come and attend all four which was great for us!
We found the majority of students at Bangor already knew about our online library so we had less demonstrations and more discussions about how their courses were going and the potential closure of the Wrexham site.
Professor Betty Kershaw presented three students with certificates for a new e-learning package on infection control which sounded like a fantastic course, all the students said they really enjoyed it.
The staff at the university looked after us so well! We were provided with lunch which was delicious and they'd put posters and flyers up everywhere to advertise out visit. They've asked if we would visit their site in Bangor so hopefully we will be able to arrange that soon.
We're looking forward to a good couple of days in the South West, our Communications Officer Tracey Roberts has been working really hard to get some local MPs and Counsellors along and we will have regional RCN staff along to support us as well, so all we're missing is you students!
We're hoping to bring the bus to an upcoming conference; Positive Choices in Leeds on the 9th April, around 500 Learning Disability nursing students should be in attendance so we can't wait! This is in the almost-definite-stages, just a few things to sort out and then we should be able to confirm the visit.
Do keep an eye on the RCN website for new bookings in your area, we have definite sites for our week in the Yorkshire & the Humber region now and those for our Scotland week will be finalised soon: www.rcn.org.uk/studentbus
We found the majority of students at Bangor already knew about our online library so we had less demonstrations and more discussions about how their courses were going and the potential closure of the Wrexham site.
Professor Betty Kershaw presented three students with certificates for a new e-learning package on infection control which sounded like a fantastic course, all the students said they really enjoyed it.
The staff at the university looked after us so well! We were provided with lunch which was delicious and they'd put posters and flyers up everywhere to advertise out visit. They've asked if we would visit their site in Bangor so hopefully we will be able to arrange that soon.
We're looking forward to a good couple of days in the South West, our Communications Officer Tracey Roberts has been working really hard to get some local MPs and Counsellors along and we will have regional RCN staff along to support us as well, so all we're missing is you students!
We're hoping to bring the bus to an upcoming conference; Positive Choices in Leeds on the 9th April, around 500 Learning Disability nursing students should be in attendance so we can't wait! This is in the almost-definite-stages, just a few things to sort out and then we should be able to confirm the visit.
Do keep an eye on the RCN website for new bookings in your area, we have definite sites for our week in the Yorkshire & the Humber region now and those for our Scotland week will be finalised soon: www.rcn.org.uk/studentbus
Friday, 29 January 2010
Our West Mids week
We've just packed up after a couple of successful days at the University of Birmingham, students also came and visited us from the University of Wolverhampton and Birmingham City University which was great!
Stuart Young, our student representative for the West Midlands had rallied the troops for us and came and spent the two days talking to students and recruiting new student information officers for the region.
Two of our visitors were first year students who were having to plan a teaching session of their own, they were quite nervous so Gill Robertson our student adviser sent them to one end of the bus to practice presenting to us sat at the other end! They did really well although did not return on our second day as promised to deliver the whole presentation! We wish them lots of luck.
A few students were asking about CV tips so Gill spent some time either talking them through key points to include or testing their handshakes!
Sally and Rose from our Corporate Relations team joined us today, it was lovely to have them along to talk to students. They have both been really involved with the Student Bus project from the beginning and so they're great at getting stuck in with us.
We have been busy coming up with ideas of what to do with the bus next and we are very happy to hear any that you may have! If you know of any events that nurses, nursing students and health care assistants are likely to be at, or if you want us to visit your university or hospital please do let us know.
We are looking forward to the weather warming up! The bus can be nice and toasty with a couple of heaters on and if we close the doors for a few minutes every now and then, but the cold does hit you when you walk outside! No doubt once the weather warms up it will become a bit of an oven!
Next week we are in the East Midlands so I will hope to see some of you there!
Have a great weekend.
Stuart Young, our student representative for the West Midlands had rallied the troops for us and came and spent the two days talking to students and recruiting new student information officers for the region.
Two of our visitors were first year students who were having to plan a teaching session of their own, they were quite nervous so Gill Robertson our student adviser sent them to one end of the bus to practice presenting to us sat at the other end! They did really well although did not return on our second day as promised to deliver the whole presentation! We wish them lots of luck.
A few students were asking about CV tips so Gill spent some time either talking them through key points to include or testing their handshakes!
Sally and Rose from our Corporate Relations team joined us today, it was lovely to have them along to talk to students. They have both been really involved with the Student Bus project from the beginning and so they're great at getting stuck in with us.
We have been busy coming up with ideas of what to do with the bus next and we are very happy to hear any that you may have! If you know of any events that nurses, nursing students and health care assistants are likely to be at, or if you want us to visit your university or hospital please do let us know.
We are looking forward to the weather warming up! The bus can be nice and toasty with a couple of heaters on and if we close the doors for a few minutes every now and then, but the cold does hit you when you walk outside! No doubt once the weather warms up it will become a bit of an oven!
Next week we are in the East Midlands so I will hope to see some of you there!
Have a great weekend.
Monday, 25 January 2010
We're back on the road!
Happy New Year everyone!
Apologies for such a long gap between posts, the last few weeks of our first tour were fantastically frantic with the student team all over the country and arriving home at the wee hours on occasion which left little time for blogging.
You may have already heard through our other social networks that we saw an incredible 2468 visitors board the bus in the first six weeks which feels like an amazing achievement for us. The faith we've had in the bus has really paid off! We're being inundated with emails from people asking if the bus will come to their area, or telling us off for missing them out! We really did approach all the universities in the areas we were visiting so I'm sorry if we haven't been on your doorstep this time round....
Based on our 2468 new bus pals we have already decided to extend the RCN Student Bus tour!! The bus will now be with the RCN until the end of October meaning we'll be visiting the regions of the UK we haven't been to yet and hopefully taking the bus along to some big events such as the RCN International Research conference, London Gay Pride Parade, Glastonbury perhaps..... we have lots of ideas that we're working on so if you have any suggestions please so let us know! We're delighted at the response we've had so far.
So, today was our first 'proper' day back on the road since all the snow - we lost two weeks of our tour as the bus was snowed in and university and hospital sites either closed or told us it just wasn't safe enough to come. We're planning to reschedule all those dates so that you won't miss out.
We were at Coventry University today, right outside the Student Union and near the beautiful cathedral it was a great spot and we met some fantastic students and lecturers!! It was great to hear from more students that are really enjoying their courses and despite being only a few weeks in, telling us how passionate they are about their branches of nursing. We met a lot of health care support workers who were being sponsored to complete their training. Some told us how daunting it was to go back to the classroom and start thinking critically again - I hope they will persevere so that they can become like their colleagues just a couple of months ahead of them and loving the challenges being thrown at them!
We did find it incredibly cold today, we had two heaters on full blast and had the doors half closed for most of the day to try and keep some of the heat in. We need to remember our hats and big socks for the end of the week when we're in Birmingham! No seminars today but lots of students hung around for a chat about their career plans and/or confusion about which direction to go in.
On Wednesday the bus will be in Hereford with our colleagues from the West Midlands regional office at Hereford Acute Hospital, we hope you'll go along and see them if you can! Thursday and Friday the student team take over again with two days at the University of Birmingham, if any BCU students are about please come and say hello too - unfortunately we haven't found a suitable date for us to visit you yet but we're working on it!!
More soon...
Apologies for such a long gap between posts, the last few weeks of our first tour were fantastically frantic with the student team all over the country and arriving home at the wee hours on occasion which left little time for blogging.
You may have already heard through our other social networks that we saw an incredible 2468 visitors board the bus in the first six weeks which feels like an amazing achievement for us. The faith we've had in the bus has really paid off! We're being inundated with emails from people asking if the bus will come to their area, or telling us off for missing them out! We really did approach all the universities in the areas we were visiting so I'm sorry if we haven't been on your doorstep this time round....
Based on our 2468 new bus pals we have already decided to extend the RCN Student Bus tour!! The bus will now be with the RCN until the end of October meaning we'll be visiting the regions of the UK we haven't been to yet and hopefully taking the bus along to some big events such as the RCN International Research conference, London Gay Pride Parade, Glastonbury perhaps..... we have lots of ideas that we're working on so if you have any suggestions please so let us know! We're delighted at the response we've had so far.
So, today was our first 'proper' day back on the road since all the snow - we lost two weeks of our tour as the bus was snowed in and university and hospital sites either closed or told us it just wasn't safe enough to come. We're planning to reschedule all those dates so that you won't miss out.
We were at Coventry University today, right outside the Student Union and near the beautiful cathedral it was a great spot and we met some fantastic students and lecturers!! It was great to hear from more students that are really enjoying their courses and despite being only a few weeks in, telling us how passionate they are about their branches of nursing. We met a lot of health care support workers who were being sponsored to complete their training. Some told us how daunting it was to go back to the classroom and start thinking critically again - I hope they will persevere so that they can become like their colleagues just a couple of months ahead of them and loving the challenges being thrown at them!
We did find it incredibly cold today, we had two heaters on full blast and had the doors half closed for most of the day to try and keep some of the heat in. We need to remember our hats and big socks for the end of the week when we're in Birmingham! No seminars today but lots of students hung around for a chat about their career plans and/or confusion about which direction to go in.
On Wednesday the bus will be in Hereford with our colleagues from the West Midlands regional office at Hereford Acute Hospital, we hope you'll go along and see them if you can! Thursday and Friday the student team take over again with two days at the University of Birmingham, if any BCU students are about please come and say hello too - unfortunately we haven't found a suitable date for us to visit you yet but we're working on it!!
More soon...
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