The Work of the Royal College of Nursing Women's Health Steering Group

As part of the professional arm of the Royal College of Nursing, the steering group is made up of nurses who undertake roles on a voluntary basis for terms of four years.

The steering group links with other nursing forums on major pieces of college work such as the decriminalisation of abortion statement, whilst also maintaining its own work steam, FGM and modern slavery. This poster presents a snapshot of the work over the last two to three years. • Publications: the CNS in endometriosis, early pregnancy care, and nurse specialist in menopause are all aimed at providing guidance for nurses within these roles. These have all been written in conjunction with charities, patient groups and professional bodies and can also include information for women, such as the endometriosis publication. To increase awareness of women’s health and nursing practice amongst nurses who are not familiar with this subject area we have produced three series of pocket guides providing a basic reference for nurses

• Annual conference

• Representing nursing at All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on women’s health

• Representing nurses at the RCN congress and undertaking educational fringe events such as menopause at work, to highlight its impact on the nursing workforce

• To highlight the role of nurses within women’s health care, and women’s health in general, we currently have an exhibition entitled ‘The Wandering Womb’, and parallel series of lectures in partnership with the RCN library.

• We have an active closed Facebook page and twitter account

• Internationally, two members of the steering group have represented the women's health forum as guest speakers at the International Women's Health Conference in Istanbul, Turkey, March 2018.

• Some of the forum work has led to publications such as ‘Menopause at Work’, and the endometriosis CNS survey. From this, we are working with the BSGE to look at bespoke leadership courses for CNS in endometriosis.

The background of the group is varied and changes; currently it is: • Debby Holloway - Nurse Consultant gynaecology • Dr Wendy Norton - Senior Lecturer in women’s and sexual health • Mandy Myers - Director of Nursing, BPAS • Katharine Gale - Nurse Consultant • Ruth Bailey - sexual health • Nikki Noble - specialist nurse

The group is very active and has more work streams for coming years, responding to member questions and areas that arise from practice, and the development of the nurse’s role within women’s health.