Today, a scathing internal investigation revealed the nursing union’s toxic, sex-driven culture.
Following a series of allegations of bullying and sexual harassment, the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) established an independent investigation to ‘thoroughly examine’ the organization in 2017.
Today’s research concluded that women, particularly junior employees, are vulnerable to “alcohol and power-related exploitation.”
The 77-page investigation indicated that senior union leaders have inappropriately touched student nurses.
It also revealed a misogynistic climate at the highest levels of union leadership, where male voices dominated female coworkers with their volume and abrasiveness.
There were also allegations of bullying and discrimination, with the majority of college leadership resignations coming from women from minority ethnic groups.
Bruce Carr KC’s independent study of the RCN’s culture comes only days after the union launched the largest industrial action vote in its history.
Currently, union leaders are requesting public support as they seek a 17 percent salary increase for nurses in the NHS.
Which has received a copy of the study, the prominent barrister provided evidence supporting the notion that senior union figures had attempted to use junior colleagues sexually.
Events at the RCN’s annual congress, where its more than 400,000 members from the United Kingdom convene to vote on the union’s policies, were criticized in particular.
Large quantities of alcohol are drunk at the conference’s events.
Due to serious claims of sexual harassment by some members, last year’s congress was held virtually despite mounting concerns over the organization’s congress during the assessment.
The investigation reveals that some male guests of the event, including prominent personalities, “expected” sexual behavior.
This featured a culture in which the words “congress-wife” and “congress-husband” were commonly used and represented the predominance of extramarital sexual connections, according to the review.
The review was advised by a senior male official that female members would “hand it to you on a silver platter.”
In addition, the review contains testimony that student nurses received late-night phone calls from male council members and charges that it was an “open secret” that junior colleagues left alone with them were grabbed.
In September of last year, union general secretary Pat Cullen commissioned the assessment, shortly after assuming her position.
Her nomination followed a succession of internal conflicts inside the college as well as several high-profile resignations and suspensions, including that of previous council chair and bondage expert Dave Dawes.
Mr. Dawes, an expert in rope bondage who has held workshops on techniques, was suspended after a succession of complaints about his behavior.
The Carr study, which investigated events from 2018 onward, interviewed sixty former and current members of the college.
In the report itself, the attorney urged unnamed individuals mentioned in the study to evaluate their future in the RCN.
The Carr assessment also deemed the RCN’s controversies-plagued and male-dominated governing body, the council, to be ineffective.
According to the report, women and ethnic minorities on the council face a hostile climate, at least according to those who felt compelled to leave.
Even though 90% of nurses in the United Kingdom are female, the RCN Council is perceived as a “misogynistic environment” where “loud, abrasive male voices” dominate.
More than half of the current RCN council members are male.
In a statement, Ms. Cullen apologized on behalf of the college for members’ prior inappropriate behavior.
She stated, “Where prior behaviors have fallen short, I apologize on behalf of the whole RCN.”
“I will keep this report near as I redouble my efforts to restructure this College and provide its members with a strong, professional, and representative organization.”
New protective procedures and processes have been implemented, and the organization is modernizing its governance and rethinking its commitment to equality and diversity.
She stated that she did not want the RCN to be “dragged through the mud,” but that no individual is above reproach.
She stated that those implicated in the report, regardless of their prior or current position, will face internal and regulatory penalties following a proper inquiry.
This assessment does not assign names to the occurrences recounted, but I am determined that upcoming investigations will provide complainants and victims with the justice they deserve and serve as irrefutable evidence of our commitment to change.
Professor Rod Thomson, the RCN council member for the West Midlands, announced his resignation in response to the study.
On Twitter, he explained that his resignation was “to enable a change in the composition of Council and to effect a positive change in its gender and racial balance” and “has no association with the conduct detailed in the Carr Report.”
The RCN is now conducting an industrial action referendum, delivering ballots to its 300,000 members last week to see if they support a strike over compensation.
The 106-year-old union is asking nurses to vote in favor of the “once in a generation” election after the government refused to satisfy its compensation demands, with the warning “enough is enough.” It could result in the cancellation of thousands of operations and appointments.
It is required that nurses receive a wage increase of at least five percent over the current inflation rate of 12.3 percent.
Under the proposed amount, the average nurse, who makes approximately £35,600 per year, would receive an additional £6,150.
The government has proposed a wage increase of £1,400 or approximately 4%.
However, the RCN contends that this effectively constitutes a salary cut due to inflation.
