Nurses’ day success at BAPRAS Winter Scientific Meeting 2018

‘What a success!The energy and buzz of this day
has been a dream come true’

At the March BAPRAS council meeting in 2018, President, David Ward supported the idea for a free Nurses’ Day at the BAPRAS Winter Scientific Meeting.   This was to be the first event whereby content aimed at nurses was inclusive within the bi-annual meeting. This Nurses’ day would recognise the change and evolution of Plastic Surgery Nursing in the last 2-3 decades.

The programme was designed to attract general Plastic Surgery Nurses.  Currently, there are a limited number of study days directed towards nurses working in this specialty nationally and the number of nurses attending the post registration Burns & Plastics Course was at an all time low. Moreover, no national networking forum for such professionals is currently in existence.

In order to advertise the meeting, leaflets and invitations were sent to each Plastic Surgery unit in the country and featured in the monthly BAPRAS Secretariat newsletter in the hope that members would inform nurses they work with and encourage attendance. Many worked hard behind the scenes, calling on friends and colleagues far and wide.


The day was divided into morning and afternoon sessions, with keynote addresses from eminent Plastic Surgery Nurses within the UK and redirection of free papers submitted for the general Winter Scientific meeting.  The event was intended to be inclusive of guest speakers from a wide geographical area and sub-specialty, bearing in mind the non-geographical personnel from the Military who ended the day on a real high note. It was therefore also extremely pleasing to see around 130 delegates attending from all over the country.

The response and enthusiasm from the nurses was overwhelmingly positive – undoubtedly a sign that this was a long-awaited and overdue event which was welcomed with open arms. Support and enthusiasm from the doctors was continuously evident as well, with the meeting being opened by outgoing president David Ward, and closed by incoming president, Mark Henley.

During the discussion of the ‘Future of Plastic Surgery Nursing’, the floor was opened to ask the delegates a series of questions. During this session, the audience made it clear that they wanted to continue conducting an annual event that could be charged in the future.  The delegates also suggested key topics and presenters that the organising committee envisage to invite for future events. A BAPRAS Nurses’ Facebook group has been produced in order inform nurses of such meetings and encourage relevant discussion.  Advertisement of this page is intended to be added to future Secretariat newsletters in order to help spread the word.

Moving forward, it is hoped that the Nurses’ day will continue in conjunction with BAPRAS Scientific Meetings within the UK, which will become embedded within the nursing calendar.  It is anticipated that BAPRAS members will continue to share the passion and support that has come out of the 2018 nurses’ day and encourage nurses within their departments. to attend in the future.   These events will to continue to inspire the future generation of Plastic Surgery nurses, creating role models and a national network for them to share their passions, innovations and visions for the future.

Reena Agarwal & Claire Porter
Nurses' day organisers