Making our voices heard

At the beginning of October, Brighton played host to the Association of Stoma Care Nurses UK (ASCN UK) Annual Conference and 10-year anniversary celebrations. This year's theme ‘Making waves and influencing practice’ was appropriate, not only for the seaside venue, but also for the quality of the scientific programme delivered by the workshop groups, industry symposia hosts and keynote speakers, as well as the oral and poster contributors who successfully submitted abstracts. We were treated to an abundance of presentations evidencing the great work that specialist stoma care nurses (SCNs) are undertaking in the UK and abroad. Throughout the two days, it was clearly demonstrated that SCNs are working at an advanced level, with the four pillars of advanced practice comprehensively covered through presentations on advanced clinical practice, education, leadership and management, and research.

It was great to witness best, evidence-based practice shared with hundreds of SCNs from all over the UK and further afield. On several occasions during the two days, there was a call to arms to all SCNs. A number of key people are waiting and wanting to listen to what we as SCNs have to say and now, more than ever, we must use our voices, individually and collectively, to raise our profile, highlight the value we add to our patients' outcomes and to further advance our specialty.