The Chief Nursing Officer (CNO) Conference 2012 will establish the volunteering role of ‘Care Maker’ as a demonstrable legacy of the Olympics and Paralympics and the spirit of London 2012, learning from and building upon the lessons learned from those who volunteered as Gamesmakers.

Nursing and Midwifery leaders from both service and education have supported students and newly qualified staff in applying for the role, a role where participants volunteer their time, energy and commitment.

Around 250 student and newly qualified nurses and midwives applied to be care makers, creating a national network of volunteers to become the face of the new nursing and midwifery vision and strategy for the NHS in England “Our Culture of Compassionate Care.”

The care makers initiative represents the ‘shared purpose’ of the 6Cs taken from the vision and strategy:

• Care
• Compassion
• Competence
• Communication
• Courage
• Commitment

The Care Maker values and behaviours are summed up as PROUD:

• Professional at all times
• Representing the Chief Nursing Officer, nursing, and midwifery and care givers
• Open and alert
• Up-beat and energising
• Demonstrable representation of the 6Cs

A group of care makers will support the CNO 2012 conference to make every person feel welcome and to inspire, support and energise the participants throughout the conference.

Many more will be involved in promoting news and views during and after the event, particularly around the 6Cs, using Twitter and other social media to network across their own organisations and local communities, using peer-to-peer engagement, influencing through nursing, midwifery and care giver networks across the country.

The care maker role will extend beyond this CNO conference in a range of different ways. Care makers will help shape the local face of the 6Cs and the vision for nurses and midwives in the NHS in England.

Get tweeting

To get involved sign up for a Twitter account if you don’t already have one.

The hashtags (or keys to get you into related conversations and networks) are:

• #6Cs
• #CNO2012
• #caremakers

For further details see the Care Maker flyer or contact the CNO Conference planning team.