A message from BADN President

Dear Member,

As we are now well into the third month following the Prime Minister’s decision to ‘Lockdown’ our way of life, personal and professional, we find ourselves facing change beyond all recognition. The situation for all of us remains very fluid and is constantly changing.

For each one of us, ‘Lockdown’ has created a very different life. For some, it has meant we must work from home to support our teams, our patients, and the wider dental community. Working from home for some dental nurse colleagues may have resulted in an increased requirement for developing and delivering on-line training to ensure that we do not de-skill whilst away from our workplaces. For many others it has meant being deployed to the ‘front line’ in hospitals and urgent dental care hubs, where additional skills such as resilience and teamwork have been your strengths. For others it has meant that being ‘furloughed’ has allowed you the time to develop your Personal Development Plan and complete your CPD requirements to be the best in your teams, but for many others it has been a time of anxiety and concern.

I wanted to take this opportunity to remind you that BADN is here to support you. I believe it is more important now than ever before, that we stand together as BADN dental nurses to illuminate the way for other dental nurses who may be unaware of the strength and benefits of the BADN community, who as you know, willingly support you in times of crisis.

On that point, I would like to make a polite request to all members.

For context: At the beginning of ‘Lockdown’, BADN took the decision not to be part of the speculation, gossip and rumour which was circulating amongst dental social media platforms/forums related to all things ‘corona virus’. As BADN professionals, it was felt that it was important to engage in credible and professional channels of evidence-based information rather than give energy to information that had arisen from speculation, gossip and rumour, because this was leading to high levels of anxiety and stress for a large number of our membership.

If you do happen to visit any ad hoc dental nurse forums on social media, please can I urge you to advocate the role of the dental nurse and in particular the positive role that BADN plays in supporting you as a dental nurse. It is easy to become drawn into conversations where the basis of information may not always be founded upon truth but instead be based upon speculation, gossip and rumour. I do feel that we should be supporting each other at this difficult time we find ourselves in rather than the opposite.

May I also mention that BADN is always happy to help you. I would urge you to raise any issues or problems that you may have directly with us in the first instance, rather than going straight to social media, as this will allow us the chance to assess and resolve your issue. At BADN we acknowledge that you are all under pressure, including your very own BADN HO staff and volunteers. The pandemic has created a workload that we did not know existed, and we are doing our very best to support you, please allow us the time to do that. Please direct your concerns to [email protected].

BADN Executive Committee took the decision to temporarily lower the BADN membership fee to £30pa, to allow members whose renewal was due during this time but who may have been experiencing financial difficulties to continue to benefit from BADN membership; and to encourage dental nurses who had not previously supported their professional association to join.

We have, during this time, also answered thousands of calls and emails from non-member dental nurses. Although we could not, obviously, provide access to the resources reserved for members – such as the Legal Helpline – to these dental nurses, our staff have, wherever possible, provided advice, information and support; information on the developing situation has also been available to all on our website. If you know of non-member dental nurse colleagues who have been assisted by BADN, please encourage them to repay that favour and join now by clicking here.

Thank you for being a BADN dental nurse. I look forward to seeing you next year at our delayed 80th Anniversary celebrations, or at our Virtual Anniversary Afternoon Tea which will be held via Zoom in August.

Jacqui Elsden

BADN President