The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) is a registered trade union and professional body in the United Kingdom for those in the profession of nursing. It was founded in 1916 as the College of Nursing, receiving its royal charter in 1928. Queen Elizabeth II was the patron until her death in 2022. The majority of members are registered nurses; however student nurses and healthcare assistants are also members. There is also a category of membership, at a reduced cost, for retired people.
Anne Casey, FRCN is a New Zealand-trained nurse based in England, who developed Casey's model of nursing. In October 2002 Casey was made a Fellow of the Royal College of Nursing for her services to paediatric nursing.
Dame Elizabeth Nneka Anionwu is a British nurse, health care administrator, lecturer, and Emeritus Professor of Nursing at the University of West London.
Dame Gillian Frances Oliver, DBE, FRCN is a British nursing administrator. An expert in cancer nursing and palliative care, she has been instrumental in developing cancer services, policy and strategy in the UK and beyond.
Dame Anne Marie Rafferty FRCN is a British nurse, academic and researcher. She is professor of nursing policy and former dean of the Florence Nightingale Faculty of Nursing, Midwifery and Palliative Care at King's College London. She served as President of the Royal College of Nursing from 2019 to 2021.
Ann Barrett OBE, is Emeritus Professor of Oncology in the University of East Anglia, England, and formerly deputy dean of the School of Medicine and lead clinician for oncology at the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital NHS Trust. She was awarded an OBE in 2010 for services to medicine. She is also a fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland.
June Andrews,, is a Scottish nurse who is an expert in dementia studies and aged care. She was the professor of dementia studies at the Dementia Services Development Centre at the University of Stirling. She is now Professor Emeritus. She has written many publications on the topics of dementia, care homes and geriatric care.
Hilary Dawn Cass is a British honorary physician in paediatric disability at the Evelina Hospital, part of Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust, and former president of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health. She is known for establishing the UK's Rett Clinic for children with the neurodevelopmental disorder Rett syndrome, developing palliative care for children, and leading the Cass Review, completed in 2024.
Professor Dame Lesley Jean Fallowfield DBE is a British cancer psychologist and a professor of psycho-oncology at the University of Sussex. The main outcomes of her research have been the establishment of assessment tools to measure quality of life in clinical trials of cancer patients and the design of educational programmes to improve oncologists' communication with their patients.
Eileen Skellern FRCN (1923–1980) was an English psychiatric nurse who was involved in pioneering psychosocial and psychotherapeutic methods for treating patients. She helped open up new roles for nurses in mental health work, and demonstrated that they could be equal partners in a team, taking personal responsibility for patient care while collaborating with doctors and playing an important part in new developments in therapeutic treatment. While also taking a lead in education, administration and policy development, she did research and published in medical and nursing journals, and was a member of key committees in her field.
Margaret Ruth McCorkle FAAN, FAPOS was an American nurse, oncology researcher, and educator. She was the Florence Schorske Wald Professor of Nursing at the Yale School of Nursing.
Sir Alan William Craft is a British paediatric oncologist and Emeritus Professor of Child Health at Newcastle University. Craft was most notable for work as one of nine founders of the Children's Cancer Study Group, focusing his research on paediatric oncology, especially the epidemiology of bone tumours that further led to an oncology research unit which has been involved in aetiological studies and in particular the role of irradiation in the development of childhood cancer.
Alison Leary is a Chair of Healthcare & Workforce Modelling at London South Bank University. and a Senior Consultant, World Health Organization Human Resources for Health Group. She works on the modelling of private and public healthcare systems. She is a Fellow of the Royal College of Nursing and Queen's Nursing Institute.
Linda Sarna is an American nursing researcher and academic. She is dean, professor and Lulu Wolf Hassenplug Chair of the UCLA School of Nursing. Sarna was appointed the school's seventh dean Nov. 15, 2016,. after serving as acting dean (2014-2015) and interim dean (2015-2016).
Janet Alma Deatrick is a Professor Emerita at the University of Pennsylvania's School of Nursing.
Patsy Yates is an Australian registered nurse, university professor, and institutional leader who works at the Queensland University of Technology (Brisbane), where she is a Distinguished Professor and Executive Dean of the Faculty of Health, Research Director of the Centre for Palliative Care Research and Education, and Co-Director of the Centre for Healthcare Transformation. She is a specialist in the field of palliative, cancer and aged care.
Roberta Lynn Woodgate is a Canadian nurse. She is a Distinguished Professor and Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Child and Family Engagement in Health Research and Healthcare at the University of Manitoba.
Karen Jean Hoare is a New Zealand professor at Massey University, and is New Zealand's first active nurse practitioner to also be a professor. Her research focuses on models for care for children and young people.
Lillie D. Shockney, RN, BS, MAS, is the University Distinguished Service Professor of Breast Cancer and Professor of Surgery and Oncology at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. A two-time survivor of breast cancer, Shockney works both as a nurse navigator supporting patients and as a medical advisor and administrator developing programs for improving patient quality of life, in particular for those with metastatic breast cancer. Shockney has published at least 20 books and 350 articles dealing with cancer and patient care. She has been the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Oncology Navigation & Survivorship (2012-2023).
Veronica Kinsler is a British physician scientist specialising in paediatric dermatology and molecular genetics. She is Professor of Paediatric Dermatology and Dermatogenetics at the Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children (GOSH) and the University College London GOS Institute of Child Health.
