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, King Charles III continued the royal connection and became patron in 2024. 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.
The Florence Nightingale Faculty of Nursing, Midwifery & Palliative Care is an academic faculty within King's College London. The faculty is the world's first nursing school to be continuously connected to a fully serving hospital and medical school. Established on 9 July 1860 by Florence Nightingale, the founder of modern nursing, it was a model for many similar training schools through the UK, Commonwealth and other countries for the latter half of the 19th century. It is primarily concerned with the education of people to become nurses and midwives. It also carries out nursing research, continuing professional development and postgraduate programmes. The Faculty forms part of the Waterloo campus on the South Bank of the River Thames and is now one of the largest faculties in the university.
Dame Margaret June Clark, FAANFLSW is Professor Emeritus of Community Nursing, at Swansea University in Wales.
Justus Akinbayo Akinsanya, FRCN was a nurse, human biologist, nurse educator and researcher.
Dame Elizabeth Nneka Anionwu is a British nurse, health care administrator, lecturer, and Emeritus Professor of Nursing at the University of West London.
Claire Muriel Fagin FAAN was an American nurse, educator, and academic. She was an early advocate of family-centered care, with major contributions to psychiatric nursing, nursing education and geriatric nursing. Fagin was also one of the first women to serve as president of an Ivy League university.
Dame Elizabeth Harriet Fradd, DBE, FRCN was a British nursing administrator.
Dame Kathleen Annie Raven, DBE, FRCN was a British nurse, matron, government health official, health care engineer, and educational philanthropist.
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.
Dame Barbara Evelyn Clayton was an English pathologist who made a significant contribution to clinical medicine, medical research and public service. She was latterly Professor of Clinical Pathology at Great Ormond Street Hospital, London.
Professor Dame Jessica Lois Corner DBE FMedSci is a British nurse, academic, educator and author. She is currently the Executive Chair of Research England. She was previously Professor of Cancer and Supportive Care, and Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Research and Knowledge Exchange at the University of Nottingham.
Nursing Studies is an academic unit within the School of Health in Social Science at University of Edinburgh. A teaching unit was established in 1956, the first to be part of a British university. The unit's initial focus was on education for nursing teachers and leaders. In 1960 it offered the first degree courses in nursing in the UK. It became a department of the university in 1965 and six years later gained a Chair of Nursing Studies, which was the first to be established in Europe. The unit also had a Nursing Research Unit, which opened in 1971 and ran for more than twenty years. The unit continues to offer nurse education at undergraduate, postgraduate and research levels.
Mary Josephine Renfrew is a British midwife and academic.
Fiona Mary Ross, is a British nurse and academic. She is Emerita Professor in Health and Social Care at Kingston University and an independent governor on the Westminster University Court. Formerly she was Dean at Kingston University and St George's, University of London, and also the director of research at the Leadership Foundation for Higher Education.
Ann Elizabeth Kurth, PhD, CNM, MPH, FAAN, FACNM is President of The New York Academy of Medicine (NYAM), a leading nonprofit organization focused on health equity; she is the first epidemiologist to lead NYAM in its 176-year history. Previously she was the dean and Linda Koch Lorimer Professor at Yale School of Nursing (YSN). She is a fellow of the National Academy of Medicine and was a member of the United States Preventive Services Task Force. She is an expert in global health and HIV with work funded by the National Institutes of Health, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, CDC, and others, for studies in the US and internationally. Dr. Kurth has published ~250 peer-reviewed articles, chapters, and monographs. She currently co-chairs the National Academy of Medicine Board on Global Health, which includes a focus on health issues of national and global import.
Alison Joan Tierney FRCN is a British nurse researcher and educator and a former editor-in-chief of the Journal of Advanced Nursing. Tierney was one of the first graduates (1971) of the Integrated Degree/Nursing programme at The University of Edinburgh. In 2018 she was named as one of 70 of the most influential nurses in the 70 years of the NHS.
Hugh Patrick McKenna CBE FRCN is a British academic. He is Dean of Medical School Development at Ulster University.
Jill Elizabeth Maben OBE is a British nurse and academic. She is currently professor of health services research and nursing at the University of Surrey and visiting professor of nursing at Murdoch University, Perth, Australia.
Jane Salvage(born 6 August 1953) is a British nursing policy activist, teacher, and writer. She has been described as "a hugely influential nurse leader who has contributed to advancing nursing in a wide number of roles throughout her career".
Joanne Rycroft-Malone is a British researcher who is a Distinguished Professor and the Executive Dean of the Faculty of Health and Medicine at Lancaster University. She is Programme Director and Chair of the Health and Social Care Delivery Research programme.
