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 Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital (RNOH) is a specialist orthopaedic hospital located in Stanmore in the London Borough of Harrow, run by the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Trust. It provides the most comprehensive range of neuro-musculoskeletal health care in the UK, including acute spinal injury, complex bone tumour treatment, orthopaedic medicine and specialist rehabilitation for chronic back pain. The RNOH is a major teaching centre and around 20% of orthopaedic surgeons in the UK receive training there.
Dame Janet Elizabeth Murray Kershaw is an English nurse who served as Professor of Nursing and dean at the School of Nursing and Midwifery, University of Sheffield from 1999 to 2006.
Dame Margaret June Clark, FAANFLSW is Professor Emeritus of Community Nursing, at Swansea University in Wales.
Nursing in the United Kingdom is the largest health care profession in the country. It has evolved from assisting doctors to encompass a variety of professional roles. Over 700,000 nurses practice, working in settings such as hospitals, health centres, nursing homes, hospices, communities, military, prisons, and academia. Most are employed by the National Health Service (NHS).
Beverly Louise Malone is the chief executive officer of the National League for Nursing in the United States. Prior to assuming this position in February 2007 she served as general secretary of the Royal College of Nursing in the United Kingdom for six years.
Sylvia Ernestine Denton (1941-2020), CBE, FRCN. RHV. Denton was one of the first Breast Care Nurses in the United Kingdom and President of the Royal College of Nursing from 2002-2006.
Alison Kitson FRCN is inaugural Vice President and Executive Dean of the College of Nursing and Health Sciences at Flinders University South Australia. She is also an Associate Fellow of Green Templeton College, Oxford, United Kingdom.
Dame Elizabeth Nneka Anionwu is a British nurse, health care administrator, lecturer, and Emeritus Professor of Nursing at the University of West London.
Ara Warkes Darzi, Baron Darzi of Denham is an Armenian-British surgeon, academic, and politician.
Tom J. Quinn was the UK's first Professor of cardiac nursing, and is a Fellow of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) for his outstanding contribution to research and practice of cardiac nursing.
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.
Christine Joy Moffatt, CBE, FRCN is a British nurse and educator.
Doreen Norton, OBE, FRCN was an English nurse, in the 1950s she used research to show that the best treatment and prevention of bedsores was removing the pressure by turning the patient.
Anaphylaxis UK is a British charity that solely supports people at risk from severe allergic reactions. For over 25 years, the charity has provided information and support to patients and their families.
Dame Anne Marie Rafferty FRCN is a British nurse, academic and researcher. She is the professor of nursing policy and the 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. She was nominated for a life peerage on 20 December 2024.
Andrea Spyropoulos, RGN, SCM, RNT, is a British nurse, clinical strategist and a past president of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN).
Professor June Andrews,, is a Scottish psychiatric 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 widely on dementia, care homes and geriatric care.
Lisbeth Hockey was an Austrian-born British nurse and researcher. She was the first director of the Nursing Research Unit in Edinburgh. She was awarded a PhD for research in nursing, one of the first people to do so.
Susan Elizabeth Manthorp Pembrey, known as Sue Pembrey, was a British nurse best known for her contributions to the development of nursing practice and to patient-centred hospital care.
