The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) is a registered trade union in the United Kingdom for those in the profession of nursing. It was founded in 1916, 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.
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 has a long history. The current form of nursing is often considered as beginning with Florence Nightingale who pioneered modern nursing. Nightingale initiated formal schools of nursing in the United Kingdom in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The role and perception of nursing has dramatically changed from that of a handmaiden to the doctor to professionals in their own right. There are over 700,000 nurses in the United Kingdom and they work in a variety of settings, such as hospitals, health centres, nursing homes, hospices, communities, and academia, with most working for the National Health Service (NHS). Nurses work across all demographics and requirements of the public: adults, children, mental health, and learning disability. Nurses work in a range of specialties from the broad areas of medicine, surgery, theatres, and investigative sciences such as imaging. Nurses also work in large areas of sub-specialities such as respiratory, diabetes, neurology, infectious diseases, liver, research, cardiac, and stoma. Nurses often work in multi-disciplinary teams but increasingly are found working independently.
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, CBE, FRCN began her nursing career with a qualification in general nursing from the Royal London Hospital. She practised in the area of thoracic medicine, becoming a research sister and clinical nurse specialist.
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.
Dame Elizabeth Harriet Fradd, DBE, FRCN, is a British nursing administrator. Between 1973–1983, she held a variety of registered nurse, midwife and health visitor posts, while training as a children’s nurse who also managed children's units in Nottingham and worked as a nursing officer at the Department of Health.
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.
Annie Therese Altschul, CBE, BA, MSc, RGN, RMN, RNT, FRCN was Britain's first mental health nurse pioneer; a midwife, researcher, educator, author and a patient advocate, emeritus professor of nursing.
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 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.
Andrea Spyropoulos, RGN, SCM, RNT, is a British nurse, clinical strategist and a past president of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN).
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.
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.
