Royal College of Nursing

In 1916 the College of Nursing Ltd was founded with 34 members as a professional organisation for trained nurses[3] on a proposal from Arthur Stanley. Part of the objective was to set up a register of nurses. It was very explicitly not to be a Trade Union. It attempted an amalgamation with the Royal British Nurses' Association, but this was frustrated, largely by the efforts of Ethel Gordon Fenwick. In March 1917 the College had 2,553 members and by 1919 13,047, a great deal more than the RBNA. It had most of the nursing places on the General Nursing Council when it was first established, and by 1925 it had about 24,000 members. Membership was restricted to registered general nurses, thus excluding male nurses.[4]

A Royal Charter was granted in 1928 and the organisation became the College of Nursing.[5] It pushed for registered nurses to be given precedence, and to be in charge. In 1935 the Trades Union Congress promoted a Bill to secure a 48-hour working week for all hospital employees. The college opposed this and was accused by the TUC of being "an organisation of v[6] oluntary snobs".[7] In 1939 the college's name was changed to the Royal College of Nursing. The Ministry of Health guaranteed a salary of £40 to nursing students in training in 1941, about double what voluntary hospitals were paying before the war. The Royal College said that this was too high.[8]

Since 1977 the RCN has been registered as a trade union.[9]

In 2018, after a pay agreement that was not clearly explained to the membership was agreed, the Chief Executive and General Secretary Janet Davies resigned and Dame Donna Kinnair was appointed in an acting capacity. She was eventually confirmed in the role in April 2018.[10] A motion of no confidence in the RCN Council was called shortly afterwards and passed in September 2018 with 78% of members' votes, but only 3.7% of the membership voted. As well as the Chief Executive and General Secretary, the Director of Member Relations had previously resigned.[11][12] Twelve of the 17 council members resigned, ten of them standing for re-election in the subsequent election.[13]

The RCN is a membership organisation and a trade union with over 460,000 members. Nursing students may join at reduced fees. Following the announcement of the removal of NHS Student bursaries in November 2015 the RCN declared its opposition for this decision in their manifesto "Nursing counts".[15]

RCN Library and Archives at the Senate House History Day, 2019

The RCN Library claims to be Europe's largest nursing-specific collection.[16]

The London Library, which is now known as the UK Library, was founded in 1921, and its contents include 60,000 volumes, 500 videos and 400 current periodicals on nursing and related subjects. The catalogue, with information on over 600m records, is now online.[17] Due to its historical holdings, the Library is a member of The London Museums of Health & Medicine group.[18] Special collections include the Historical Collection and the RCN Steinberg Collection of Nursing Research, the latter of which comprises over 1,000 nursing theses and dissertations. Set up in 1974, the RCN Steinberg Collection of Nursing Research contains a selection of influential nursing theses and dissertations from the early 1950s to the present day.[19]

The RCN awards Fellowships for exceptional contributions to nursing. Honorary Fellowships can also be granted by RCN Council to those who are unable to become an RCN member, either because they are from overseas or because they work outside the nursing profession. Fellows and Honorary Fellows are entitled to the postnominal FRCN.[20]

RCN Publishing (branded as RCNi since March 2015) produces RCN Bulletin, a monthly member publication, and Nursing Standard, which is available through subscription and on news stands. It also publishes a range of journals for specialist nurses: Cancer Nursing Practice, Emergency Nurse, Learning Disability Practice, Mental Health Practice, Nursing Children and Young People, Nursing Management, Nursing Older People, Nurse Researcher, and Primary Health Care.

• Bowman, Gerald (1967). The Lamp and the Book: The Story of the RCN 1916–1966. London: Queen Anne Press.
• National Network of Learning Disability Nursing

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• Official website