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Our values
Our values are at the heart of all we do.
It is well-known that nursing is the most trusted profession. This is an undisputed fact, poll by poll, year on year. Just as nurses always take an evidence-based approach to their work, so do we.
We don’t just follow the facts, we probe them to find the real story.
Case study: Male nursing applicants
We receive hundreds of media releases every day but we never take those we select for coverage at face value.
For example, NHS England put out a statement claiming a ‘record breaking’ number of nursing school applications from male school leavers, which was reported almost verbatim by a number of media outlets.
However, on closer fact-checking and speaking to our nursing policy contacts, we discovered the figures masked an overall dramatic fall in the total number of male applicants since the loss of the bursary.
We also make the news by investigating the issues that matter to nurses.
Case study: Nurses’ well-being
The topics of our investigations are informed by what nurses are talking about – on social media, at conferences and to us – and our own knowledge of the profession and use of data analytics, which track what’s being read on our website.
For example, we know from the above intel that flu is a popular topic, especially the debate over whether there should be compulsory vaccination for frontline healthcare staff.
This led us to send freedom of information requests to NHS organisations asking if they had ever discussed introducing a mandatory flu jab for these staff.
Click here to read the results
We followed this investigation up with a survey of nurses’ opinions of being compelled to have the vaccine.
Click here to read the results
The findings on flu vaccinations was one set of data from our annual nurse well-being survey. Thousands of nurses respond to these polls which have also covered:
Best practice is at the heart of nursing and our features and expert comment will provide support and inspiration for your daily practice, and career progression.
Case study: Careers advice and support
Features and advice pieces based on aspects of nurses and nursing students’ practice are popular content because of their practical and informative nature.
Nurses need to undergo revalidation to ensure they can continue to practise, hence the need to understand issues such as getting their practice-related feedback right.
Revalidation: getting your practice-related feedback right
Our content also explains what updates to clinical guidelines or education standards mean to individual nurses.
Find out about the NMC's new education standards Read our clinical updates
We also support students by providing articles explaining how to undertake tasks such as writing a patient’s notes and other first-time experiences.
All clinical content is subject to external double-blind peer review and checked for plagiarism using automated software. Robust in-house editorial processes ensure the accuracy, integrity and quality.
Case study: Peer-reviewed content
We offer three different kinds of peer-reviewed content to meet the needs of the individual nurse and the nursing workforce.
For example, our ‘how to’ series succinctly assists nurses to undertake an evidence-based skill.
How to record a 12-lead electrocardiogram
Whereas our CPD articles aim to enhance nurses’ understanding of evidence-based care and reflect on its application to their own practice.
Using the ABCDE approach to assess the deteriorating patient
Evidence and practice articles take the form of a user-friendly literature review to critique and analyse key care issues.
Understanding the human and system factors involved in medication errors
Some of these articles point to RCNi Learning modules.
Nurses also provide their expertise within our team as members of staff, commissioning and editing articles, and also as representatives on our editorial advisory board, shaping our strategic vision.
RCNi is also a member of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), an international organisation that provides advice and guidance on best practice for dealing with ethical issues in journal publishing.
Our non-clinical articles are also subject to a rigorous fact-checking and editing process, with our sources as clearly stated as our academic references.
We always aim to get things right but if we make a make a mistake we’ll correct it and explain what we’ve changed.
Our reputation as a leading publisher, information and solutions company for the nursing profession attracts the interest of influential organisations and charities.
We regularly work with the following organisations:
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Press coverage
We also make the headlines.
The findings from our 2019 survey with Marie Curie into the experiences of nurses caring for people in the last months, weeks and days of life were featured in the Independent and the Mirror:
- Nurses struggling to look after dying patients due of staff shortages, survey finds
- Dying patients denied good care because of staff shortages, nurses say
Exclusive research we uncovered in 2018 into nurses' well-being was covered in the Independent, the Daily Mail and the Belfast Telegraph:
- Nurses forced to go hungry and thirsty because they have no time for breaks, survey finds
- NHS nurses are under so much pressure that many are turning to alcohol or even contemplating suicide amid rising workloads
- Nurses 'too busy to even drink water'
The results from our survey into student attrition rates in 2018 were featured in the Guardian, the Express and the Scotsman:
- Quarter of UK student nurses drop out before graduation, study finds
- NHS staff crisis as 25% of student nurses drop out
- Quarter of student nurses dropping out before graduation
Our investigation into the weird and wonderful gifts that nurses and other NHS staff have received from the public was featured in the Daily Mail:
Who owns us?
We are a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Royal College of Nursing. This means we are editorially independent but our profits return to the RCN.
Who funds us?
You. Subscribers – individuals or institutions – and advertisers and sponsors.
How can you get involved?
Write for us – find out more here
Sponsored content – find out more here or contact our editors
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