Alison KitsonAlison Kitson

BSc(Hons) PhD RN FRCN

Dr Alison Kitson was Executive Director of Nursing at the Royal College of Nursing. She has enjoyed a highly successful career in nursing, operating at a national and international level for the past 20 years. Alison was awarded Fellowship of the RCN in 1991.

Alison is an innovator, visionary and highly motivated individual. She can operate across multiple levels within a system, can embrace complexity and has the resilience, courage and self-confidence to tackle big challenges.

After a degree and PhD in nursing and time spent in clinical practice and as a university lecturer, Alison moved to the RCN to set up the RCN Standards of Care Programme and went on to establish a team of 15 quality improvement facilitators and researchers who worked with RCN members across the UK and internationally.

She then moved to Oxford to help set up the Institute of Nursing, the first practice development and research unit in the UK (1989-1992). Alison became director of the unit (1992-1996) and successfully developed a number of leading edge research and development programmes. During this time she continued to lead the RCN’s quality improvement work and set up the acclaimed RCN Clinical Leadership Programme. She also led the bid for the RCN NICE collaborating centre, the only NICE centre located in a nursing organisation.

Alison’s leadership and management skills were then employed to lead a major change initiative in the RCN Institute. From 1996 to 2002 she successfully led the transfer of students from part-time courses in Belfast and London to university partnerships with the University of Ulster and South Bank University.

Alison’s current role has given her the opportunity to extend her leadership and management experience from research, innovation and higher education to leading the communications, policy, professional membership services and international functions in the RCN. She has also been responsible for setting up new business and strategic alliances. She has increased the profile of the RCN through improved communications, policy work, lobbying and political influencing work.

Alison is seen as a highly credible and authoritative figure in nursing both in the UK and internationally. She has been given many honours including Fellowship at Green College, University of Oxford, visiting and honorary professorships, and recently she was awarded a prestigious Florence Nightingale leadership fellowship.

Alison sits on the council of Henley Management College and is a trustee of a charity that provides care for older people. She has also represented nursing and the RCN on numerous advisory bodies, both at national and international level.

Publications

  • Large, S, MaCleod A, Cunningham G, and Kitson A (2005) A Multiple-Case Study on Evaluation of the RCN Clinical Leadership Programme in England, RCN; London.
  • Kitson A (2004) Drawing out Leadership, Guest editorial. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 48, 3, 1-2.
  • Rycroft-Malone J, Seers K, Titchen A, Harvey G, Kitson A, McCormack B (2004) What Counts as evidence in evidence-based practice,Journal of Advanced Nursing, 47, 81-90.
  • Rycroft-Malone J, Harvey G, Seers K, Kitson A, McCormack B, Titchen A (2004) An exploration of the factors that influence the implementation of evidence into practice, Journal of Clinical Nursing, 13, 913-924.
  • Rycroft-Malone J, Harvey G, Kitson A, Seers K, Titchen A, McCormack B (2003) Getting Evidence into Practice : The Experience of Practitioners, RCN Publishing, London.
  • Rycroft-Malone J, Kitson A, Harvey G, McCormack B, Seers K, Titchen A, Estabrookes C (2002) Ingredients for Change : revisiting a conceptual framework, Quality and Safety in Health Care, 11, 174-180.
  • McCormack B, Kitson A, Harvey G, Rycroft-Malone J, Titchen A, Seers K (2002) Getting evidence into practice : the meaning of ‘context’ Journal of Advanced Nursing, 38 (1); 94-104.
  • Kitson A (2002) Recognising relationships : reflections on evidence-based practice, Nursing Inquiry 9, 3 179-186.
  • Harvey G, Loftus-Hills A, Rycroft-Malone J, Titchen A, Kitson A, McCormack B, Seers K (2002) Getting evidence into practice: the role and function of facilitation.  37(6), 577-588.
  • Kitson A (2001) Approaches Used to Implement Research Findings into Nursing Practice:  A report of a study tour to Australia and New Zealand,International Journal of Nursing Practice, 7, 392-405.
  • Kitson A (2001) Nursing Leadership: bringing caring back to the future. Quality in Health Care, 10 (supplement II). Pii 79-84.
  • Kitson A, Cunningham G (2001) Lost in familiar places … again. Journal of Applied Nursing Research, May 2001 Issue P113-116
  • Cunningham G, Kitson A (2000) An evaluation of the RCN Clinical Leadership Development Programme: Part 1. Nursing Standard 15, 12, 34-37
  • Cunningham G, Kitson A (2000) An evaluation of the RCN Clinical Leadership Development Programme: Part 2.  Nursing Standard 15, 13, 36-39
  • Kitson A (1999) The Relevance of Scholarship for Nursing Research and Practice, Journal of Advanced Nursing, 29, 4, 773-775.
  • Scott E, McMahon A, Kitson A and Rafferty A (1999) A national initiative to set priorities for R&D in nursing, midwifery and health visiting: investigating the method, NT Research, 4, 283–290.
  • Kitson A (1999) Research utilisation: current issues, questions and debates,Canadian Journal of Nursing Research, 31, 13–22.
  • Kitson A (1999)  The relevance of scholarship to nursing research and practice (Editorial), Journal of Advanced Nursing, 29 (4), 773–775.
  • Kitson A, Harvey G, McCormack B (1998) Enabling the implementation of evidence-based practice: a conceptual framework, Quality in Health Care, 7 (3), 149–158.
  • Kitson A  Does nursing have a future? (1997) Image: Journal of Nursing Scholarship. Second Quarter 1997 Volume 29, Number 2.
  • Kitson A  (1997) Using evidence to demonstrate the value of nursing, Nursing Standard, April 2 11 (28), 34–39.
  • Kitson A (1996) Does nursing have a future? British Medical Journal, 313, 164 –51
  • Harvey G, Kitson A (1996)  Achieving improvement through quality: an evaluation of key factors in the implementation process, Journal of Advanced Nursing, 24, (1), 185–195.