Research in Child Health (RiCH) Group

The RiCH Group was launched in June 1997 as a group for all RCN members interested in research in the field of child health and children's nursing, whether as active researchers, practitioners or students. Membership is free to all RCN members. The group is part of the General Children's Nursing Forum.

The philosophy of the group is to support, encourage and inform those involved in the nursing care of children, to become involved in the development of a sound body of evidence for the nursing care of children. This philosophy of openness, positive encouragement and sharing of information and expertise underpins the development of the group.

Statement of aims

The aims of the RiCH Group are to:

Enhance the research base for child health care
Promote best practice by encouraging the implementation of research in the care of the child and family.

The objectives of the RiCH Group are to:

Provide a supportive infrastructure for new and experienced researchers, innovators and all nurses working in child health to share good practice and exchange information
Encourage nurses to use the best available evidence to challenge existing practices and develop new approaches to care
Use the group to demystify research and disseminate findings therebyworking towards making research accessible to all child health nurses
Develop opportunities to influence the wider research agenda
Identify research gaps; areas for collaborative and multidisciplinary research; and opportunities to improve the quality of research.

The steering committee

The RiCH Group consists of a steering committee concerned with the strategic direction of the group. Activities of the steering committee include: the development of a benchmark for evidence-based practice, the organisation of the Research in Practice Award, disseminating research findings through a number of columns in Paediatric Nursing, and organising fringe events at a number of conferences.

The steering committee is open to any RCN member interested in contributing to the work of the group who is able to attend 3 out of 4 meetings each year. The meetings all take place at the RCN Headquarters in London.

The regional groups

The aim of the regional groups is to provide a national support group for all levels of nurses to exchange information about research developments in child health practices to provide ‘best’ evidence-based care for the child and family. The regional groups provide access to the group for members at a local level.

There are currently a number of active regional groups across the UK and others are in the planning stages. If you want to find out about a group in your area please contact Theresa Pengelly (t.pengelly@worc.ac.uk) for further details.