Quality improvement - RCN support

Products and services

Key RCN products and services relating to this clinical governance theme are described in this page. Where necessary we indicate whether the product or service is available exclusively to RCN members. The following products and services are included.

  • Clinical audit learning area 
  • Clinical guidelines
  • CPD online learning
  • Frontline First: protecting services, improving care
  • Innovation in practice
  • Intercollegiate Working Party for Stroke
  • Learning Zone
  • NICE consultation gateway
  • Nursing practice issues
  • Policy and International Department: briefings and consultations
  • Quality and safety e-Bulletin 
  • RCN Research and Innovation Team 
  • This is nursing 

Clinical audit

This learning area within the RCN Learning Zone provides a general introduction to clinical audit. It will help you to learn what clinical audit is, why it is important, and how to conduct a clinical audit project. The learning area is available to RCN members. Visit Clinical audit.
See also the clinical audit sections in agencies and guidance and tools.

Clinical guidelines

Clinical guidelines for health care professionals are developed by the RCN in collaboration with other professional bodies and practitioner and patient advocate groups. These also include a range of clinical guidelines developed by the former National Collaborating Centre for Nursing and Supportive Care (NCC-NSC) which was based within the RCN Institute and was funded by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) to develop clinical guidelines for the NHS in England and Wales. The NCC-NSC has now merged along with three other collaborating centres to form the National Clinical Guideline Centre (NCGC), hosted by the Royal College of Physicians.

Full details of downloadable copies of the guidelines are available at RCN clinical guidelines.

RCN members have opportunities to be involved in the development of NICE guidance through the NICE consultation gateway (see below).

In addition online resources have been developed around a number of these guidelines. These resources provide downloadable copies of the guidelines and related documents, highlight the key findings within the guideline and the guideline recommendations, and provide resources to support the implementation of these recommendations.

The online resources are:

Further learning around specific guidelines and also the development of clinical guidelines is also provided by learning areas within the Learning Zone which are available to RCN members:

CPD online learning

Includes topics which compliment the online resources (see Nursing Practice issues below), for example:

For further learning opportunities see CPD online learning.

Frontline First: protecting services, improving care

The UK-wide Frontline First campaign launched in July 2010, aims to expose the impact of NHS budget and empower nursing staff to speak out against the cuts that impact on patient care, expose where they see waste and highlight innovations and new ideas. The campaign website provides the latest news, information organised by geographical area and provides a means by which information and experiences about cuts to jobs and services, waste in the NHS and nursing solutions can be shared. Visit Frontline First

Innovation in practice

This section is part of the RCN research and development website. It links to the RCN Frontline First campaign through which the RCN is gathering information about nurse-led innovations. The RCN is committed to showcasing nurse-led innovation and building nursing’s innovation capacity and capability and is working with the Office of Public management (OPM) to calculate ‘return on investment’ on nurse-led innovations. The section also brings together resources to support innovation and examples of good practice. Visit Innovation in practice.

The RCN is also highlighting the remarkable impact that innovative nurses are having on patient experience and public health - see Lightbulb innovations. 

Intercollegiate Working Party for Stroke - Profession specific audit of stroke 2006: a multidisciplinary pilot study

This report, published in May 2007, was prepared by the Profession Specific Audit Group - a sub-group of the Intercollegiate Working Party for Stroke. Nursing is represented by the Royal College of Nursing.

The report describes a pilot audit undertaken to test tools and data collection as a first stage towards the first ever national professional-specific stroke audit. The tools were developed from those originally published by the Royal College of Physicians (RCP) in 2002 within the multidisciplinary stroke audit package. The report describes and presents the results for the nursing pilot and for each of the allied health specific pilots - nutrition and dietetics, occupational therapy, physiotherapy, and speech and language therapy. Discussion and key messages for each profession are included as well as a summary of participants' evaluations of the audit process. The appendices contain the audit proformas used.

Download a copy of Professional specific audit of stroke 2006: a multidisciplinary pilot study (PDF 764KB). [How to access PDF files]

Visit the Royal College of Physicians: Stroke programme for further details..

Learning Zone

The RCN Learning Zone was developed in response to the identified need for high quality and accessible learning which served the widest membership. It has developed as an integrated part of the RCN website, is founded on established principles of learning, supported by creative application of technology and is designed to demonstrate the impact learning has on nurses and their practice. The RCN Learning Zone service is integrated with the RCN Strategic Plan, RCN priority work areas and RCN online developments. Together with other learning solutions, it helps to prepare and maintain a nursing workforce that is fit for purpose. For details of all the learning areas available view the RCN Learning Zone.

NICE consultation gateway

The RCN is a stakeholder for the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) guidance development process. This involves working on Health Technology Appraisals, Public Health Guidance, Interventional Procedures and national clinical guidelines work programme. As part of this process the RCN is invited to participate in the development and review of draft guidance for implementation in the NHS in England and Wales and other organisations as appropriate.

The RCN relies on members who have relevant expertise and are specialists in the topics being reviewed to contribute to the consultation process. This would normally involve reviewing draft documents and sending comments to the RCN NICE Project Manager. Comments are collated and used to formulate an RCN response. By participating you are helping to ensure the RCN is the leading voice of nursing. For further details see the NICE consultation gateway.
For more information on how to become involved, contact the Project Manager: caroline.rapu@rcn.org.uk.

Nursing practice issues

Within this section on the RCN website you will find a range of resources on specific topics which highlight key issues and signpost resources across the UK including policy, strategies, standards and guidance, and which provide a source of information for improvement activities. For the list of all resources see Nursing practice issues. Individual resources are described below.

RCN Principles of Nursing Practice
This is a core resource for nursing practice and quality improvement. The Principles describe what everyone can expect from nursing practice, whether colleagues, patients, their families or carers and provide a framework for care and quality improvement. This resource introduces the Principles and describes how they relate to other publications about the quality of nursing care. Stories are used to illustrate the Principles in practice and there are examples of how the Principles are being used – see Examples of how the Principles are being used.

Nursing practice issues includes a number of overarching resources relevant to all practice areas and continuous improvement.

  • Clinical governance: this page on quality improvement is part of a much larger resource exploring clinical governance themes.
  • Dignity: this resource brings together the key messages and practical insights gained from the RCN’s 2008/2009 ‘Dignity: at the heart of everything we do’ campaign and builds on the achievements of this campaign and related work.  
  • eHealth: information and resources on the different ways in which  technology is being used to support patient care.
  • Infection prevention and control: latest news and guidance and infornmation about RCN activities and the RCN’s Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) Network.
  • Nutrition and hydration: brings together strategies required to improve nutrition and hydration based on the experience of four countries, local initiatives and learning from the RCN Nutrition Now campaign.
  • Patient safety and human factors: information about  human factors approach to patient safety, RCN resources and learning opportunities, and the UK patient safety agenda.
  • Safeguarding: aims to help RCN members locate information that is practical, useful, relevant and adaptable in different settings. Resources are arranged under the headings: adult; children and young people; vulnerable people; safeguarding professionals.

There are also resources on specific topics and areas of care.

  • Diabetes: most nurses will care for people who have diabetes, whatever their field of practice. This resource highlights key issues in diabetes and its management and signposts the user to the relevant strategies, guidance and other evidence-based resources central to diabetes care across the four UK countries.
  • Social inclusion: this online resource is for all nurses and health care assistants in all settings to support practice with excluded people and hard-to-reach communities. Specific communities highlighted are: Asylum seekers and refugees; Gypsy and Traveller communities; homeless people; offenders; sex workers and people with learning disabilities and mental health issues.

A number of the resources also support the implementation of clinical guidelines – see the clinical guidelines heading above. There are also learning opportunities linked to many of these resources which can be accessed by members in the RCN Learning Zone. A number of these are also available in CPD online learning.

Policy and International Department: briefings and consultations

The department works proactively with a range of governmental and non-governmental organisations to analyse, understand, and influence the development of health and social care policy.
There are briefings on a wide range of issues which affect nurses and nursing. Within consultations policy consultation documents outline the issues and enable members to participate in the RCN's response to those consultations.

Quality and safety e-Bulletin

The e-Bulletin is sent out fortnightly and will keep you up to date with the latest quality and safety news as well as RCN initiatives and publications. It reflects the themes in this Clinical governance resource and gathers together links and descriptions, such as new policy, guidance, projects from key national and government agencies and initiatives across the four UK countries. For further details and the registration form see Quality and safety e-Bulletin.

RCN Research and Innovation Team

The RCN Research and Innovation Team works with the RCN Research Society to promote excellence in care through research and development. There are national research networks in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and regional networks across England with regional events throughout the year, and an international research conference is held every year. Up to the minute news on research policy developments, research governance issues, dissemination opportunities (including an events listing), research funding and training opportunities are provided through a free weekly electronic bulletin and the Research and Innovation Team website.

This is nursing

The Royal College of Nursing has launched this website, which has sections for members and the public, as part of an initiative that will help tackle the professional issues affecting nursing staff, and highlight the skills and expertise required to be part of the profession. It will also challenge the public’s perception of modern-day nursing. The website is organised around seven key areas of work: professional attitudes and behaviours; education; quality and the Principles of Nursing Practice; HCAs - training and regulation; leadership; paperwork and administration; safe staffing - including the care of older people. Visit This is nursing.