Background

Introduction

The RCN’s strategic plan (2003–08) called for a review of the practice and funding of the RCN Institute.The review identified two issues, namely

  1. Concern over the sustainability of the infrastructure necessary to respond to the requirements of the Higher Education Funding Council for England (which currently directly funds parts of the RCNI as a designated higher education institution) and
  2. An apparent lack of synergy between the work of the RCNI and the RCN.

In response to the review it was recommended by the Board of Governors of the RCNI that

  1. there should be a detailed options appraisal for the future of the RCNI research function and
  2. a shared vision for the future of research within the RCN should be developed.

This website presents the shared vision for the future of research within the RCN, describes how it was developed and how it is being realised.

How the vision was developed

A range of stakeholders were engaged, via three separate, inter-related activities, in the development of a shared vision for the future of research within the RCN:

  1. A number of one-to-one discussions were held with key opinion leaders from across the UK within the nursing and the nursing research community at the RCN international nursing research conference in March 2006 and at RCN Congress in April 2006.
  2. The Acting Director of the RCN Institute hosted a ‘research visioning day’ on 30th March 2006. This facilitated event included stakeholders from across the RCN.
  3. The RCN Research Society’s Steering Committee and Chairs of the RCN’s national and regional Research Society networks met on 23rd and 24th May 2006 and debated the emerging vision for the future of research within the RCN.

A vision for the future of research within the RCN was agreed by RCN Council in July 2006