The Royal British Nurses' Association was founded in December 1887 by

Ethel Bedford-Fenwick Ethel Gordon Fenwick (née Manson; 26 January 1857 – 13 March 1947) was a British nurse who played a major role in the History of Nursing in the United Kingdom. She campaigned to procure a nationally recognised certificate for nursing, to saf ...

. It described itself as a union or organisation of nurses for professional objects and campaigned for the establishment of a register of nurses. It wanted the training to last three years with national standards.

Princess Christian Princess Helena (Helena Augusta Victoria; 25 May 1846 – 9 June 1923), later Princess Christian of Schleswig-Holstein, was the third daughter and fifth child of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. Helena was educated by private tutors chosen ...

was the president from its foundation. In 1891, it received the prefix "Royal", and received a

royal charter A royal charter is a formal grant issued by a monarch under royal prerogative as letters patent. Historically, they have been used to promulgate public laws, the most famous example being the English Magna Carta (great charter) of 1215, bu ...

in 1892. In a speech she made in 1893, she made clear that the association was working towards "improving the education and ''status'' of those devoted and self-sacrificing women whose whole lives have been devoted to tending the sick, the suffering, and the dying". In the same speech, she warned about opposition and misrepresentation they had encountered. Although the association was in favour of registration as a means of enhancing and guaranteeing the professional status of trained nurses, its charter with the

Privy Council A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mon ...

allowed it to maintain a list rather than a formal register of nurses, but as the list had no formal status few nurses joined it, and the campaign for registration continued.Seweryn Chomet, ''Helena: A Princess Reclaimed'' (Begell House, New York, 1999) p. 120 The charter altered the constitution, and Mrs Bedford-Fenwick lost her permanent position. Alice Ravenhill was the secretary of the association from 1894 to 1897. It set up a nurses' co-operative, the Chartered Nurses Association, in 1896. In 1905 it employed 120 nurses taking 7.5% of their earnings. The passing of the

Midwives Act 1902 {{Infobox UK legislation, short_title=Midwives Act 1902, parliament=, year=, citation=2 Edw. VII c. 17, royal_assent=31 July 1902, commencement=1 April 1903, status=Repealed The Midwives Act 1902 ( 2 Edw. VII c. 17) was an Act of Parliament of the ...

encouraged the campaign for registration of nurses. The association helped to set up the Central Committee for the State Registration of Nurses in 1908. The RBNA gradually went into decline following the

Nurses Registration Act 1919 The Nurses Registration Act 1919 (9 & 10 Geo. 5 c. 94) was an Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom It set up the General Nursing Council, and was the culmination of a long campaign led by Ethel Gordon Fenwick to establish a register of nurse ...

; after six failed attempts between 1904 and 1918, the

British parliament The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative supremacy ...

passed the bill allowing formal nurse registration. In 1925 it had about 5,000 members – around a fifth of the membership of the

College of Nursing Nurse education consists of the theoretical and practical training provided to nurses with the purpose to prepare them for their duties as nursing care professionals. This education is provided to student nurses by experienced nurses and other med ...

. It was still in existence .

References

{{authority control Medical associations based in the United Kingdom Nursing organisations in the United Kingdom 1887 establishments in the United Kingdom Organizations established in 1887 Organisations based in the United Kingdom with royal patronage