Royal College of Nursing Representing nurses and nursing, promoting excellence in practice, shaping health policies

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Our work

How we represent forum members

  • Providing professional representation: Advocating for our members at a strategic level to ensure effective representation.
  • Ensuring the nursing voice is heard: Making certain that nursing perspectives are considered in all relevant professional forums.
  • Collaborating with organisations: Partnering with other entities to develop comprehensive policies and guidance.
  • Organising study events: Facilitating educational events to disseminate best practices.
  • Networking opportunities: Offering chances to connect with other critical care and flight nurses.
     

Our strategy

  • Maintain a visible presence and actively contribute to critical care and flight nursing across all four countries.
  • Provide clear leadership and direction within each specialty.
  • Promote education and professional development within our nursing community.
  • Develop standards and guidelines that demonstrate best practices.
  • Actively engage with forum members.
  • Ensure the development and growth of the forum.
  • Collaborate with other RCN forums to share and develop best practices.

Critical care and flight Forum Annual Report 2022

What we are currently working on

We collaborate closely with Suman Shrestha, the Professional Lead for Acute, Emergency, and Critical Care at the Royal College of Nursing (RCN). Suman plays a pivotal role in aligning the forum's objectives with the broader administration and strategic goals of the RCN. Additionally, he serves as a liaison between the CCFN forum and various critical care nursing associations, keeping us informed about their projects and priorities, thereby facilitating opportunities for collaborative efforts.

Our primary focus within the forum is to engage with our members and understand their needs, ensuring that our events and initiatives remain pertinent and beneficial.

Our current active projects are:

  • Organising yearly conferences and learning experiences for critical care and flight nurses.
  • Creating an e-learning module for new nurses and students in critical care.
  • Investigating nurses' experiences of end-of-life care in critical care.
  • Working with UKCCNA colleagues to enhance quality and support for critical care nurses.
  • Critical Care and Flight Nursing Steering Committee

Recent activity

  • Production of a suite of podcasts discussing the impact of COVID-19 on repatriation work
  • Production of webinars providing guidance on professional indemnity for flight nurses, and medical escort safety
  • A selection of blogs from forum members
  • Provided career advice for prospective flight nurses
  • The ever popular RCN flight nursing study day was held in October 2020

Leading, collaborating, influencing

The RCN and its forums are invited to participate in many cross working and multidisciplinary workstreams. Below are a selection of some of the activities that members of the Critical Care and Flight Nursing Forum are involved in on your behalf.

  • Critical Care Leadership Forum. This forum is hosted by the Faculty of Intensive Care Medicine and all the UK organisations related to critical care are members. We meet every three months to share and discuss matters related to critical care. Get it Right First Time (GIRFT) for critical care was one of the projects that was discussed and reviewed at this forum.
  • UK Critical Care Nursing Alliance (UKCCNA). This is the alliance of all critical care nursing organisations in the UK. The aim is to work collaboratively on matters related to critical care nursing. The UKCCNA website contains a wealth of guidance, news and position statements.
  • National Emergency Critical Care Committee. Hosted by the Intensive Care Society, the aim is to work collaboratively with all critical care organisations on matters related to critical care.
  • NHS England Acute Deterioration Board. Its purpose is to ensure alignment between programmes of work being carried out by various national and regional healthcare organisations to improve the prevention, identification and rapid action in response to acute physical deterioration.

Consultations

The RCN is the voice of nursing, and is invited to contribute to many consultations. These are some of the recent consultations that the Critical Care and Flight Nursing Forum has been involved in.

Get involved

Find out more about how to get involved in developing NICE and SIGN guidance

Page last updated - 19/03/2025