Sarah Elizabeth Wardroper appointment as matron at St Thomas' Hospital in January 1854. Although nursing was still largely a disreputable occupation she made St Thomas' a model of reformed, professional, nursing and in 1860, with the creation of the training school for nurses by the Nightingale Fund at the same hospital, she was appointed superintendent. Florence Nightingale selected St Thomas' Hospital as the site for her new nurse training school, largely because of Wardroper's qualities (and those of the enlightened resident medical officer, R.G. Whitfield). Nightingale, Wardroper and Whitfield worked together to establish the new school, the first secular training school for nurses
Nursing in the United Kingdom a Royal College and a trade union. This dual role was the subject of debate in 2013, and there was a vote on dividing the RCN to form two organisations. 99.4% of voters did not want to divide. Other trade unions that represent healthcare workers are Unite the Union, UNISON and GMB. Royal College of Nursing is a membership organisation and trade union. The Queen's Nursing Institute (QNI) is a registered charity, which until the 1960s trained district nurses. Guild of Nursing – A newly formed body that aims to represent Nurses. The Florence Nightingale Foundation supports nurses and midwives