Nursing Times

About Nursing Times

The first edition arrived on Saturday 6 May 1905, published weekly by Macmillan of St Martin's Street, London, with a cover that carried advertisements for "cheap" midwives' bags and Horrockses' flannelettes rather than headlines. Florence Nightingale, the founder of modern nursing, was still alive and would live for another five years. The professional field of nursing was less than 50 years old. From that modest beginning, Nursing Times has grown into the largest website for nurses outside the United States and one of the most enduring professional journals in British publishing — the independent voice of nursing for more than 120 years.

Published in London, Nursing Times serves nurses at every stage of their careers, from students and nursing associates to the most senior registered nurses and midwives. It covers original nursing research and best practice, daily news, opinion and analysis relevant to the profession, and in 2025 it completed a historic transition, ceasing its print edition after 120 years to continue as a digital-only publication. Its archive of print issues stretching back to 1905 is a unique record of the history of nursing. Below is a detailed profile of the publication: its Edwardian origins, editorial character, landmark journalism, digital transformation and its place in nursing life.

History and Founding

Nursing Times was founded in 1905 by Macmillan & Co Ltd, the publishing house — not the cancer charity of the same name — operating from St Martin's Street in London. The first issue, published on 6 May 1905, cost a penny. Inside, those behind the journal introduced "who we are" — though without naming any members of staff — and set out their purpose plainly: "The journal will be chiefly written for nurses by nurses."

The editor for the first 21 years was Swanhilde Bulan, a German-born journalist who preferred anonymity and was never identified on Nursing Times' pages. In the first issue Ms Bulan emphasised the independence that the title still cherishes today: there was, she said, "no shadowy personality 'behind' it," and Nursing Times would report news without bias — an allusion to the fact that its competitors promoted particular political views. When critics suggested that a journal avoiding squabbles would be "colourless," the launch issue replied that if it could "avoid bias, bitterness and personalities, we are well content to be 'colourless'." But the journal insisted it did have colour to offer — "of the right sort … expert articles, interesting experiences, reliable and exhaustive news, and helpful interchanges of opinion." It would cater, the founders said, for "the human being and the woman as well as the nurse."

The tone was genteel — publishing was a genteel business in 1905 — but the journal was serious from the start about keeping nurses up to date on professional news and clinical issues, and about giving them a forum to express their views. An article in 1908, for example, complained about an aspect of mental health nursing, observing the stresses placed on the mental nurse attending dances organised for patients — a small, vivid glimpse of Edwardian nursing life that the journal's archive still preserves.

Editorial Focus and Audience

Nursing Times publishes content designed to educate, inform and support nurses at every stage of their career. Its audience spans student nurses and midwives, nursing associates and registered nurses working in every setting — hospitals, community care, primary care, mental health and social care. Its content helps nurses improve their practice, keeps them up to date with developments in nursing and healthcare policy, and supports their career development.

The editorial offer combines several strands. The news section provides comprehensive coverage of developments in nursing, focused on the UK health and social care system with some global coverage, updated daily with news, analysis, interviews and investigations. The opinion section features views, comments and reflections written by nurses and nursing stakeholders, including regular columnists, contributors and the editor. The clinical section publishes original nursing research, best-practice articles and continuing professional development material — the evidence-based content that nurses use to improve patient care. The current editor is Steve Ford.

A Century of Landmark Coverage

Few publications have witnessed as much history as Nursing Times. Its pages recorded the death of Florence Nightingale in 1910, just five years after the journal's founding; the formation of the National Health Service in 1948, the single most consequential event in the history of British nursing; and the two world wars, in which nurses served and died in unprecedented numbers. In 1974 the journal covered nurses marching to Downing Street to demand better pay — a campaign that won increases of up to 58 per cent. It reported on Project 2000 in 1986, which set out the move to diploma-level nurse training, and on the medical landmarks of the century, from Paul Zoll's development of the first cardiac pacemaker in 1952 to the first human heart and lung transplants, and the legalisation of termination of pregnancy under the Abortion Act 1967.

This extraordinary run of witness is now preserved in the Nursing Times Archive, launched in 2023. Thousands of print issues published since 1905 have been painstakingly scanned and uploaded to the website, where subscribers can search for particular subjects or peruse specific issue dates. Today's nursing students and educators can use the archive to find articles demonstrating how practice has changed down the years; academic researchers can locate key articles to reference; and anyone interested in the history of nursing can read how the journal covered the seminal moments of the profession's first 120 years.

The End of Print and the Digital Future

In 2025, Nursing Times ceased its print edition and became an online-only publication — the last printed issue carrying a retrospective on the journal's life in print. At the time of the transition the magazine had more than 20,000 subscribers, with around 100 print-only subscribers, some 11,900 taking both print and digital, and the rest digital-only. The decision reflected the reality of how the profession now reads: the Nursing Times website had already grown into the largest website for nurses outside the United States, with more than 10 million annual page views and over 5 million unique visitors in 2023.

The digital audience the title now serves is measured in millions: some 4.5 million website users, 400,000 email readers, nearly 199,000 registered UK readers, and large social followings including around 154,800 followers on X, 118,000 on LinkedIn, 92,000 on Facebook and 17,300 on Instagram. The print magazine's monthly rhythm has given way to the daily publishing cycle of the website, with the news section updated every day and the archive providing the depth that only 120 years of back issues can offer.

Ownership and Publishing

Nursing Times was founded by Macmillan & Co Ltd and is today published by Metropolis International, the specialist business-to-business publisher. The title's ISSN is 0954-7762. Its editorial offices are at Harmsworth House, 15 Bouverie Street, Temple, London EC4Y 8DP — in the heart of the capital's historic Fleet Street publishing district.

The title's journey through successive publishers mirrors the consolidation of British professional publishing over the 20th century, but its editorial independence — asserted in that first issue in 1905 — has remained its defining characteristic. "Since its launch in 1905, Nursing Times has been the independent voice of nursing" is how the publication describes itself, and the claim is backed by more than a century of journalism written for the profession rather than for any institution within it.

Clinical Content and Professional Development

Beyond news and opinion, Nursing Times is a working tool for clinical practice. Its clinical articles, video case studies and CPD (continuing professional development) units give nurses evidence-based resources they can apply directly to patient care and use to meet their professional revalidation requirements. The content is organised by clinical topic, allowing nurses to find material relevant to their specialty — from wound care to dementia, from critical care to community nursing.

This educational mission connects directly back to the founding promise that the journal would be "chiefly written for nurses by nurses." The expert articles and the interchange of opinion that Swanhilde Bulan promised in 1905 have evolved into peer-reviewed-style clinical content, but the purpose is unchanged: to make nurses better at the work they do.

Events and Awards

Nursing Times runs an extensive programme of events that bring the profession together. The Nursing Awards celebrate excellence across the profession; the Student Nurse Awards recognise the next generation; the Workforce Congress addresses the staffing challenges facing the NHS; the Digital Nursing Forum explores technology in nursing; and the Careers and Skills Roadshows support nurses' professional development. Roundtables and surveys give the title's commercial partners deep intelligence from the frontline clinical workforce, while webinars and bitesize video learning extend the educational mission beyond the written word.

These events make Nursing Times a convener of the profession as well as its chronicler — the place where nurses meet, debate and celebrate, in the same way the journal's pages have always been the place where they read, learn and argue.

Role in Nursing Life

For more than 120 years, Nursing Times has been the constant companion of British nursing: the journal that reported the founding of the NHS, that campaigned with nurses for fair pay, that documented the move to graduate-level training and the digitisation of care. It has survived two world wars, the creation and repeated reorganisation of the health service, and its own transformation from a penny weekly into a digital media brand reaching millions.

The promise made in 1905 — a journal written for nurses by nurses, independent of any shadowy personality behind it — has carried the title through every one of those changes. In print for 120 years and now digital-only, Nursing Times remains what it set out to be: the independent voice of nursing.

To explore the publication's current coverage, visit the official website at nursingtimes.net.