NHS Grampian community nurses receive Queen’s Nurse award
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A PRESTIGIOUS nursing accolade has been presented to some 29 nurses in recognition of their dedicated work in communities across Scotland.
In a ceremony staged at the Sheraton Grand Hotel in Edinburgh, the selected professionals received the honour of being made Queen’s Nurse – a title which lapsed for several years before the awards were reintroduced to Scotland in 2017.
Nurses are selected as a result of employer nomination, and subsequent panel interviews.
Each nurse then goes on to take part in a nine-month development programme run by the Queen’s Nursing Institute Scotland (QNIS) for their clinical expertise and compassionate care.
This year’s cohort participated in a week-long residential workshop, two further workshops, coaching sessions, and had the opportunity to select a specific issue for development which they believe will have significant impact on the very people they care for in the community.
At the formal ceremony, each nurse received a Queen’s Nurse badge, designed by Silversmiths Ortak, a certificate signed by QNIS Patron HM The Queen, and a specially commissioned Harris Tweed sash or tie.
The Queen’s Nurse development programme involves community nurses from across Scotland coming together for a nine-month transformational development journey to becoming Queen’s Nurses.
This year, eight of the candidates also make up a specialist learning disability nurse cohort.
Included in this year’s programme are three nurses working for NHS Grampian, Fran Nice, Health Visitor who works in Ellon, Danielle Mcleod, District Nursing Team Lead in Forres and Kerry Anderson, Nurse Consultant in Learning Disabilities in Aberdeen.
All candidates were nominated by their organisations for demonstrating high quality, compassionate care.
They then completed a written application and were chosen to go forward for the programme after attending an online selection event where they impressed a panel of nursing leaders.
The programme, now in its fifth year, consists of three workshops (two online) involving masterclasses, action learning and conversations with inspirational leaders, as well as individual coaching sessions.
Throughout the programme, there is an emphasis on self-care, deep reflection and connecting participants with their creativity.
Each nurse commits to developing an issue which will have an impact on their practice and benefit their community, which they work on over the programme and beyond.
The learning disability cohort are working together on a joint issue for development to support those with a learning disability who find themselves involved with the criminal justice system.
