Community Nurses celebrated at QNI awards ceremonies
The achievements of outstanding Community Nurses have been celebrated at the Queen’s Nursing Institute’s annual Awards Ceremonies.
Two ceremonies were held earlier this month which included some of the most prestigious awards in nursing, including The Gold Badge of the Institute, The Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother Award for Outstanding Service, Fellowship of the Institute, The Queen’s Nurse title, Graduates of the QNI Aspiring Leaders programme, Leaders of the QNI community nursing innovation programmes, the International Community Nurse of the Year Award and memorial prizes for post-registration nursing students.
The Gold Badge of the Institute is the QNI’s highest award. It is rewarded in recognition of conspicuous and distinguished service rendered to the Institute. The Badge is regarded as a gift for life: the QNI requests the return of the badge to the Institute on the death of the recipient, in order that it may be awarded to a future recipient.
The Gold Badge of the Institute was awarded to Dr Crystal Oldman CBE, The QNI’s Chief Executive Officer.
The Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother Award for Outstanding Service award is given to community nurses who provide exceptional care to their patients and demonstrate a continuing passion and enthusiasm for nursing. It is not a reward for length of service, but an acknowledgment that a nurse makes a very exceptional individual contribution to patient care and the nursing profession. The citations below are summarised from their nominations.
Liz Gilbert, Diabetes Nurse Consultant and Clinical Lead, Surrey
Liz champions community and specialist nursing. Liz has played an integral role in developing local diabetes community services into the well-respected services they are today. Her ethos has always been that people should receive diabetes care in their own environment, avoiding secondary care where possible; Liz helped challenge the notion of hospital-led care. When Liz started there were no Consultant Nurses and Liz was very involved in changing this. Liz was integral in the development of accredited education courses for community professionals including GPs, Nurses, Pharmacists and Podiatrists. Liz has demonstrated her leadership by building a highly respected community service. She works closely with all our community colleagues, and is known to be approachable, generous with her time and motivational. Our service has an incredible reputation and Liz is the face and heart of it, and its success.Julie Mullings, Lead Nurse Tissue Viability Nurse, Manchester
Julie has 25 years’ experience working in community nursing, with 21 years dedicated to the field of Tissue Viability. She has been an inspiring force with an ambition to raise standards, improve the patient journey and encourage autonomy for Health Care Professionals. Julie’s infectious passion, enthusiasm and commitment is inspirational and, if possible even more evident today than when her journey began. Demonstrating exemplary clinical leadership, she puts the patient at the heart of advancing best nursing care. Her empowering leadership inspires her colleagues to transform care pathways, through an inclusive, supportive and transparent environment. Effective clinical leadership has been integral to the success of numerous projects, striving for excellence and reducing patient harm.Karen Robinson, Director of Nursing, Bolton
Karen is a super nurse, who combines aspects of nursing, clinical and managerial practice into her daily role. At her core, Karen cares deeply about people, recognising everyone’s individual talents and helping them overcome their own challenges. This applies to patients and colleagues. Karen plays an integral role with challenging patients, using her practice nursing background and skill to become an ally, and then using this rapport to deploy her clinical acumen. By understanding our local populations and then adapting her practice, she has become a role model for other staff, ensuring we all see our patients as humans deserving of respect and dignity. She is highly valued by our patients and has been recognised across Greater Manchester for her work. Like other such talented people, Karen tries to downplay her efforts, seeing them as “just part of the job” or “what anyone would do”, but she is recognised as an outstanding nurse.
Recipients of the Fellowship of the Institute are known leaders within their sphere of expertise, with a high profile in the health and care sector, and the respect and recognition of their peers. Fellowship in 2023 has been conferred upon:
Dr Michelle Acorn
Professor Gina Awoko Higginbottom MBE
Paul Labourne QN
Helen Mehra QN
Professor Ruth Northway OBE
Sam Sherrington QN
Barbara Stilwell
Dr Emma Wadey.
564 Queen’s Nurses were awarded the title in 2023, after a rigorous application process. Queen’s Nurses certificates were presented by Dame Elizabeth Anionwu, QNI Vice President and Patron of the Mary Seacole Trust in the QNI’s afternoon ceremony, and by Professor Deborah Sturdy, Chief Nurse for Adult Social Care, DHSC.
The Queen’s Nurse programme is wholly supported by the National Garden Scheme and there are now almost 2500 Queen’s Nurses working in every community nursing specialism and in every part of England, Wales, Northern Ireland, Channel Island and the Isle of Man.
The Aspiring Nurse Leaders Programme is designed to support the professional development of nurses working in the community to become future leaders in healthcare, to the benefit of the people, families and communities they serve. The programme is open to experienced nurses working in a community or primary care setting, including the charity or independent sector.
This year’s graduates of the Aspiring Nurse Leaders Programme were: Nicky Bloye-Cook, Emma Brodie, Laura Clifford, Kay Crowther, Maxine Dickinson, Deborah Flatman, Charlotte Fry, Donna Jones, Saiqa Kauser, Jude Mckaig, Natalie Mew, Laura Moss, Laura Reynolds , Sekayi Tangayi, Maria Whelan; Tracey Hartley-Smith, Alexandra James, Sarah Roderick, Rachel Thorpe, Tracy Allan, Laura Carnall, Lisa Gavin, Allison Horne, Caroline Lane, Clare Palmer, Ivy Rico, Ane Ringen.
Nurse-led Innovation Projects
The NGS Elsie Wagg (Innovation) Scholarship
The QNI and the National Garden Scheme (NGS) created this annual scholarship in 2021 as a joint initiative to promote physical, mental and emotional health through gardens and garden visiting. This year’s awardees are:
Jasmin Lanzaderas and Tracy Norbury: Connecting with the Senses
Susan Duggan: Shildon Growing Healthy Allotment
Helen Hurst: Sensory and Wellbeing Garden
Fiona Waddington and Joanna Brady: The Just Be Garden
Maritess Murdoch and Louise Keane: Project GARDEN
Stephanie Llewellyn and Janie Millerchip: Willow Incredible Garden
Honorary Elsie Wagg Scholarship Awardees:
Sarah Baker: Rowcroft’s Space for Nature
Grahame Hardy and Sarah Agyemang: Sustainability and Nutritional Programme for Patients in a Community Hospital setting
Rebecca Shearer and Charlotte Marshall: No Inequalities.
Personalised Care projects
Funded by NHS England, the QNI supported five projects to improve personalised care. Some of these projects also receive Elsie Wagg (Innovation) Scholarships as their projects had a garden focus.
Awardees:
Sarah Baker: Rowcroft’s Space for Nature
Grahame Hardy and Sarah Agyemang: Sustainability and Nutritional Programme for Patients in a Community Hospital Setting
Deborah O’Nyons: Creating a Pain Map in Cornwall
Rebecca Shearer, Charlotte Marshall: No Inequalities
Lynn Wrathall: Midway Diabetes Support – Mind the Gap.
Innovation Projects in Partnership
The QNI works in partnership with community healthcare providers to foster nurse-led projects in the community that improve health and care for individuals, families, carers and the wider community.
This year’s awardees were:
Andrea Spratling and Alice Maggs: Health for Young Carers, Hertfordshire Community NHS Trust
Suzanne Mumford and Natalia Stan: The Hear Well project, Care UK
Geraldine Rook and Stefanie Barnish: The Bladder and Bowel Incontinence project, York & Scarborough Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
Hayley Ingleson: Leeds Primary Care Student Leadership Placement, Leeds Community Healthcare Trust
Deborah Myers: Retention of non-registered staff through role development, Leeds Community Healthcare Trust.
International Community Nurse of the Year Award
This is the third year the QNI has offered an Award to recognise Internationally Educated Nurses working in community settings in England. All Internationally Educated Nurses who have worked in any health or social care setting in the community in England for one to five years are eligible for nomination by their employers. The Award winner was chosen by a panel comprised of Internationally Educated Nurses working at a senior level in England.
Presented to: Noor Ul Haq
Noor Ul Haq joined Leeds Community Healthcare Trust in 2021 after working in a care home when he first arrived in the UK. Since joining the trust, Noor has worked as a trainer with nurses, clinical support workers, and nursing associates in the integrated Neighbourhood teams. In early 2023, Noor left that position to join the Clinical Education team and take on the role of Pastoral Support Officer. He works closely with the International Nursing Steering group to coordinate the cohorts of new Internationally Educated Nurses, working with them to ensure they feel settled and welcome in their new teams. Noor has first-hand experience of what it is like to arrive in a different country, settle his family, adjust to a new healthcare system but also how to utilise all the skills he has developed in his previous working life. Noor contextualises healthcare in the community with the different experiences our nurses bring with them from other countries.
Academic prizes
The Philip Goodeve-Docker Memorial Prize was awarded to Saffina Pennant.
The Dora Roylance Memorial Prize was presented to Ria Garcia.
The Ellen Mary Memorial Prize was presented to Fiona Salisbury.
Surprise award: Adult Social Care Award
Professor Deborah Sturdy CBE, Chief Nurse Adult Social Care, Department of Health and Social Care surprised Dr Crystal Oldman CBE, The QNI’s Chief Executive Officer with the Adult Social Care Award for her work supporting social care nursing.
Professor Sturdy said: “Dr Crystal Oldman has done so much to support social care nursing. Well deserved recognition for her huge contribution.”