PARISH NURSE HONOUR

Kirsty Nelson, a full-time Parish Nurse with the team at the Steeple Church in Dundee, was awarded her Queen’s Nursing Institute Scotland certificate at a ceremony held at the Sheraton Grand Hotel in Edinburgh in November.

The selected nurses 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 ceremony, each nurse received a Queen’s Nurse badge, a certificate signed by the Queen, and a Harris Tweed sash or tie.

Barbara MacFarlane, who founded the parish nursing service at Steeple Church, was at the ceremony. She said: “It was really joyful to be together with lots of other Queen’s Nurses, known affectionately as ’Queenies’, celebrating their individual and collective achievements.

“There are now 120 new Queen’s Nurses from all around Scotland. All are truly outstanding in their specialities as community Nurses, specially throughout the Covid pandemic.

“Kirsty has made a major contribution to the work of the parish nursing team at the Steeple since becoming a full-timer in June this year. She’s been helping the development of the Dundee Recovery Road Map app, and developing care for our community.

“The award citation tells of her ‘empowering those who are marginalised and stigmatised so that they can take control of their own recovery’.”

Kirsty’s honour means that all the three Dundee parish nurses – her, Barbara and Rachel McReady – are all Queen’s Nurses.