Our achievements

Posted on 23 Sep 2024

Nottinghamshire Healthcare is celebrating three colleagues being awarded the title of Queen’s Nurse by the Queen’s Nursing Institute (QNI)

The title of Queen’s Nurse (QN) is available to individual nurses who have demonstrated a high level of commitment to patient care and nursing practice.

We are very proud of Claire Towne, District Nurse and General Manager Proactive and Planned Care - Community Nursing, Nicola Zurawliw, District Nurse /Head of Service and Katie Grant, Community Nursing Team Leader-Rushcliffe for being awarded this prestigious title.

Queen’s Nurses are committed to learning, leadership and excellence in patient care. The Queen’s Nurse programme brings together community nurses to develop their professional skills and deliver outstanding patient care in the community.

Diane Hull, Executive Director of Nursing, AHPs and Quality at Nottinghamshire Healthcare said: “I’m really proud of Claire, Nicola and Katie. They are fantastic nurse leaders who are all really committed to providing the best possible care to our patients, and it is brilliant to see them recognised in this way. This will provide them with a great opportunity to work with other community nurses to develop their professional skills and continue to deliver outstanding patient care in the community. Well done to all of them”

For Claire, integrity, honesty and compassion are all values she strives to promote within her service and within leadership. As General Manager for community nursing she is in a position where she is committed to ensuring high standards are being delivered, and where we have gaps in care we are learning and developing our workforce. Claire is committed to ensuring we are at the forefront of innovation and investment.

Claire said: “Being a Queens nurse has always been an aspiration of mine and I feel so honoured to have been awarded this tile. Being able to network with other likeminded nurses is a privilege and I hope to be able use this opportunity to inspire others and influence service delivery.”

Nicola embodies the role of a Queens Nurse, she is not only passionate about nursing, but also very keen on delivering high standards of care to patients, families, carers and the wider community, ensuring staff are supported and valued to delivery high quality personalised care. She has always put herself in a position to think “how would I or a family member of mine like to be treated” She treats people professionally, with respect and overall listens to their needs and acts accordingly. 

Nicola Zurawliw, District Nurse /Head of Service said: “I feel unbelievably proud and honoured to have been awarded the Queens Nurse title in recognition for my dedication, commitment, and compassion to improving standards of care in the community. I qualified as a nurse 21 years ago, developing myself in each role I undertook, learning from and being inspired by others has made me who I am today, I hope I inspire others and encourage staff to reach their full potential. I have always put patient care at the forefront of everything I do.  I will, with pride continue to follow the QN values and I am excited to become part of a network of likeminded professionals, to learn, share and develop the community further.”

From being a student nurse, Katie always knew her passion was to be in the community. This is where she has worked for the last 18 years, and every day she is energised to make and be the difference to patients and the staff she leads. 

As an individual she embodies all the values of a queen’s nurse and constantly advocates for person centred care, leads with integrity and is passionate about learning and development, and continually strives to deliver excellent individualised patient care. 

Katie said: “For me becoming a Queen’s Nurse is an opportunity to continue to show my commitment and passion to the community. It will be an opportunity to embed amongst those with the same passion, ethos, and drive, and to raise the profile of the community workforce and the excellence we deliver every single day.

 

‘I’m shocked but proud and honoured to be awarded the Queen’s Nurse title and recognised for my commitment.”