In a ceremony last Wednesday evening, 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 for their clinical expertise and compassionate care.
Each nurse then goes on to take part in a nine-month development programme run by the Queen’s Nursing Institute Scotland (QNIS).
Among the awardees were Danielle McLeod, district nursing team lead with NHS Grampian; Kerry Anderson NHS Grampian nurse consultant learning disabilities and Frances Nice a health visitor with NHS Grampian.
She said: “Before the programme, I had a tendency to be quite shy.
"I remember my granny telling me she was a Queen’s Nurse and saying it proudly.
"The programme has given me confidence, and an awareness of my own professional skills. Now I get to say it proudly too.”
Frances added: "I am a Queen’s Nurse.“
Clare Cable QNIS Chief Executive and Nurse Director, said: “We now have 110 Queen’s Nurses in Scotland, they are catalysts for change, bringing energy and creativity to making a difference to the health of citizens in inner cities and remote islands.”