Holyrood event celebrates vital role of community nurses

There was a celebratory atmosphere at the Scottish Parliament last week as MSPs, health professionals, policymakers, nurses and midwives gathered to mark 135 years of the QNI Scotland.

Founded by Royal Charter in 1889 to provide nursing care for the ‘sick poor’ of Scotland’s communities, QNIS organised the training of District Nurses in Scotland until 1967. Nurses who qualified from the Institute were known as Queen’s Nurses.

The title was re-introduced in 2017, and since then 170 community nurses and midwives from all over Scotland have undertaken a flagship nine-month programme to earn the title of Queen’s Nurse. 

As part of the programme, participants are expected to work on an issue for development which makes a difference to their community, based on a need which they have identified alongside their employer, and there is an expectation that this work will have a focus on promoting equity and inclusion.  

Along with over 70 Queen’s Nurses, attendees at the event at Holyrood included Minister for Public Health and Women’s Health, Jenni Minto, who welcomed attendees and expressed gratitude for the work of community nurses, and Interim Chief Nursing Officer, Anne Armstrong, who spoke passionately about the vital role of QNIS and its work to support and develop nurses.

The event gave contemporary Queen’s Nurses a chance to display posters illustrating project work that they completed during the programme, to talk to their local MSPs about issues affecting the profession and their work in communities, and to network with cohorts from different years of the development programme.  

Today QNIS is a charity that supports and encourages community nurses and midwives to become confident, resilient, and inspiring leaders.

It also provides friendship, connection, and support for retired Queen’s Nurses who trained prior to 1967. 

Alongside the Development Programme, QNIS also runs other programmes and projects that aim to help promote health equity.