Nurses honoured with Queen’s Nurse title for commitment to excellent patient care

Katie Grant, Nicola Zurawliw and Claire Towne

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

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.

Nottinghamshire Healthcare’s 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 have all been awarded the prestigious title.

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.”

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 the trust has gaps in care it is learning and developing its workforce. Claire is committed to ensuring the trust is at the forefront of innovation and investment.

Claire said: “Being a Queen’s 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 Queen’s Nurse. She is passionate about nursing and 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 always thinks ‘how would I or a family member of mine like to be treated’. She treats people professionally, with respect and 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 Queen’s Nurse title in recognition of 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.”