The Queen's Nursing Institute Scotland (QNIS) is a charity which promotes high quality

community nursing Community nursing is nursing care delivered outside Acute (medicine)#Acute care, acute hospitals, for example in the home, within General Practice facilities, in community hospitals, in Arrest, police custody, at a school or in a Nursing home, care ...

. Based in

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

, the body was founded in 1889 with the opening of the small Central Training Home at North Charlotte Street. Due to the high demand for training for

district nurses District nurses work manage care within the community and lead teams of community nurses and support workers. In the United Kingdom, the role requires registered nurses to take a Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) approved specialist practitione ...

, the QNIS soon moved (in 1890) to the grand premises at Castle Street, where it remains.

History

Following the work of William Rathbone in

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

in 1859, district nursing developed a similar approach in

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. The Glasgow Sick Poor and Private Nursing Association was founded by Mrs Mary Orrell Higginbotham in 1875. Higginbotham was the wife of a Glasgow merchant. She undertook an apprenticeship in the

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

Western Infirmary The Western Infirmary was a teaching hospital situated in Yorkhill in the West End of Glasgow, Scotland, that was managed by NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde. It was opened in 1874 and closed in 2015. History After the University of Glasgow moved ...

and Miss McAlpin's Nursing Home. At the end of the first year of operation of The Glasgow Sick Poor and Private Nursing Association only one district nurse had been employed, who treated 100 cases in their homes. In the seven years prior to Higginbotham’s death 15,000 cases had been cared for. In 1887

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in January 1901. Her reign of 63 year ...

used her golden jubilee to gift £70,000 for the creation of the

Jubilee Institute for Nurses. This funding was for educating nurses on how to care for people in their own homes with funds allocated to London, Edinburgh and Dublin branches. The Glasgow Sick Poor and Private Nursing Association became the Glasgow training centre for Queen’s Nurses in 1889. By 1891, 12 local associations affiliated to the Queen's Institute. In the year 1900 there were 199 Queen’s Nurses in Scotland working under 111 Associations. Miss Guthrie Wright was the first secretary of the QNIS.

Queen's nurse award

The original title Queen's Nurse was reintroduced in 2017, to be awarded to leaders in clinical excellence in the fields of community-based, registered

nursing Nursing is a health care profession that "integrates the art and science of caring and focuses on the protection, promotion, and optimization of health and human functioning; prevention of illness and injury; facilitation of healing; and alle ...

midwifery Midwifery is the health science and health profession that deals with pregnancy, childbirth, and the postpartum period (including care of the newborn), in addition to the sexual and reproductive health of women throughout their lives. In many cou ...

and health visiting. The founding charter states the goal of the organisation, still applicable today:

"The training support and maintenance of women to act as nurses for the sick poor and the establishment (if thought proper) of a home or homes for nurses and generally the promotion and provision of improved means of nursing the sick poor."

References

{{Reflist

External links

Official website
1888 establishments in Scotland Poverty in Scotland Charities based in Edinburgh Organizations established in 1888 Community nursing Medical and health organisations based in Scotland Public health in the United Kingdom Vocational education in Scotland Educational qualifications in Scotland Qualification awarding bodies in the United Kingdom Welfare in Scotland Social care in Scotland Nursing organisations in the United Kingdom

History

Queen's nurse award

See also

References

External links