Page 14 - QARANC Vol 14 No 12 2016

12 QARANC THE GAZETTE
Queen’s Nurse Title for CCG Practice Nurse Vanessa Crossey
Northern, Eastern and Western Devon Clinical Commissioning Group’s Lead Practice Nurse Vanessa Crossey has been given the prestigious title of Queen’s Nurse by the Queen’s Nursing Institute.
Jane Cummings – NHS England’s Chief Nursing Officer presented Vanessa with her award at a ceremony in London on 11 May 2015.
The title recognises Vanessa’s commitment to high standards of patient care, learning and leadership.
Vanessa said: “Being a Queen’s Nurse means that you join a cohort of like-minded community practitioners with a real passion to improve patient care.
“There are at present very few practice nurses in Devon and Cornwall in the QNI so my vision locally is to encourage and inspire other practice nurses to join”.
Vanessa’s role as Lead Practice Nurse focuses on providing support and advice to commissioners on nursing issues.
Before joining the CCG in October 2014, Vanessa treated soldiers on the front line for 21 years as an army nurse.
When she joined the organisation, Vanessa said she hoped her experience in Afghanistan would help her to bring the needs of nurses and service personnel to the forefront.
Crystal Oldman, Chief Executive of the QNI said, “Congratulations are due to Vanessa Crossey for her success”.
“Community nurses operate in an ever more challenging world and our role is to support them as effectively as we can.
“The Queen’s Nurse Title is a key part of this and we would encourage other community nurses to apply.”
Nurses who hold the title benefit from developmental workshops, funding for projects, networking opportunities and a shared professional identity.
Jessica Newton, Media Communications Officer, Communications and community relations, Northern, Eastern and Western Devon Clinical Commissioning Group
Vanessa Crossey Maj, 243 Fd Hosp
For more information regarding becoming a Queen’s Nurse please contact Vanessa on Vanessa.crossey@nhs.net or visit http://www.qni.org.uk/
She was appointed as a Staff Nurse in the QAIMNS from October 21st 1912 and posted to the Cambridge Military Hospital, Aldershot. After a six-month probation she was confirmed in her post, and remained there until she joined the British Expeditionary Force at the outbreak of WW1.
Alice McHardy
Alice McHardy
volunteered for the
QAIMNS (Reserve)
between the wars when
she was already qualified
as a State Registered
Nurse and working in
Liverpool. She was one
of many professional
nurses recruited into the
QAIMNS (Reserve) when
it was clear that a second war was likely and that a corps of trained nurses would be needed.
Her family have her photographs, her diary, and some audio and video tapes, which collectively form a detailed and colourful record of her service life, and her subsequent career as a nurse in Africa and as a sister tutor on the Isle of Man (http://britisharmynurses.com/web/mchardy.html).
Alice Mary McHardy, Alice, as she was known by her family, as Mary in her nursing circles, was born in 1905 in Aberdeen, the oldest of the four children of Peter McHardy, a seed merchant whose family were gamekeepers on the estates around Balmoral and his wife, Nelly Faulkner Tough, a musician and piano teacher. Nelly died in 1911, leaving Peter with four children under seven.
Alice could not begin training until her 18th birthday, July 26 1923, because probationers had to live in the nurses’ homes but could not move in until they were 18. She trained at the Royal Liverpool Infirmary and Fazakerley Sanatorium, sitting her last exam on her 21st birthday.
In 1938 while doing anti-gas training with Wallasey Borough Council at Mill Lane Hospital she volunteered for the Queen Alexandra’s Imperial Nursing Service (Reserve).
Her memoir of WW2 tells of being on holiday in Scotland when War was declared on September 3rd. She returned to Liverpool to find her call-up letter. A course she had been enrolled on was cancelled and her call-up was not long in arriving. She had her medical examination at the Royal Liverpool Infirmary and then went to the Queen Alexandra Military Hospital, Millbank, in London to get her uniform, kit and first posting.
Lt Col (Retd) Dr Keiron Spires QVRM TD
Chair, QARANC Association Heritage Committee
Picture of Kate Luard used with permission of the Luard family Picture of Alice McHardy used with permission of the McHardy family Picture of Lilian Robinson is in the public domain