Craig Bell, a Community Learning Disability Charge Nurse in NHS Forth Valley, recently celebrated becoming a Queen’s Nurse after completing a nine-month development programme.

Craig was one of 29 community nurses from across Scotland, who were nominated for the programme by their employers for demonstrating high quality, compassionate care.

The programme, now in its fifth year, consists of workshops, masterclasses, action learning and conversations with inspirational leaders as well as individual coaching sessions. Throughout the programme, there is an emphasis on self-care, deep reflection and connecting participants with their creativity.

Each nurse commits to developing an issue which will have an impact on their practice and benefit their community, which they work on over the programme and beyond. The learning disability cohort are working together on a joint issue for development to support those with a learning disability who find themselves involved with the criminal justice system.