We now have 100 more Queen's Nurses, who are from the whole family of community and primary care nursing. They are increasingly influential in policy, practice and education locally, regionally and nationally, and we are thrilled to have so many excellent practitioners in three countries, promoting best practice and working in the name of the QNI. The shadowing opportunities they have provided to senior influential figures are also making a huge impact.
We have ensured that the work of the QNI remains on the agenda at the highest level, through our networking and partnership development – and we have been participating, along with QNs, in the strategy for transforming primary and community nursing led by Jane Cummings, CNO at NHS England and Viv Bennett, director of nursing at the DH and PHE.
The QNI's lively conference in September was attended by a record number of delegates this year and we were delighted that Simon Stevens, chief executive of NHS England, chose to speak there – the first nursing conference he spoke at after his appointment in April.
In October we launched the QNI film, 'The Power of Community Nursing', demonstrating how community nurses make a difference to people's lives every day. It can be found on our website. We are very grateful to the patients, families, carers, Queen's Nurses and senior nurses who contributed their time so generously to this film.
We have seen the start of the Homeless Health project, which is supporting nurses working with individuals and families who are homeless to deliver the best care.
The Carers Project has continued successfully this year with over 100 carer champions now in the network. In 2015 the resources developed for those working in the district nursing service will be joined by new resources for general practice nurses and school nurses working with young and adult carers.
Finally, a major achievement for the QNI in 2014 has been building our body of evidence to influence policy, practice and education for community and primary care nursing. We are increasingly able to refer to evidence from the frontline – and this will remain a priority in 2015.
Crystal Oldman, chief executive, Queen's Nursing Institute