Queen’s Nurse award joy for Sarah Shaw
(Pictured from left to right: Sarah Shaw and Professor Deborah Sturdy)
The University of Huddersfield’s Clinical Services Manager Sarah Shaw has been named as a Queen’s Nurse, one of the highest accolades available to the profession in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Following in the footsteps of her mother and grandmother when qualifying as a nurse in 1998, Sarah joined the University’s Health and Wellbeing Academy in 2021 after 21 years at the Kirkwood Hospice in Huddersfield.
The title of Queen’s Nurse is available to nurses who have demonstrated a high level of commitment to patient care, nursing practice, learning and leadership.
Sarah was presented with her title by Professor Deborah Sturdy CBE, Chief Nurse for Adult Social Care, Department of Health and Social Care, at the Friend’s Meeting House in London on 8 December.
“I am thrilled,” says Sarah. “It is a huge privilege to be recognised with the title of Queen’s Nurse for the contributions to nursing and to the care of people in the community that I have made. It is a privilege and an honour, and I feel very proud.
“My role at the University is very community-focused and people, patients and service users are at the heart of all I do.
“My guiding principles and values as a nurse are to improve the quality of life for people in whatever way I can.
"Here at the University, I work with our students to create services and teams that provide personalised care that are complementary to existing community services. We focus on health inequalities, preventive health and improving health outcomes, providing our future health and care workforce with an innovative learning experiences in a real world environment.
“As a Queen’s Nurse I am looking forward to participating in Queen’s Nursing Institute projects and shaping policy and practice in community nursing. It gives me opportunities to be amongst like-minded people with the same drive and ambition to improve care for people in the community.”
Sarah's award follows on a year after Senior Nursing Lecturer Matthew Cain was also given the title of Queen's Nurse.