Malawian-UK Nurses Association’s member Grace Mwanza bestowed with UK’s prestigious title of Queens Nurse
Grace Mwanza, a member of Malawian-UK Nurses Association (MUNA), a grouping of nurses of Malawian origin permanently resident in the United Kingdom, has been bestowed with UK’s prestigious title of Queens Nurse by The Queen’s Nursing Institute (@TheQNI ).
Grace Mwanza, who also received an award from former Malawi President, late Dr. Hastings Kamuzu Banda, was top student in her Masters degree programme in palliative and end-of-life studies with University of Nottingham.
The Queen’s Nursing Institute is UK’s national charity that promotes high-quality nursing care for people in need and honours nurses who deliver outstanding care in homes and communities everywhere.
A ‘Queen’s Nurse’ is someone who is committed to high standards of practice and person-centred care. They are trusted and valued by the people they serve and respected and admired by their peers.
They are also enthusiastic and passionate about the care they provide — qualities found in Grace Mwanza that also qualified her for the prestigious Queen’s Nurse status.
According to her resume, Grace Mwanza is an experienced and innovative registered nurse with work experience in management, education and provision of nursing care to patients/residents.
She has skills in end-of-life care and has undergone training in Gold Standards Framework in Care Homes. Articulate, confident and persuasive team-builder, she is able to motivate and communicate to achieve high quality of care to patients/residents according to company policies.
She is also described as dependable and reliable in supporting and enabling team effort to produce genuine long-term sustainable development.
Having attained a degree in nursing majoring in Health Service Management and Diploma in Nursing, she went on to pursue the Masters programme in palliative and end-of-life studies with University of Nottingham.
According to its website, the QNI was created in 1887 by William Rathbone and Florence Nightingale making it the oldest professional nursing charity in the world, whose focus is on universal access to healthcare and supporting nurses to provide excellent care to all.
The QNI further indicates that the p title ‘Queen’s Nurse’ was first given to district nurses who had trained with the QNI and undertaken its written examination until 1968, when nurse education was taken into higher education and the title fell into abeyance.
The QNI re-instated the title of Queen’s Nurse in 2007 after a gap of 40 years with the approval of the charity’s patron, Queen Elizabeth II, making the modern Queen’s Nurse title not a qualification, but awarded following a rigorous anonymous assessment process, requiring applicants to submit details of their professional career, essays in reflective practice, and references from patients, managers and colleagues.
“It is available to all nurses who have worked in community settings for over five years and is not restricted to district nurses,” says the QNI. “In 2021, there are around 1,700 Queen’s Nurses in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
The work being done by Malawian-UK Nurses Association (MUNA), continues being recognised as last year, its president, Charity Gladstone — a Lately Matron of Cardiology & Respiratory Services at Gloucestershire Hospital of the United Kingdom’s National Health Services (NHS), was bestowed with the prestigious Order of the British Empire (MBE) award by His Majesty King Charles III for her services to nursing.
She modestly maintains that the MBE awarded to her by His Majesty King Charles III, is an overall recognition of the charity work that MUNA does, both in the UK and Malawi; with a passionate desire to support and empower one another and to raise and develop health standards in both countries.
MUNA is governed as a voluntary professional, non-political and charitable organisation with a common interest of sharing a passion for health while empowering its membership in its goals to achieve excellence in their daily lives and the community they serve.
MUNA was also invited to attend King Charles’ 75th birthday at Buckingham Palace in November last year in recognition of its contributions towards CoVID-19 pandemic.
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