Fife woman awarded title of Queen’s Nurse for commitment to patient care

Yvonne Manson was honoured at the ceremony after a lifetime of dedication to caring for others.

A Queen' s Nurse is someone who is committed to high standards of practice and patient-centered care, with the title awarded to individual nurses who have demonstrated a high level of commitment to patient care and nursing practice.

Yvonne, who is the director of care and dementia services with Abbotsford Care, has spent her career in the care home sector with a passion on collaboration and excellence in dementia care.

She said: “It is an honour to be a Queen’s nurse and to have been selected to be part of the programme.

“It helped me to really look at self and to recognise where my impact was.

“Starting my career in care homes at 19, I knew from my very first shift that I wanted to follow a career in dementia care.

“I chose to study mental health nursing as I was fascinated by the brain and what it could do and the impact it could have on us as individuals."

During Yvonne’s training her passion for dementia continued and she was able to convince Alzheimer Scotland in Fife to allow her to do a placement with them.

"I went to the memory clinics and joined the Scottish dementia working group meeting where I first met younger people with dementia.

"Prior to going to the meeting, I had never met anyone under the age of 65 with dementia and had mostly worked with people with advanced dementia so this was an eye opener.

"The placement only confirmed for me that I was doing the right thing and that dementia was the right route for me."

After Yvonne qualified as a nurse she chose to go back to the care home group that had supported her through her journey.

"I was involved in opening a small specialist dementia care home that supported people who had been asked to leave other services and using person centred care and exploring stress and distress we were able to support people to live their best lives – it was incredibly rewarding.

"During this time, I commenced my MSc in dementia studies and also got promoted to care home manager and commenced my management and leadership SVQ.

“In early 2020, I joined the team at Abbotsford Care, and thanks to them, I commenced my PhD in October

“I am incredibly proud to be a Queen’s nurse in the care home sector, this is only the beginning of my career as a Queen’s Nurse and I hope to continue to empower care home communities to thrive.”

Karen McKechnie, principal director of Abbotsford, said: “Abbotsford Care is extremely privileged to have Yvonne on the team. Her knowledge, expertise and especially her passion is an important part of our community.

"In her role at Abbotsford, she is able to share so much of her learning from this programme with our staff and we look forward to continue to support her into the future.”

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