A Merton nurse has been given the prestigious title of Queen’s Nurse by a community charity.

Amanda Featherstone, from Morden, picked up her award from the community nursing charity The Queen’s Nursing institute at a glamorous event in central London.

Amanda, who originally trained and worked in an acute hospital (St Thomas’s) has spent nearly 20 years as a practice nurse before becoming an advanced nurse practitioner in local GP surgeries and later joining the Central London Community Healthcare Trust (CLCH) in 2015.

She said: “I’ve always wanted to be a nurse, from as far back as I can remember. In my teens I volunteered with the Red Cross and as a healthcare assistant at an elderly care unit at a small general hospital in Wimbledon.”

Having become skilled at teaching other nurses (with the Royal Marsden) it was at a conference in Finland where her special interest in the ‘whole person’ approach to nursing care was sparked into life.

She said: “I went to an inspiring talk about nurse-led clinics working with indigenous people in Alaska and when the opportunity came up to use a more holistic approach to healthcare in Merton, I jumped at the chance.”

Amanda is now the clinical lead for the CLCH’s HARI service (holistic assessment and rapid intervention) based at the Nelson, Wimbledon.

On becoming a Queen’s Nurse, Amanda said: “A Queen’s Nurse provides professional recognition and links into a network of like-minded professionals.

“I’d recommend it for any community nurses with more than three years experience looking to continue their personal development.”