Sheffield Hallam University nursing lecturer, Jo Painter, has been made a Queen’s Nurse, a prestigious honour awarded by The Queen’s Nursing Institute (QNI) to community nurses who have demonstrated a high level of commitment to patient care

Press contact: Joseph Barker | Joseph.Barker@shu.ac.uk

Jo, who is a senior lecturer in mental health nursing, qualified as a nurse 26 years ago. She combines her teaching at Sheffield Hallam with her role at Rotherham Doncaster and South Humber NHS Foundation Trust (RDaSH), helping to improve the physical health of people with severe mental health illnesses.  

When asked how it felt to become a Queen’s Nurse, Jo said: “I am proud of being awarded the title – I think maybe I had under-estimated the reach and the profile of the QNI and the Queen’s Nurse network and indeed the reaction to the award. It is a well-known and acknowledged award in general/district nursing, but less so in mental health.” 

“It’s also tinged with a little sadness. My former NHS job share partner Julie and I had aspired to gain the award together, unfortunately we lost her to cancer in 2021, which probably motivated me more to pursue it.  I consider it a joint achievement.  She was an inspirational nurse and colleague with 40yrs NHS experience, and she taught me a huge amount.” 

Jo was presented with her commemorative Queen’s Nurse badge at a special award ceremony in London, along with other recipients from across the country. 

Qualifying as a nurse in 1997, Jo trained in Rotherham and for a while worked at, what is now, Swallownest Court’s Goldcrest Ward, where she met her husband Jon, a nurse who now also lectures in mental health nursing at Sheffield Hallam.